There is a small part of me that has always envied those illustrators and fine artists who seemed to have found their signature style early on and stuck with it throughout their entire careers. I have experimented with many approaches over the years, some successful, some not so successful.
Switching styles and not having one signature style can be pure hell when it comes to marketing.
Yet there are many advantages to being able to bend this way or that in order to bring in a steady stream of work. After all, one must pay the bills.
Over the past few years I have been trying to nail down an honest feel to my work which would allow me to meld my love of both color and line. I enjoy the loose feel of a brush and have been taking this same approach to my drawing, particularly over the past couple years.
Many times a breakthrough can happen by mistake but more often than not, it is the result of hard work, failures, hard work, a little success, more hard work and failures....trial and error if you get my drift.
Shown here is a small piece I did which I am very happy with and it came so easily and effortlessly that I had it made me smile. It is shown here, first as a b&w wash and ink, then colored digitally in a couple different ways. It's a little breakthrough I feel and a nice way to start the week.
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