I figured it’s been a while since I’ve drawn Senoir~ Wenceslaus.
Category Archives: Senior~ Wenceslaus
Ambush
My oldest son, Caleb has mastered the art of scaring the crap out of his brother. I mean mastered it. Although, I do not approve of this behavior, I have to admire his cunning and stealth. He once scared Stephen so bad, he had a crick in his neck for the rest of the day.
This sketch is a good example of less is more. I kept the lines simple to show depth, adding detail only to the objects in the foreground.
On the Trail
Growing up in upstate NY, deep snow was a constant. If you never grew up in it, then it may be difficult to imagine the landscape draped in a fresh blanket of pure white snow. When the conditions are right and the moon is out, it looks like a zillion-trillion diamonds piled everywhere. It’s absolutely amazing.
I kept this sketch very loose. I didn’t blend it just so I could try and strike a balance between the minimal amount of lines and the maximum amount of shading required.
Rapid Transit
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday.
I did.
WENCESLAVS
This is from a story that Senior~ Wenceslaus tells about a story that his grandfather told about his grandfather’s grandfather’s grandfather’s grandfather’s grandfather. The story is not so much about WENCESLAVS, as it is about his worthy opponent, Kvle (pronounced “Kyle”).
You see, Kvle kind of stumbled into this profession. He started doing it to put himself through Horticulture school. After he graduated he found the money was far better when he could pick up some day shifts, so he decided to do it full time, but only to save up some money, then he will by a suit, get a haircut (literally), and get a real job. This is exactly what he told himself.
At the moment captured in this sketch, Kvle is sad.
Ten years after that fateful decision, he finds himself doing exactly the same thing he was doing then. Apart from the lovely herb garden Kvle keeps in his back yard, he is no closer to his goal of being a top dirt doctor then he was before he graduated. To make matters worse, his popularity is growing within the gladiatorial circles. Normally, this would be wonderful news, however, his adoring fans have given him the moniker “Baboon Boy”, when Kvle clearly resembles an orangutan.
This is obvious to Kvle. What frustrates him the most is the fact that he would have to head the crusade to educate the public regarding the differences between the baboon and the orangutan and he knows he just doesn’t have the inclination nor the patience for that.
But, it really doesn’t matter, because after his chance encounter with this Wenceslaus, he will never step foot in an arena again…
Hehe. Now, I’m just starting to make stuff up…
That’s my friend, Arta, in the stands. She’s a dancer. I gave her junior high school eyebrows.
I am really playing with atmospheric perspective through blurring. I kept WENC in sort of a shadowed state to really draw him closer to the viewer, therefore pushing everything else out in the light/background. Imagine the stands filled all the way to the top of the drawing with people. That’s what I’d do if I were to paint this.
Slobberbucket Sabre
What is the coolest thing you’ve ever owned? How about what’s the coolest thing you’ve ever touched?
I had a college professor who worked on the restoration of the terracotta army from China in the late seventies. He told this story about repairing an arm on a warrior. He had a piece in his hands and on the back was a perfect thumb print from the artisan who had first constructed the piece over two thousand years prior. He said his thumb fit the print perfectly.
This time, I darkened the outlines a bit more. I think I may adopt this technique as well. I am enjoying my experiments a lot and feel like I am growing as an artist and it feels wonderful.
The Key
My best friend, Larry Jones’ landscape philosophy; Give them something to look at, someplace to go, and something to do when they get there. I have adopted these words as my landscaping creation philosophy also. I drew this landscape just so I could use a bunch of wonderful Copic markers that I received in the mail from a dear friend of mine. Senior~ Wenceslaus on top of the RoBot was an afterthought.
In this sketch, I use detail to achieve atmospheric perspective more than color or shade. I used the same colors from the landscape in the robot to lessen the mechanical aspect and give him more of an organic look. I opted to leave the background white to keep the focus on the characters. If I were going to put color to it, I would use a blue wash fading to white from top to bottom. As it is now, you can imagine the white as a wall of snow behind them.
Senior~ Wenceslaus character study III
I love the idea of going to exotic places without the hassle of checking bags or layovers. Here’s my solution. A large round rock garden, overgrown with brush and various thick, viney growth plants, with doors representing the four corners of the world. The one above represents the South. Wouldn’t that be something? It may have been written about already, and if it has, I would love to read about it.
I added a bit of color to this, however, I didn’t finish it to save my markers. This is merely a study. Also, it’s the opening Saturday of college football – hence, the short entry.
Senior~ Wenceslaus character study
This is a detail of a larger character study of Senior~ Wenceslaus. After drawing him a couple of times in my sketches, I decided it was time to concentrate on the man so he may have a uniform look. There will be more to follow. I doubt he will look exactly like the current sketches when he’s ready for prime time. I drew him eight times in total and each time, he would evolve a little more. Once I feel comfortable with his look, I will do a more formal study on him.
The Crossing
Here is another installment of Senior~ Wenceslaus. This drawing started out as just a sketch of a bird and some dramatic clouds behind it. The swan is destined for a life on the pond, since he can’t see where he’s flying to. He went blind after trading a wish with the old wizard, shown here in the form of an eel. Wenceslaus is on a journey with his weasel guide….hold on while I do another bong hit……(kidding, Mom). Most of these types of drawings start off with a simple idea and grow from there. I let my imagination wander. I enjoy thinking up what’s next.
In any drawing, there are sweet spots and then there are some areas that look like they were drawn in the dark. I’m really happy with the clouds in this drawing. They’re sketchy, but at the same time, they have depth. I have been developing this look for a while and I’m satisfied with the outcome. I also like the swan’s head and neck. Truthfully, the blind part of the story came about after I decided not to draw the swan’s eye. I didn’t know what type of expression I wanted to give it, therefore he has none. I’m not so happy with the dorsal fin of the eel. Although the circles appear to be symmetrical, the spot where the fin comes out of the water is throwing the rings off a bit. Still works for me overall.