2/04/2004
Cthulu, that Wacky Elder God
Okay, so it's been a few days since I last posted. Can I blame it on Janet's flash during the Superbowl?
Honestly, I've been working diligently on hammering down Cthulu. The actual character sketch took only a couple of hours from start to finish; it was the damn coloring that took the beter part of the past two days. I'm nothing if not meticulous. Well, I call it meticulous; I can be p.c. about being slow.
Here he is:
.
A few things of note:
1) This is scanned direct from my pencils. A while back I started scanning in some quick sketches for another web-gallery; at that point, I suddenly realized just how tight my pencil work is, so I decided to try coloring some pictures without inking the finished product (in a vain attempt to shave a few hours off my work time). So far so good. I'm currently working on a short story without any inking involved. I can't wait to see the results.
2) Yes, he is being crapped on (no doubt by the bluebird of happiness). I'll be working this scene into a one page story, but even before then I knew I had to have him look pissed at something. It seemed fitting that his first modern venture into universal destruction would be met with some criticism.
3) Here's another example of how strange the creative mind truly is. Initially I had just figured on giving him leather gauntlets around his wrists; visually he needed something to break up his "nekkidness". I toyed with a vest or a sash, but nothing worked (although I may still give him a pair of britches to push him over the animated cartoon edge), so I just threw on a pair of gauntlets. It was just enough. Well, while I was putting the finishing touches on his colors this evening, I happened to stand up and pass by my Roger Rabbit video and I noticed that Roger has a pair of yellow gloves. *BAM* It hit me! The classic gloved three-fingered hand! Half an hour later and he had the finishing touch.
No doubt you're wondering why I give him -- and all my other characters -- three fingers. That was a deliberate decision early on in my cartooning development. A long time ago I saw an interview with the great comedian Jack Benny, and someone asked him why he always put up three fingers to his cheek as a sign of exasperation.
His answer was typical Benny: "Because three fingers is funny."
Sure, I'm not the first cartoonist to use triple digits; it's probably one of the greatest cartooning conventions in existence; and I am entirely capable of drawing four fingers and a thumb. But when I decided to screw the more "realistic" aspects of cartooning, Benny's quote stuck prominently in my mind.
Probably one of the trickiest things in making this version of Cthulu was trying to be entirely original. I mean, he's been translated into models, plush, paintings, and dozens of comics over the years. Thank God for Google; I was able to find loads of reference material for him not to look exactly like. His head is straight from Lovecraft's description; I had to include the wings (although mine are bit more bat-like than most of the other versions I've seen); the tail is there to help make him more bestial; and it was an entirely concious choice to keep his body as simple as possible. His arms are quite long, but again I did that to emphasize the fact he ain't entirely human.
I am quite pleased with the coloring, particularly the glow around him. Getting that effect in PhotoShop is a bit tricky, and I've only done it one other time; it took me a while to remember exactly what the hell I did the first time. I'll end up taking a day away from it, and then see if I can get it to work as a full-screen wallpaper; I need to come up with some sort of logo.
It's always something; even when you think you're done with a picture, you're guaranteed to find something else to tweak if you give it time.
Hey, I think I may have just stumbled on my next topic.
Doc "Necronomicon" Absurd
Honestly, I've been working diligently on hammering down Cthulu. The actual character sketch took only a couple of hours from start to finish; it was the damn coloring that took the beter part of the past two days. I'm nothing if not meticulous. Well, I call it meticulous; I can be p.c. about being slow.
Here he is:
.
A few things of note:
1) This is scanned direct from my pencils. A while back I started scanning in some quick sketches for another web-gallery; at that point, I suddenly realized just how tight my pencil work is, so I decided to try coloring some pictures without inking the finished product (in a vain attempt to shave a few hours off my work time). So far so good. I'm currently working on a short story without any inking involved. I can't wait to see the results.
2) Yes, he is being crapped on (no doubt by the bluebird of happiness). I'll be working this scene into a one page story, but even before then I knew I had to have him look pissed at something. It seemed fitting that his first modern venture into universal destruction would be met with some criticism.
3) Here's another example of how strange the creative mind truly is. Initially I had just figured on giving him leather gauntlets around his wrists; visually he needed something to break up his "nekkidness". I toyed with a vest or a sash, but nothing worked (although I may still give him a pair of britches to push him over the animated cartoon edge), so I just threw on a pair of gauntlets. It was just enough. Well, while I was putting the finishing touches on his colors this evening, I happened to stand up and pass by my Roger Rabbit video and I noticed that Roger has a pair of yellow gloves. *BAM* It hit me! The classic gloved three-fingered hand! Half an hour later and he had the finishing touch.
No doubt you're wondering why I give him -- and all my other characters -- three fingers. That was a deliberate decision early on in my cartooning development. A long time ago I saw an interview with the great comedian Jack Benny, and someone asked him why he always put up three fingers to his cheek as a sign of exasperation.
His answer was typical Benny: "Because three fingers is funny."
Sure, I'm not the first cartoonist to use triple digits; it's probably one of the greatest cartooning conventions in existence; and I am entirely capable of drawing four fingers and a thumb. But when I decided to screw the more "realistic" aspects of cartooning, Benny's quote stuck prominently in my mind.
Probably one of the trickiest things in making this version of Cthulu was trying to be entirely original. I mean, he's been translated into models, plush, paintings, and dozens of comics over the years. Thank God for Google; I was able to find loads of reference material for him not to look exactly like. His head is straight from Lovecraft's description; I had to include the wings (although mine are bit more bat-like than most of the other versions I've seen); the tail is there to help make him more bestial; and it was an entirely concious choice to keep his body as simple as possible. His arms are quite long, but again I did that to emphasize the fact he ain't entirely human.
I am quite pleased with the coloring, particularly the glow around him. Getting that effect in PhotoShop is a bit tricky, and I've only done it one other time; it took me a while to remember exactly what the hell I did the first time. I'll end up taking a day away from it, and then see if I can get it to work as a full-screen wallpaper; I need to come up with some sort of logo.
It's always something; even when you think you're done with a picture, you're guaranteed to find something else to tweak if you give it time.
Hey, I think I may have just stumbled on my next topic.
Doc "Necronomicon" Absurd
