Drawing mojo is back online and I have been doodling again. It is amazing how often, I start drawing one thing and it metamorphises itself into something completely different. I must be channeling octopi again...
This started as a purely Steampunk styled drawing of a space ship and I just had to put an ocotpus in. But, of course, they can't breathe in space, can they? So I added a little ship attatchment for him as well, with porthole-like windows for him to be able to see. His job? A stand-in for the articulated claws, extending from the space ship for manipulations and for repairs, of course!
Initially, it looked more like an airship or a metallic balloon. As I had already drawn a Deep Sea Ballooning Octopus, I wanted this to look more like a space ship. I added some planetoids (could end up being more moon-like) and a wibbly, wobbly, spacey, wacey bit of atmosphere that will end up with a starry night feel, if my GIMP-foo works out and I learn how to do some starry add-ons later.
Just as I was about to ink, I had an urge to add a Victorian-Steampunk astronaut doing a space walk... to retrieve his top hat. Leaving it at that, there was now more nib work. This one took a little longer than usual as I could not decide on the final positions of the octopus's legs and I changed the shape of the bell at the bottom.
While waiting for the main image to dry, I could still not decide whether I wanted to keep the spacey background...
I know I have mentioned how computers and I have a love-hate relationship. I doubt this will ever really change. Can't teach an old dog new trick, my mum used to say... though my old cat seems to be quite wily and often surprises us....
Layers, layers, layers. I had to use layers for this image. One for the spacescape and another for the main subject. I must admit that one advantage of the computer, over hand-colouring, is the ease in which it can be altered, erased or changed without having to redraw the inkwork. In this case, it also allowed me to ink the main subject and then ink the spacey background separately. In this way, I could add the layers, then decide whether to keep the background, or leave it off. Much easier than trying to remove the ink afterwards!
Now I read that it's a space-ship rather than a sea-ship! Oops. I like the "milky way" background on the far-right, but the fact that that's what it is is lost when it's put on a blue shirt. Maybe black?
ReplyDeleteThe buyer chooses the colour of the tshirt at redbubble. I posted a pic (in next short post) on the blue, as this shows it at its most blended in ... thanks for the feedback though! Every bit helps.
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