I Am The Law: An Addendum

I thought I might show you the pencils for the Judge Dredd cartoon in order to illustrate what I actually did in Photoshop. It also, rather unfortunately, illustrates my disgracefully slapdash method of working. But, hey! Cut me some slack, Jack! I did say it was a very hurried job.

As I mentioned in the previous post, the main point of interest (interest? Ha!) is the substitution of the accused. I was just trying out a few ideas, hence the appearance of Isaac Newton contemplating a gravity-defying apple in the bottom left corner.

It's messy, scribbled and perhaps should have been best left unseen, but it's the way I work.

Yours sincerely,

Scribblini.

I Am The Law

This week's Caption Competition had a theme of Law, and - as is the case in these matters - all the entries may be perused here. There isn't a montage, you'll have to do a bit of scrolling and mouse-clicking and whatnot and stuff.

As usual, mine was one of the more simplistic ideas. Who is the law? Judge Dredd. Not only is he the Judge, but the Jury too. Yes yes, I know that he's the executioner too, but we've done away with the death penalty. This is Britain, dammit! Not Mega-City One.

It is another rather rushed job. The perspective is all over the place and consequently the prisoner in the dock is being presided over by a giant Dredd (wasn't there a Judge Giant at one time?).

It is a digital drawing and perhaps the most interesting point about it, from my point of view, is the fed-up looking accused chappy. In the original pencil drawing he was sweating and looking worriedly up at the judge. On the same sheet of paper, I drew a another figure looking resigned to his fate. When I scanned in the pencils I decided that the latter figure worked better than the former and so I replaced him using Photoshop.

You need to understand that as far as I'm concerned we have started to move on from technology and have begun to encroach upon the realms of magick. Why so? Consider this: less than a decade ago it would have taken you just less than a minute to physically walk around one meg of memory housed in an I.B.M. box. Today, I can hold in my hand a piece of metal measuring just about 9 x 4 cms and is barely 0.5 cm thick and it contains over seven (7, count 'em!) GIGAFRIGGINGBYTES! I reiterate: we have moved beyond technology.

Oh, I should have mentioned that the cause of my aged astonishment is my Apple nano. No moving parts and yet all that music!

A Humbling Experience

This is my entry for this month's caricature competition. All the entries may be found here. I found this to be a very humbling experience for the following reason: I began this task by searching for an image of Jim Broadbent that really appealed to me. Having found one I set to with pencil and paper and started drawing in the time-honoured tradition of looking at the subject, looking at the sheet of paper and wondering where the hell I make the first graphite smudge. Actually, I tend to start with the glazz-balls, they being the windows to the soul and all that. Having finished the pencils I scanned the image into Photoshop and started "inking" with the Bamboo tablet (kiss kiss kiss - I love my Bamboo tablet!). The finished result has already been laid before you. Left, left - it's over to the left. That's Jim Broadbent, that is.
Now then, why all this verbose preamble? Why all this circumlocutory loquaciousness? Why all the blather? Because, well, look at it. Look at my effort and then compare it with all the other entries - especially the winning entry by Malcolm McGookin. Where I struggled, panted, sweated and gasped to achieve a passing resemblance of a fine actor, everybody else did what was asked of them, which was to produce a caricature (dictionary definition = A pictorial representation of a person, which exaggerates his characteristic traits for comic effect.).
It may well be a steep learning curve for thine truly, but if I had known it was going to be this bloody steep I would have requested a Tibetan sherpa - or, indeed, a yak. You can ride a yak, can't you? Okay, I'll take a yak. Riding piggy-back on a sherpa would merely be a graphic illustration of Western imperialism riding on the back of an oppressed nation struggling under the yoke of.... etc. (To be continued in Marx and Cartoon Allegories: A Cartoonist's Sourcebook by Che Lenin).

Light Flight

This is my entry for this week's caption competition. Only, it doesn't have a caption but a theme. This week's theme is "Flight". My immediate thought was Moses' flight from Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea. I am now having whacking great huge doubts about this. Was the parting of the Red Sea part of the flight from Egypt, or is my ridiculously poorly-performing memory betraying me once again? I dunno. I don't know nuffink, guvnor. A couple of clicks on the pictorial representation on your gauche will reveal a few more details than you can see at present. I am particularly pleased with the Hebrew mother shouting at her child (the child isn't as pleasing to my critical eye). It is her channel for the general disgruntlement displayed by the rest of the crowd. Why are they disgruntled? When you're being led to the promised land you don't expect to have to wade through smelly mud, do you? I was hugely tempted to add a couple of other details. One was to have a character coming face to face with a fish on the other side of the water wall. The other temptation was to add a couple of anachronistic tin cans and a shopping trolley. I'm glad that I restrained myself because they would have dissipated the general grumpiness of the crowd.

