In keeping with a tradition I’ve done… er, two or three times, sporadically, it’s time for another Sketch-a-thon! I set aside a whole weekend for this, and solicited sketch topics on both facebook & twitter. I got a ton, and am still working through most of them. But here’s the first eight.
“Bear With Us”
@koquettish on twitter described this scene almost exactly, so that’s more or less what she got. It’s nice to start off with something where I don’t have to interpret the topic abstractly. On the other hand the first sketch is nearly always a bit shit. Not total shit, but certainly not as great as it could be.
“Spider-Simone”
A friend on facebook from school wanted me to do something featuring her kid. I’m not good at likenesses, so this does not look much like the kid in question, but I got said kid’s seal of approval on this, so hey ho!
“Reflections On a Crane”
Another facebook friend wanted an origami & real-life crane. Apparently this is an audition for a potential tattoo. I still think most people should just get a tattoo that says ‘Egg Fried Rice.’ Oh wait, that’s just me.
“Just One Scale”
There’s a running joke on twitter amongst friends that I somehow find a way to over-complicate my drawings, usually by adding too many details, which has led to me often using the #SoManyScales hashtag. So @flonk2 decided to be clever and ask me to draw just one. I decided to be clever and interpret the topic, er, creatively.
Oh god, #SoManyScales, you guys, #SoManyScales…
“Lucius”
A school friend on facebook wanted something featuring their dog that passed away earlier this year. Now, if drawing a loved one puts the pressure on, or drawing a potential tattoo, then drawing a dear departed loved one is several times more pressure. I think I did okay with this, though I still, for the life of me, don’t know how to draw a black dog without it turning into a big splodge of ink.
“Like One of Your French Girls”
@SahilRiz does the most excellent Bollywood movie spoof comic The Vigil Idiot, expertly skewering the plotlines of the latest song-and-dance blockbusters by basically telling us their story with a keen eye for the absurdities they contain. So when he jokingly employed a famous line from Titanic in a tweet to me, I took that as all the permission I needed to draw his signature Vigil Idiot character in a bit more of a boudoir-friendly form.
“2 a.m. Taxi”
My family has heard me tell my 2 a.m. taxi story often, and how many frayed nerves these infrequent trips have left me with, so it was inevitable that one of them would ask me on facebook for an illustrated depiction of the same.
“Wolverine at Delhi Airport Baggage Check”
@tantanoo has been waiting for this sketch for months. I wish I had the energy or skill to pull this off in a non-comical way, but this was a nice way to test my skills in this particular style.
Part 2 is coming soon. I still have fifteen(!) drawings to go. And some damn good ones, too! Stay tuned!
V
