Again, I apologize for the graphic heavy page. Please bear with me. *GROWL*
The Audrey Lagos Superhero Experience!
Allow me to set the scene....
It was a dark and stormy night, and while I was enjoying a cup of black coffee and a slice of dark cherry pie my phone rang.
"Who is this? Can't you see I'm trying to enjoy this pie?" I wailed into the receiver."Blake? This is Robbie."His voiced cracked back hard enough to leave the thunder in the shadows."I have a favor to ask you, " he requested."What's the haps, Rob?" I shot back without thinking.Robbie then spent the next twenty minutes telling me about this beautiful and strong woman with the allure of a bright moon low on the horizon over a misting lake in the woods. She's the kind of dame a guy would kill for, and probably has. Apparently, she got into a scuffle with cancer, and has been trudging through it with the positivity of a Buddhist monk and the willpower of a Spartan warrior."I want to do something amazing for her, Blake." His voice was stern and sincere. I could tell this was going to be bigger than Chinatown."You got it, Rob. I'm on the case!" I exclaimed and slammed the phone down.I quickly had to call him back because I never got the details on the case.
Robbie wanted me to recreate Audrey as a superhero on a comic book cover. Robbie and Audrey both love superheros and comics, and he wanted to present her with something personal that came from his heart and soul and expressed all the memories and appreciations he has for her presence in this world.
Amongst working two jobs, going to school full-time and the slew of other projects I had going on, I made this top priority. I started with sketches to be sent back to Robbie for his approval before moving onto the next phase of the plan. I had decided that I would be digitally painting this one. I've learned enough in Photoshop from classes, and I had been using my Wacom drawing tablet more. So, I felt it was the best opportunity to prove myself in this medium.
Preliminary sketches
Final sketch
After the sketch was approved I moved onto preliminary coloring, which was then approved by Robbie as well.
Color sketches
The next step was photographing the sketch, and in Photoshop, on a new layer, drawing over the sketch with the Wacom tablet. After that came the color processing. Then I laid out the background design and assets. After that I applied textures to help meld everything together.
Phone captures of the digital processing
I put about 20-25 hours of work into this project, and I'm very proud of it. I look forward to working more in this medium, and pushing it further and further. Every time I complete a piece in a medium I tend to learn more about how the medium works, and in turn enhance my work.
I printed out the piece at 11" x 18" and shipped it off to Robbie to present to Audrey.
Here's the finished the product...
...and here's Robbie presenting it to her. She loved it.
Robbie and Audrey
"The comic book cover was amazing. I really love it so much. I cried at first sight. Really from the bottom of my heart thank you thank you thank you." ~ Audrey LagosI'm honored and proud to be a part of this memory. I will never forget it, and I will be donating a portion of the proceeds from this project to the St. Baldrick's Foundation in Audrey's name. This is the organization her and her friends raised money for and then shaved their heads in solidarity for Audrey. That's quite an amazing group of friends and family she has. Again, I'm very proud to be a part of this.
The world loves you, Audrey. You have the strength to get through any challenge before you. That cancer doesn't stand a chance.
As always, there is more to come...
~3
I see one of those photos was taken at my house! That was so much fun - so glad you came over to work on work with me.
ReplyDeleteMe too! I'd love to work on work with work-minded workers.
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