I’ve been working on this character for my story that I have been showing you for the last week. I’m not sure if I know how I want her to look like yet in her true form but here is a bit of my process. Today’s sketch is just an idea. There is nothing set in stone as of yet. Below are some thumbnails and another sketch. I hope adding all these extras into each post makes up for the lack of daily sketches.
Again, we have a little developmental work from the Jack and the Shaman layout. As you can see, I played around with numerous configurations and silhouettes before settling on the character design.
And of course the real JZSOTD aficionados will recall a similar character, I played around with almost a year ago. Who among us can remember back that far?
It’s pretty crazy, but today, October 21st, will mark the one year anniversary of the site. We set a pretty wicked pace from the get go and while we slowed things up in the last couple of months, the new year begins as strong as ever.
Behold the BATTLE that began it all!
This was my first real sketch of the character from yesterday’s post although I do have lots of thumbnail silhouettes that I made before this.
There are a few other different versions of this character which I may compile into its own post at some point or maybe I’ll try to update and format this post to show more of the making of Jack and the Shaman.
“Stand still. The trees ahead and bush beside you are not lost.” ~ Albert Einstein
Jack while running away from home gets lost going down a river. He is stuck in a swamp and follows a mysterious trail of candlelight to a shaman. The shaman reveals that Jack is being stalked and hunted by a witch who collects power by stealing souls. The shaman offers his help and guidance, but Jack is wary of the offer.
Below are some of the process thumbnail sketches that I made while composing this layout sketch (a larger view awaits those who click):
Also here is a xerox copy that I used for a marker tonal study for my final painting which is on the way.
Well, there is something new to show you……Updates to come : )
Related Sketches:
“He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man” ~ Dr. Samuel Johnson
Here it is. A little different. Same basic idea. Hopefully it was worth the effort. To see the original design click on the following link: One of God’s Own Prototypes. Also yesterday there was a post where I had a pretty loose sketch that was heading in the direction of this Dr. Gonzo character design. There were also plenty of concept thumbnail drawings in that post. You can see Dr. Gonzo has come a long way from my first Fear and Loathing posts: Hitchhiking a Ride to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and The Fear and Loathing of a back seat Hitchhiker. Feel free to explore any of those links if you want to take in the the making of this character, Dr. Gonzo.
Below are my rough designs for the character and composition for today’s sketch. Check it out….
I’m in the middle of reworking my previous interpretation of the Dr. Gonzo character. This is the direction that I am heading with this “High Powered Mutant”. He’s a little more squashed and stretched and hopefully a little more fun.
I also find myself at the end of term and scrambling to get my final projects completed including a long ago promised digital painting of “Aloha, Welcom to Big Kahuna’s Kite Shop,” a bound book of my creative perspective drawings which I still have to wrap up, and a Fear and Loathing poster.
I know the updates lately have been a little more sporadic, but I am buckled down on these final projects. However, I assure you what I lack in quantity at the moment I will soon make up for in quality.
UPDATE: I decided to throw in all my various Dr. Gonzo character designs in this post. Click on the image below to enlarge, zoom in even more by clicking on the image again, and then scroll around. Let me know what you think.
“The possibility of physical and mental collapse is now very real. No sympathy for the Devil, keep that in mind. Buy the ticket, take the ride.” ~ Raoul Duke
In this final Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas character design of Raoul Duke, I wanted to spend a minute recapping the journey. Most of the Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas work I have posted on the site have been part of a class assignment for a character design course I have been taking. I was instructed to choose a story and to create my own designs of the various characters.
This may be my last character design for my class, but it doesn’t mean this is the last one I will draw. I do plan to rework a few thing here and there including the Dr. Gonzo character. I will probably also make a movie poster.
From the Hitchhiker to Dr. Gonzo and from the Vegas Lizard People to Raoul Duke, all the different character have been a lot of fun to draw. There are a few other characters that I’d like to tackle in the future including the cops and Lucy, but if anyone wants me to do a particular character in Fear and Loathing I am open to suggestions.
I may also show some more tweaked versions of these characters along with some other conceptual sketches from time to time, but for now this is the last one except for the completed reworked version of that “ rotten attorney” Dr. Gonzo.
You may be seeing a little less Fear and Loathing soon as I will begin to move on to some other things, but fret not as one thing you can count on is that more sketches are on the way.
I have tried to push and push this character design of Raoul Duke/Hunter S. Thompson as part of my series of Fear and Loathing conceptual work. Like all of these character designs I have experimented with many possibilities some of which I have shown and some of which still lie in my sketchbook. I remain inspired by the Fear and Loathing movie poster and Hokusai in my character designs for Hunter. Of course, Ralph Steadman is never far from my mind either.
Hunter’s head sits on top of a neck which is a roller coaster of loopies. I am planning on coloring this sketch this week and even I sit with some anticipation of the final character design.
Of the many great HST turns of phrases among them was surely, “Buy the ticket, take the ride.” I have understood this phrase many ways throughout the years, but today I am thinking about what a journey it has been to cover the Fear and Loathing territory artistically. The ticket has been bought and the ride continues…
Part 1:
Part 2:
I am not beyond retooling this “final” drawing of the Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Lizard Person, but I promised you guys some kind of finished product which I could be reasonably happy with and here it is.
Blood splatters the floor and the traction of a good pair of golf shoes might be the only way to navigate all this muck. Luckily these lizards have the perfect claws to traverse this blood soaked lounge. Proceed cautiously before they spot you. This one could bite off a mouthful.
I am still plugging away on the Hunter S. Thomspon character design. I wasn’t sure at first, but I am really starting to like the idea of him having a floating head a la the Fear and Loathing poster or the Japanese artist Hokusai.
I am thinking that while his head might not be continually floating it might drift mid-conversation with some frequency.
Obviously, it is still a work in progress, but you guys saw how the Lizard People developed and we might be in store for a similiar brainstorming process.