Techy bit: Well, it's techy as far as I'm concerned. Rough pencils (and, by crikey, were they rough!) scanned into Photoshop and then inked on the Bamboo. I'm beginning to get a better feel for it now, I think. Others may disagree, but who gives two figs for what others think? Not I, for one.

(Whimpering) O lawks! I hope I haven't offended anyone!

James Bond in a Time of Austerity

I think it's fairly safe to say this one ain't going to sell. It's a pity really, because I think this is one of my wittier efforts. This is pen and ink and therefore rather indicative of its age (i.e. it isn't a more recent digital masterpiece. I am currently working on a digital project which ought to bear fruit in a few month's time; more of which, anon). The more perspicacious among you may have noticed that my Bond does not resemble any of his silver screen incarnations. This is not, let me assure you, cowardice on my part. I can do caricatures as well as the next man (yes, that badly). No, my Bond is the embodiment of Mr. Fleming's literary creation, hence the thick comma over the right eye. His, not mine - I don't have enough hair to form a full stop, let alone any other form of tonsorial punctuation. Fleming also had one of his female protagonists describe Bond as looking like Hoagy Carmichael. If you don't know what Hoagy Carmichael looks like then I have captured his likeness exactly. No no, don't bother going over to Google image, just - er - just take my word for it. After all my word is my Bond (ha ha ha!).

If you are having problems reading the caption, may I gently remind you that if you click on the ineffable brilliance that is my drawing you will be presented with a larger version. I say ineffable, but to be honest there are quite a few effs flying around when my ambition over-reaches my drawing skills. Fortunately the majority are internalised, thereby saving the blushes of my neighbours and the intrusion of the local constabulary. Sorry, I'm rambling.

I'll just add that Fleming created Bond in an age of austerity, therefore my contribution to the visual arts is all the more apposite. And to those of you that think these times are not as austere as the post-war years think on this: When was the last time the third in line to the throne had to borrow his dad's car* after his wedding? Eh? Eh?

* An Aston Martin, funnily enough.

A Second Digital Foray

I really enjoyed myself with this one. This is my digital entry for the monthly caricature competition over at the Cartoonist's Club of Great Britain site here. So, how did it come about? It started off with a pencil sketch which I then scanned into the Artrage software package on the Bamboo Fun graphics pad. Next, I created a new layer in the package and "inked" over the pencils and with judicious use of "pen", "brush" and colour, I produced the almost life-like caricature you see before you. Next, I saved that particular layer which removed the underlying pencil guides so that only the "inks" and colour remained. And abracadabra, a masterpiece!

Who is it? What do you mean, who is it? It's obvious isn't it? Come on, come on, look again. Resevoir Dogs? Mr. Pink? Fargo? Ghost World? Don't make me tell you. Okay, okay. It's Steve Buscemi. How dare you? It does look like him! Yes it bloody well does! How many points did I get? Does it actually matter how many points I got? All right, all right, I didn't get a single one. There, happy now? Pleased with yourself? You certainly know how to take the fun out of creating digital masterpieces, don't you? All I'll say is this: You're going to look pretty bloody silly when the National Portrait Gallery come begging at my door. Just you wait and see.

My First Digital Drawing - The Journey Begins

What on Earth has happened to the smooth, flowing artistry of yore? Why is Brendini, world famous millionaire-playboy cartoonist, posting an illegible scribble on his Blog? This is an historic moment, that's why. From this little effort a universe of possibilites may ensue.

What you see before you, my friends, is my very first digital, paperless, virtual, doesn't-actually-exist-in-the-real-world drawing. I fully accept its rough and ready nature, but I find it incredibly exciting. Here's the reason why: A few weeks ago my wife bought me a belated birthday present. It is a Wacom Bamboo Fun graphics pad. It comes with two software packages, Photoshop Elelments and Artrage. I've had a little play around and I found that Artrage seems to be more user-friendly than Photoshop. It ought to be emphasised that I'm using these things from the standpoint of a complete ignoramus. Photoshop, especially, is pretty much a closed book to me. Most, if not all, online tutorials that I've stumbled accross seem to be aimed at photographers and distorters of historical archives rather than millionaire-playboy cartoonsists, but even I can see the boundless artistic freedom these packages are capable of.

What I have before me is not so much as a steep learning curve, but a learning cliff-face. Having said that, I have my boots, ropes, crampons (something used by climbers - not a feminine product for ladies) and a willingness to acquire the knowledge I need.

The cartoon itself is Leonardo Da Vinci drawing a water squirting joke flower. I thought I had better explain that fact because the manner of the cartoon's execution doesn't make that very explicit. I still like it. Me, grinning as I type.