I've been very inspired by artists who commit themselves to developing a giant body of work on, or simply committing themselves to, a single story. Mark Summers created a beautiful series on Moby Dick that, aside from the jaw-dropping finishes, has a completely full sketchbook of research to accompany it (check out a similar sketchbook on Abe Lincoln here). Justin Gerard and Sam Bosma have both explored Tolkein's The Hobbit in depth, with some truly gorgeous results. And, probably the most amazing example, Petar Mezeldzija's Legend of Steel Bashaw shows the very top tier of whats possible when you work for years on a project you truly care about.
Anywho, now that I've compared myself to some badasses, I can comfortably underwhelm you with my own work. In a true eat-the-dessert-first fashion, I've been playing with Baba Yaga studies, knowing full well that, while she may be the most intriguing character in the story, she's definitely not the main one. Vasilisa will come later. First, I want to play with the gnarled knuckles, wilted skin and bad teeth of a Russian witch.
I gathered reference from a bunch of places, but the absolute best resource I found for scary old ladies is thesmokinggun.com's mugshot gallery. You can even narrow the search just "fogeys' to get a great gallery of disheveled grammas. Add a bit of meth-addict and you are 90% there.
Not your gramma's gramma. |
Check back soon for some more wrinkly goodness.
Editor's Note: When finding links for Petar Meseldzija's work, I noticed that Steel Bashaw took 15 years to finish. See you all in 15 years, when this project wraps up.
4 comments:
Ewwww, awesome. Is this going to be a pitch for something or just your own private thing? I'm sure your girlfriend won't mind your being obsessed with drawing old hags through the night.
The drawing on the lower, right corner of the left page on the bottom image is my favorite. The one where she's looking right at you. Something about it is just spot-on to me. The jawline, just enough jowl, and that creepy expression really gets to me. Can't say why, but it does.
As always, great stuff.
wonderful character studies!
Curious what you're saying about showing the gender in the elderly - from these sketches, they do look female, and to me it's in the mouth and a slight softness of the eye lids.
Post a Comment