I’m in the process of making a thing, and that thing involves drawing the characters from Bite Me! I don’t think I’ve drawn them in at least a couple of years. It’s like riding a bicycle. A very goofy bicycle.
The most fun part is transposingthem to another period. Ah, the 1940s; the last time everybody had good hair. I grew up watching Humphrey Bogart movies, so it all feels very cozy and familiar.
Since Family Man is an ongoing comic that updates once weekly, I like to feature a teaser detail from each week’s page. I look at all this art zoomed in so far during the long production hours that, when I see it in actual web resolution, I can be a little surprised at how much is no longer visible. It’s a good reminder to myself to keep moving, rather than wasting an hour drawing every individual hair.
But sometimes it’s fun to show off the little fiddly bits.
Last night I had the pleasure of attending the Portland Opera “Drink and Draw and Tweet” event – where a bunch of cartoonists and bloggers are invited to attend the dress rehearsal of the latest production and record their impressions. This time we all got to see Leonard Bernstein’s operetta Candide. A big treat for me, since I’ve read Voltaire’s book multiple times over the course of my education.
It’s a wickedly black comedy and a great show. I had a blast and filled almost a quarter of a sketchbook with doodles! Below, for your perusal. (Or see it as a set on Flickr.)
Online graphic novel.
