More on Totem

I went back to Totem today, but I'm looking at the draft lines I started and... decided to start over. I did keep the basic structure, but each of the characters is a different ethnicity and mood and it just felt like it was missing something that a few quick lines wouldn't accomplish. There are several enmeshing elements that combine them, things that blend and things that separate. There is no hierarchy here, but I'm sure people will read into that. I'll talk more about what my thoughts were when I created it when it's finished, of course, but likely in a separate post from the picture itself, just because I don't WANT to lead you into exactly what you're 'supposed' to be seeing. I still want to give the viewer some ownership of their thoughts and impressions, to have visceral reactions rather than know what to expect.

So all I got done today was fully drafting it. Now, normally a draft takes me 10 minutes, an hour at most. This one took me two hours and a slightly different approach. For one, I like to do draft lines in the most extreme colors of the digital spectrum. In this case, I started with blue (or cyan, that eye-blinding light blue) to form their bodies and faces, then used green to do clothes and accessories. Usually I stick with those two, but this time, I did yellow for the hair lines. Most notes were jotted down in the same color and layer I was working in at the time.

However, I finally got the lines, direction, mood, and many elements to flow without becoming too busy. There's a little bit of a background in this one, but only because it's an important bleed into the foreground. I'm not much of a background artist, if only because large scale distance planning is not my forte. I've managed to do some outdoor backgrounds, but they typically aren't large scale (a dense forest, a waterfall, a mountain at closer range, etc). Indoor can be challenging but I also rarely get creative with the architecture. If I really want to do so, I still know my way around basic 3D modeling and could throw together some basic furniture shapes and room dimensions to help out with backgrounds.

Mostly I end up sticking to characters. That's where I start to connect with the moods and emotions of drawing. It's not the abstract that draws me in, although living bodies are plenty diverse. However, it is the underlying skeleton, the movement of muscle and skin (or feather and fur) that freeze in their dynamic states that really connect me to the work. I love to blend real anatomy with my favored Disney and anime influences to create something personal. If I want a quick fix, some comic line work does the trick. If I want to bleed, sweat, cry and ache, it comes down to a painting that won't let me go for days or weeks at a time.

Speaking of which, part of the reason I broke off was because that ache has gone from delicious to actual back and shoulder pain, so I'm cutting off of here soon as well. There's something gratifying about turning work I can't yet share into words.

But as usual, I'm both screen shotting progress for a post that shows my workflow as well as planning to share the picture in one post and my impressions in another. So there will be three separate posts pertaining to it... unless I feel like throwing another one of these impatient posts in while it's a work in progress.

For now, a break is in order. More to come before another work day pops into the radar.