Holiday Account ...Damn elf !

It's been a couple of years since I've produced the family holiday card. (it happens) Below is my return to the genre, as we have Santa the proprietor et unrelenting boss trying to get his proletarian artisan back on the job. (Damn elves! --their labor is cheap, but oh the headaches --always hiding and slacking off!) The drawing below is fairly near the final. Problems needing adjusting include his hand/arm which unfortunately reads more like a salute than the searching gesture I was intending. As we all know, Santa salutes no one --(except Rudolph of course). So in order to avoid Kringlesque litigation, I will have to void out those fingers I've grown fond of, and flatten out the hand pose. The elf needs to move back a tad, and perhaps be a bit overlapped by the lower part of Santa's girth... I'll have to see how it goes.
O-U-T spells out.





















© Richard Ewing all rights reserved

Here's how the the hand may read in the final.

















© Richard Ewing all rights reserved

Some of the first few sketches made in the exploratory stages of the concept. At first sleeping was the elf's wont, but TV seemed more annoying.












© Richard Ewing all rights reserved

DAMN YANKEES (...throes of) part 13

Specs and sizing. Not the most exciting aspect of this process, but one CAN get into all that math... for a bit. A little bit. a little tiny bit. I was pleased to find that my recap thumbnail, used for the value studies, was nearly exact in terms of proportion for the individual pieces, and down the road, the final art. This seems to be a skill that one acquires with years of drawing, much like when one wears no wristwatch for an extended period -you become fairly good at guesstimating the time of day. I forgot to bring a ruler with me to Peet's and had to then fashion my own from a bookmark...(I didn't forget to bring the book I was reading --just the necessary tools... what does that tell you about me? ...never mind.)
This way of going from prelim to final is a bit on the rigid side, but most art directors love it... No surprises! Give an art director who loves and promotes spontaneity any time! So few and far between.
Jackson may vary in his final size, as space will allow. Next step will be transfer and then inking.

















© Richard Ewing all rights reserved

Below is Mach two of the value study. Same thing just further exploration & wider value range. I will need to flesh out what little there is of Traveller once all the images are placed. His mane is mainly dark. Near as I can tell he has two 'L's in his name; which I believe is the British spelling of our 'traveler'... I assume the general chose this to match the two 'E's in his own surname: Lee... Otherwise tidiness would dictate he abbreviate his family name to Le. Robert E. Le. Making him Asian. That would require some leap of faith.












© Richard Ewing all rights reserved

DAMN YANKEES (...throes of) part 12

Value study! Below is an unofficial re-comp of the entire illustration based on the current working character drawings and positionings. There will be some shifting and other alterations as the pieces are sewn together; Traveler will need to be finalized even if he has been for the most part cropped out of the image at the bottom. I am fighting the urge to draw Babe holding a platter on high with a big ol' hamburger on it, along with the attendant checker overalls... This would undoubtedly confuse the original concept, and cause a shift in one's confidence in me as a professional. Still, the inanity of it all would be funnier than all get-out, and may be well worth the trouble. I'll think about it. ...(maybe I've already drawn it but am not showing it to you...ha!)










© Richard Ewing all rights reserved