I was asked to produce a colored image of Becca Killburn’s 7″ Kara. At conventions, I have made and sold a number of sketches. This was my first remote commission and it was to be in color.
I was excited to draw something for someone away from all the distractions of the show and in the comfort of my studio, but it had also been years since I made anything in color by hand. Printing costs forced me to produce and print my work in black and white, and it has always been a comfort area for me. Color was a challenge for me.
Not wanting to disappoint, I tested the waters with the client. Could I provide a black and white inked original drawing and a digitally colored print? Nope. I originally agreed to make a hand-colored drawing and that’s what he wanted. So I got to work.
My art at the time involved a lot of crosshatching. So I bought some colored pens and the second image is how the final product ended up. In retrospect, I’m happy with how it turned out, but I wish I could have done a better job with the face to show the character’s freckles, but at the time I was caught up in shadows.
Later, as I started experimenting with color in Photoshop, I made this third image for my website. I like seeing all three versions of the image together. This project pushed me out of my comfort zone as I began to further explore traditional and digital media.