Flowers and comics

I find that drawing from life is important for many reasons, like practice, relaxation, observing the world around me, are just a few. My friend reminded me the other day to go and sketch rather than only focusing on the work I am doing which is drawing of a different sort (more on that soon) and so I went straight out to the garden and drew seven flowers. 

This page is the result. I am constantly thinking of ways of presenting and using my drawings and so this is by way of an experiment. I am also looking to try out different comics styles and not untypically my choice of subject matter is worlds away from the traditional fight scenes and superheroes though at least this one has flying and almost has a fight!

Here is a preview but click over to my line art pages, where I have been updating more work recently.

If you are interested in the process I went through, I actually started something on this yesterday but decided to scrap it, as I mentioned this was an experiment. I will give you a quick run down on why I ditched my first run through.

Initially I scanned in my pencil drawings, then I just isolated the lines from the backgrounds and started to play around with some flat colours. So far so good. 

I was thinking though that it looked a bit lazy and didn't make the most of the detailed illustration and also didn't do the flowers themselves much justice so I completely changed tack. 

Next I tried the old fashioned illustrative colouring like you'd find in your mum's book of flowers, well more like I'd find in my mum's book of flowers. No idea what kind of books your mums have. But if any of you have mums that like flowers and I would take a wild guess and say most mums. in fact most people like flowers. unless they happen to pride themselves on being particularly metal, then I may have a point. But then there is Gun's and Roses, so what do I know? I know, they aren't metal. Are there any flowers in the Soundgarden I wonder? Are they even metal?

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It was about here that I started to wonder if I am incredibly dull for drawing things that grow out of seeds with only the air the sunshine and the moisture in the atmosphere to sustain them, when I remembered how awesome that all is. But perhaps my drawings weren't conveying this sense of awe and wonder that I have for things that grow out of themselves and bring beauty and Oxygen into the world.
I began to think about comics, and women and reboots. And about personal expression.

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That was when I started channelling Jim Lee envisioner of the JLA, #1 dude of all the nuDC comics universe and dripping blood and how I need to make my flowers more, more, I dunno SHINY AND COOOOOOL because that is what people like these days and I need to get with the programme man. AND THIS HAPPENED:

Just look at it! It's a monster. Something out of the little shop of horrors prototypes bin. So, you know, I decided to (hang up my ukelele) and delete the whole thing and go to sleep. Thankfully this morning the whole LSH mood had passed (except for the dentistry fear that isn't going anywhere for some time).