Wowzers! My schedule today was way too loaded for me to complete "Bigot Brutality" without the help of my trusty clone. Still, in his absence, I was able to put time into the early painting stages. I started off by applying a color wash, bringing the various elements in the composition together by giving them an overall tone. I chose a transparent blue, since I'm imagining this as a cold painting with some key explosions of warmth.
Along with the blue, I roughly painted in areas where I plan on unleashing said warmth.
From there, I started building up my darkest areas. The police dog, parts of the officers' uniforms, random shadows -- I knew right off the bat that these areas were going to be (more or less) black. So knocking 'em out early frees up my brain to focus on more challenging elements of the piece, that are yet to come.
Whew! It's been a topsy-turvy week for Series 3. But the creative fires are stoked! I'll be putting some time into "Bigot Brutality" over the weekend, in between jobs. I hope to have the finished piece ready to post on Monday. Next week will also be the start of the illustration for The Letter C. Aw yeah....
In the meantime, have a fun & sweaty weekend!
"Reflections, arrows, glory!"
- King Gum
Going from sketch to final for "Bigot Brutality" was a straightforward affair. Rather than using the collage method I employed with "Almost Anonymous," I drew directly onto the canvas. This time around, I chose to work on a gessoed piece of matte board (14 x 22").
Working very quickly with a combination of dark pencils, I tore into the drawing. Large shapes were knocked out with the quickness. Then, I start filling in the details.
Again, these are very fast hits in pencil. The steps above came together in a short bundle of minutes. There's an energy and simple (yet powerful) geometry in gestures that I long to preserve, all the way through a piece. It helps that I listen to loud and obnoxious music while I work, to keep me pumped. I'll bop and dance while drawing and take steps back from the piece for a broader view. The more physical I can make my work experience, the better!
You may also notice that this first pass on the drawing features a mean ol' police dog gnawing at our victim's arm. While I dug the dog, I didn't appreciate what it did to the composition. In the end, I traded the toothy brute for a nice plot of negative space.
The mid-level details were laid in with general ease and speed. Again, the music was a big help in smoothing out the typical kinks one can encounter, working on a finalized drawing.
The background police dog became the stand-alone canine. So I enhanced him a bit, making him larger and giving him an even bigger maw of jagged teeth.
The central policeman came together with particular ferocity. The smoldering from his eyes was drawn from some of my illustration works from 2009 and 2010, and signifies some inhuman evil that's bubbling out of him.
Next, I focused on bringing together the man being brutalized. His face & torso were tightened up. I scribbled in the details of his limbs, and got a cool idea for the painting stage, involving the tattered sleeve of his left arm.
You can see that the big foreground dog has been erased. He's still visible, but at least he's out of the way for bolder lines.
The final stage of the drawing came to a raucous conclusion. I think I was somewhere between Saul Williams and The Doors for these last steps and finer details, which meant lots of writhing and stomping while I drew.
The policeman & dog in the background were tight as could be, with their darks filled in and everything. And I used paint to white-out the remnants of the larger dog drawing. It's almost like he was never there!
The fine lines and darks were filled in on both the cop and the victim. And like that, I was done!
Tune in tomorrow afternoon for the completion of "Bigot Brutality!"
"Stole my sneakers but your feet just never fit in. Serves you right for trying to walk a mile outside your limits."
- King Gum Crosland
"Bigot Brutality" jumped into my brain as soon as I sat down to conjure up an illustration for The Letter B. Before my pen even touched my notebook, my imagination was overflowing with images of demonic police officers dispensing a one-sided, hate-fueled beat down to an unarmed Black man. I even sketched rough layouts for a couple other B concepts. But I always fell back, right into this piece.
While my illustration is based on the violence of the 1960's era Civil Rights Movement, this is easily a universal & timeless issue. Sadly, no matter where or when you are in this world, you're never really too far from the lurking evil of authoritarian savagery.
The concept drawings above are both 11 x 17", ink and gesso on paper. Check in for a special Thursday post, tomorrow, to see the next step for this illustration!
"Five to one, baby. One in five. No one here gets out alive."
- Dave
