Commission: Frodo and pals

Great news! I was contacted for my first commission of the year!

When new friend Courtney asked me for an original, I asked her to take a couple of days and then tell me which of my drawings did she like best. Because she wasn't really too sure. But the answer she gave was this guy

OK cool. This was one of my favorites. Now...what would she like me to draw? After a day or two, she said that she'd like something from The Fellowship of the Ring in this style.

And oh did I know exactly what I wanted to do(it's nice when it fucking goes this easy every once in a while).

I'm gonna draw when Frodo puts on the ring and the Nasghul come up on him anyway. Silly hobbit.

First up is to get Frodo down. This was the...third(?)...go at it. I really liked the texture going on in his tunic, compared to the flat shape of the cloak. And it was a deliberate choice to put him down and in the corner.

Now let's set the scene with some Sumi ink that I spread around with a toothbrush and now there is ink on the back of my neck.

To create the shapes of the Nasghuls looking to loot the ring, I tore up some newspaper and rubber cemented them on the still not dry ink. It's at this point that I hope that I'm not fucking up a drawing that I like here.

I'm feeling a little better after smearing around some white paint. Because who wouldn't?

OK, I'm digging this quite a bit. But it's not entirely clear about the kingly ghosts in the background, so I took a pause to wait for the next day to see it with fresh eyes. But I like where this is going.

Alright, I am done! Using the awesomeness that are Presto! white paint pens, I clarified the Nasghuls while not sacrificing(I hope) their fucking creepiness. And I ultimately loved the texture of the painted(and razorblade scraped) newspaper.

Now...getting ready for comics pages and a move to a studio here in NC...