Where The Wild Things Are...perhaps one of the most pivotal books for me as a child on a few different levels. First and foremost....I love monsters. Always have and still do. As a kid, while most of my friends were outside playing baseball or football..(although I did still play...just not as dedicated as they were.) I was inside watching horror films on T.V. (At the time there were several shows on Saturday afternoons a kid like me could catch horror flicks)..building my Aurora horror model kits, thumbing through issues of Forrest J. Akermans Famous Monsters of Filmland or just drawing and reading comics.
On the other level...it was Maurices inking that caught my eye. I'm a huge inking geek. Even now I dissect every pen and ink image I see, especially if it stands out to me. As I've grown older, people like Frank Booth, Alex Toth, Walter Simmonson and some of the newer artists Jason Shawn Alexander& Jim Mahfood inspire me constantly. But for me this is where it began. Maurices use of crosshatching and textures were an immediate attraction. And though over the years I've gotten away from the use of crosshatching, after doing this challenge I've been reminded of what it's capabilities are and I tried to repeat the look of Maurices original technique as much as possible. Enjoy.
Spot on! This feels Sendak-y in ink and color. There is something about that palette that feels like my childhood, very late 70s, early 80s. Good stuff!
ReplyDeleteI hear ya about inking, I love the stuff. Alex Toth and Franklin Booth specifically! I have a heck of a Booth book to show you.
Booths story just blows me away. Trying to repeat the look of woodblock prints by hand, is madness.
DeleteHoly Crap man! This is beautiful, I love the cross hatching and colors.
ReplyDeleteThat crosshatching was hand cramp inducing.
DeleteI believe it.
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