I've been spending the last week and a half really experimenting with style for my book. This character painting is the result of my many attempts at playing with texture, graphic shape and line work. I've really been trying to channel a bit of Al Hirschfeld, which is hopefully evident.
I've been incubating this project for a while now, and have had the characters developed since the Summer of 2011. The image below represents early development sketches for this accordion player, which is taken from an earlier post that you can see here.
It's interesting looking back at this older work because I feel I've improved upon the design of the character so much. I elongated his pose, widened his belly and tapered some of his features overall. Looking at the evolution of my thinking and abilities is always fun (and hopefully encouraging), but it always makes me think - "How would I do what I just did one year from now? Two years from now?" It's a vicious cycle, I suppose :)
Hope you enjoyed looking! Happy weekend, everyone!
He looks great! Maybe if/when you do a second book with the same character you can evolve him more!
ReplyDeleteAs Leonardo once said, "Art is never finished. Only abandoned." So if it goes that we continue to get better and better, then I suppose it'd be interesting to see what I could do with him in another few years.
DeleteOoooh, I love how he is shaped just like I imagine his music to sound like -- soft, then strong, and then tapered. What a brilliant visual!
ReplyDeleteLovely motion and shapes Mauricio!
ReplyDeleteHe's fantastic Mauricio! I love the style..and so cool that you are exploring styles for this wonderful book project. I'm inspired as I see your hard work and determination to get your characters to have such depth. It makes me want to work harder! I've re-written and re-written so I am plodding away on mine too. : ) I'll be back again to check in soon! Beautiful character..I can't wait to know more!
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff! I love the tapered legs!
ReplyDeleteThanks, everyone! I'll be posting more on this and related stuff every week, so I hope it continues to please :)
ReplyDeleteNice! I know what you mean. I always look at old work and think about how I can make it better. You never stop learning.
ReplyDeleteOoooohhhh! I love his shape!!! He looks retro and it gives me a sensation of a delightful novel the way Guipetto gave me when reading Pinocchio. Great character rendering!
ReplyDeleteWell, look at that! I just read the other comments after I wrote mine and it looks like Bella and I were thinking alike. Hah!
ReplyDeleteNice styling, Mauricio. The colored line accents are cool.
ReplyDeleteWicked fun sir. The graphic shapes read quite nicely and I love Hirschfeld's stuff also! On your next character I think you can push it way more Hirschfeldy with the shapes and it will totally kick even more butt!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Patrick! Although I could make it more Hirschfeld-like, I consciously chose not to because I was only trying to draw inspiration from him and not emulate him exactly. I feel that if I did try to push this style towards his, my work would just become a poor derivative of his. By only adding a "dash of Hirschfeld," along with whatever other elements I'm choosing to use, I can maintain this as being more "Mauricio" than anything.
DeleteRock on sir! You have not lost the way and indeed have retained your "Mauricio", lol.
DeleteI love this Mau, he's got such a natural warmth to him. The work you've done to get him here is really evident too. I'm having fun catching up on your blog!
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