CONVENTIONLESS CON SKETCHES: Webcomics edition!

Behold, two recent commissions drawn in my 11" X 14" con sketch format—though, obvsly, drawn at home rather than at a convention—with both pieces based on pairs of characters from webcomics.

First up are Annie and Winona from the Slipshine (adult) webcomic Study Break:

(BTW, if you want an artistic challenge, try drawing a g-d straw cowboy like the one above, which is also not unlike the hat worn by Country Strong in Empowered vol.11. Not easy!)

With this (conventionless) con sketch I used my slower, "at-home" work technique of starting with a small rough on a quarter of a sheet of 8.5" X 11" paper:

...then blew up the rough to full-size via printer so I could transfer it to Bristol board:

Here's a phone pic of the finished pencils, post-transfer:

...and then the Sharpie inks for the piece:

I like the results a fair bit, though the shadows of their hats cast over their faces didn't quite work out in the final colored pencils. (Oh, well.) Only drawback was that the work process made this con sketch waaaaay more time-consuming than I'd like.

Next up are Ellen and Alicia from the webcomic Twenty Four Seven. With this piece I tried the more spontaneous approach I normally use at conventions, in which I just scribble a full-sized rough directly on the final Bristol board (without the Photoshop-and-printer work stages seen above) and roll with the results:

I occasionally get strong results with this more free-wheeling work technique, but I can't claim that this is one of those examples. (Definitely lost patience with the plaid patterns on their skirts, alas.) Gotta admit that the "red colored-pencil halo" effect isn't quite as strong as the "big, bold Sharpie aura with colored-pencil edging" seen in the first piece; a key problem with the latter, though, is that you have to specifically plan for the characters and their outfits to be depicted against a black background.

Well, it was nonetheless worth a try to work with a more spontaneous approach, I think, even if the results didn't quite work out to my satisfaction. (Doesn't help that I plumb forgot to take work-in-progress pics of the second piece, by the way.) 

NEXT MONDAY ON THIS HERE PATREON: Life drawings as usual, folks!