These are fun to do.

Well, it’s not my favorite Dark Tower illustration I’ve done but it’s a huge step up from my first attempt! This book was one of my favorites, by the way.

I have to remember how hard it is to stop in the middle of a drawing. The idea yesterday was to do a little art from 8-10, and then from 10-11:30 work on my YA book, which I’ve been neglecting for awhile. It’s very easy to sit down and draw but for me at least, it takes great effort to sit and write.

Anyway. I figured I’d start the 4th drawing in my Dark Tower series. The idea with these drawings is that they’ll be complete on paper – what I post here is what exists in reality, little to no digital interference. I add the border and that’s about it for photoshopping.

So I did a rough sketch, blew it up to 11X17 and with a 4H, very hard and light pencil, added a little more structure to the final bristol board. It looked a little messy and sloppy in areas still, but I hadn’t even started in with more detail with a mechanical pencil.

So as I did the final penciling, it just wasn’t looking great. The main couple in the front, Roland and Susan, looked especially weak. Like something I could have drawn in high school. The anatomy was off and obscured by clothes and text and this snake that just doesn’t wrap around them in a clear manner. By now it was approaching 10.

I was annoyed that I wasn’t fixing it. I figured I’d ink just the parts that were bothering me, and do my best to fix it here. It STILL looked off. I decided to hell with writing, I’m going to fix this piece if it takes all night!

So I kept inking, finishing about 12 midnight. It still looked bad. Still looks bad. This put me in a horrible mood, having spent 4 hours and sacrificing writing for a piece that didn’t live up to the previous 3.

Last night I decided I’d go ahead and add grey washes, hoping that would fix it, but after a night’s rest I decided I’ll put it aside and do it over later. Besides, I have an idea for an Alf-as-Venom Sitcomix cover I really want to draw now.

Alright not quite post-its, but these are from my work notebook. Needless to say, I take very little notes at work. But these keep me awake in case I get called on for something.

The giant creepy moon still rules.