I knew the first page of my sketchbook would be The Infamous Five. I wanted to start with something solid, 'cos if I messed up page one then I'd lose all hope and tear the book up. I might have an overdramatic personality. After I'd finished the first page, I was free to throw down. But what? Then I realised (and this is going to sound obvious), I realised I could draw whatever I wanted.
We rarely do anything we want. We forget that we can do anything we want. Okay maybe not anything, you can't rent the Great Wall of China and race ostriches across it with Samuel L Jackson, what I mean is we can try at things we want. Going for that job, learning that language, playing that instrument, writing that book or drawing that comic. Because it's too hard, or we don't think we'll be good at it, or we're waiting for the right time. So as a result, we don't do it at all. Well, some of us don't. Others move past that insecurity and become rich and succesful. Or poverty-stricken failures. Or dead. It's a broad spectrum of results.
I wanted to draw superheroes. So that's what I did.
Now, superheroes are pretty much done. Every name has been picked, every power has been taken, every way to save the world has been saved... But I don't care. I like superheroes. I want my own superheroes. So I created these guys. I created them long time ago, but I'd set them aside for The Infamous Five. But I was working now. My time was gone, my energy depleted, all I had left was this sketchbook at lunch time. For the time being, all I have to do is keep drawing. So I drew the superheroes I'd come up with in college, characters I'd only drawn sporadically since. And it was thrilling to draw them again.
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| Strong Guy, Smoke Girl |
It'd be pointless detailing names and story, enthusiasm is always killed when you tell everyone your idea before executing them. I'm keeping it vague. Besides, if you can't figure out their powers from what I've drawn here then I've failed anway. On the left, I'm trying to figure out the face for 'Strong Guy'. I wanted him monstrous, but still perceivably human. Some were too monstrous. Some were too human. Others, I just didn't like the haircut... that's a similar process to the dating scene when you think about it.
As for the girl, I wanted her grumpy because... well she has smoke pouring out of her mouth. Wouldn't you be grumpy if that happened? Well. I suppose it depends what you were smoking.
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| Laser Kid, Earth Girl, Knife Girl |
These guys, I already knew how I wanted them to look and dove straight in. Want more? I've got more. See you tomorrow.
