Swipes and Studies from the Simpson Spiral Sketchbook!

I have already previewed a lot of sketches and work in progress from War of the Independents #4  in the latter half of 2014 elsewhere on this blog, so I won't be showing any more finished art (you'll have to buy the comic when it comes out in hardcopy this spring/summer 2015!). But I will show you some of the studies I've made for the upcoming bar-room brawl between Dave Sim's Cerebus the Aardvark and Jeff Smith's Fone Bone, a key dramatic moment in the storyline (any similarities to real-life feuds are purely, purely, purely coincidental, I am sure!).

As I've mentioned before, the fun aspect of this project is having to learn to draw so many diverse characters and study their designs and body language. In some ways it's like attempting to forge a signature, since these characters are so personal to the artist and their respective style (and won't convince anybody as authentic!). Anyway, here's me trying to get the hang of two of the featured heroes of the issue (plus a few other stray doodles of my own and other characters). They won't appear in these exact poses (storytelling always requires a certain amount of invention, rendering direct swipes almost impossible or at least futile). Enjoy!

Some studies of the body language of Fone Bone, from Bone #52 and 53 (October 2003 and April 2004), along with a Popeye pose from the cover of Craig Yoe's IDW reprint (#24, July 2014) of Popeye #24 (January-March 1953). Note: Popeye will not be in War of the Independents #4!

More poses of Bone from the same issues, along with studies of Cerebus from images found online. (My character Gower Goose, who won't be in the story, appears at the lower left.) I can swipe funny animal poses fairly wellwhen the art is right in front of me, but when left to my own devices, my own homemade funny animal style is pretty clumsy and anything but classical! But I've picked up a thing or two from Jeff and Dave, and other artists I've studied for WOTI #4.

More Bone and Rose studies, along with my own Ms. Megaton Man drawn from my imagination, but suggesting a certain Tony DeZuniga cast for some reason! (Neither Rose nor Ms. MM will be in WOTI #4 either.)

Some earlier sketches of Ms. Megaton Man from imagination. The top center one I was going for a Gil Kane feeling and I think I got it.

More Ms. MM poses, in this case channeling a certain Romita-Kirby-Wally Wood-Larry Leiber quality from memory.

For warm ups, I often just freehand sketch cubes or boxes in perspective. If one can draw three lines freehand and suggest that they will converge off in some distance, one can draw a reasonably convincing box in 3D. Ultimately, one can then draw any number of converging lines and freehand anything in perspective (including the human figure). Here I'm making notes and systematizing the process into a lesson that I hope to present to a class some time soon.

The above material represents the last few pages of an 11" x 14" spiral Strathmore recycled sketchbook I began in 2012. This is the first time I can remember finishing the filling-up of a sketchbook so close to the end of the year. 2015 will begin with a new sketchbook and fresh drawing challenges and studies! Stay tuned ... and Happy New Year!
 
Ms. Megaton Man and Gower Goose are ™ and  © Don Simpson 2015, all rights reserved. Characters not owned by Don Simpson are ™ and  © their respective creators/owners.