Here’s a fun little thing I found collecting dust on my harddrive.

It’s all part of a character study for the graphic novel. All I can say now is that it will be set in NYC in 1906. An odd setting, you say? Actually, it’s surprisingly relevant right now… My lips are sealed.

I’m in the process of creating a graphic novel, which means I’m thinking about it. Actually, that’s not entirely fair: the story is there, the first storyboard has been sketched… The question is: what style should I use? Right now I’m considering two styles… One is a layered approach to watercolours, the other involves binary use of indian ink. An example:

Obviously, they have completely different feels. The right one is nice and contrast-rich, but I get this feeling that it’s a bit… simplistic. The left one has more depth and actually challenges the viewer to fill in the blanks - some contours are merely hinted at. It does involve a lot more work though… Choices, choices!

Hmm, this sure is starting to look like a once-a-year effort. We’ll have none of that! No, really.

In the meantime: remember this post? Yeah, sure you do. Here’s a little modification of the self-portrait contained therein. Hooray for colour!

Yeah, it looks a bit odd, right? Blame it on the paper. This supposedly premium watercolour paper curled up from all the water. As a result, the paper doesn’t make proper contact with the scanner plate… I know, it’s tragic.

Two German soldiers scouring the skies for enemy aircraft, based on a photograph from John Keegan’s “Waffen SS: The Asphalt Soldiers”. The subject is less important than the fact that this was the first and last time I actually used a triangle to make sure all the angles were correct.