Sunday, February 21, 2010

A drawing for Emily

My daughter turns twenty-one shortly, and when asked what she wanted for this significant birthday, she responded with a request for two things, one of which was an original drawing of the Turtles celebrating her birthday.

I thought "I can do that!" and set to work. I started with blue pencil and no preliminary sketches, as I pretty much had the layout clearly worked out in my head. Here's a photo of the finished blue pencil drawing:



About the time I finished the penciling, I started thinking maybe I should go a step further with this piece and do it in color, perhaps using watercolors to add the hues over the inkwork. With this in mind, I decided to eschew my preferred inking tool -- the Pitt brush pen -- and go with a real brush and India ink. I didn't want to run the risk that the brush pen ink might run under the watercolor. It was the first time I had done any inking of this nature in a while. Here's the drawing half-inked:



And this is what it looked like when fully inked:



I wasn't sure what to use to color it, but then I remembered a nifty portable watercolor set I'd picked up at an art supply store in Bennington, VT last year on a motorcycle ride. I went out and bought a few new brushes, and got to it. I was more than a bit trepidatious, as I hadn't done anything like this in some time, but once I got into it, the process went quickly, and it was fun. I think it took me about an hour and a half to finish it to my satisfaction, and here's what the completed piece looked like:



I put the drawing in a "floater frame", and gave it to Em at her pre-birthday party, and she liked it! -- PL

19 comments:

  1. Coolest Dad EVER! Will you adopt me Peter?

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  2. Thats sweet and awesome!
    I see by the mask color she likes the Mirage Turtles best! Ya know I thought when I first spotted this entry it might be pizza with candles!lol

    Happy 21st to her! Man we late 80s babes are getting up there!

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  3. I wish someone had drawn me that for my 21st,
    I'm coming up on 25 in a few months Pete and I'd settle for only one turtle...just sayin'. :-)

    Really like this piece, especially the tight ink with blue pencil. For some reason I've always found that really aesthetically pleasing, maybe cause it has a hint of process showing through.

    Good stuff as always.

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  4. What a fantastic b-day gift!
    Happy, b-day, emily!

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  5. Wow Peter seeing this makes me really wish you had been the one doing these last issues of tales of the TMNT.
    Beautiful work!

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  6. wow looks great!

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  7. Ha! Looks great! Kind of a subtle nod to the first movie with Leo cutting the cake with his katana, no?

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  8. Great work, Pete! It's always a pleasure to see a new tmnt piece by you. Ya know...my 21st is in May ;]

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  9. This looks awesome. Nice Work, Pete.

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  10. Wow... that could be one of the best birthday presents ever ;)

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  11. I absolutely LOVE it!! It's even better than I imagined!! I love how Leo was cutting the cake with his sword...he was there for my first birthday and my 21st! Thanks again, Dad. Love, Em

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  12. Very awesomely done. I counted the candles. You made sure to put 21 of 'em on there. Sweet. ^_^

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  13. That is an awesome picture of the guys! I once made a drawing for a friend of Leo ready to slice the birthday cake, but it was more exaggerated. He had his katana lifted over his head and ready to slam down hard on it. XD

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  14. That drawing is very cool. ^^ I love it. Happy (now belated) 21st Birthday, Emily. Leo has, is and always will be my favorite too. ^_~

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