Modern Icarus

Today's piece doesn't come from one of my sketchbooks but was instead an assignment for an illustration class. Let me be honest: I actually really hate how this piece came out, and I'm not trying to fish for compliments in saying that. (So why post it at all? Because a lot of other people really liked it, so why not.) I was relatively happy with the focal point--the science fiction Icarus figure--but I messed up the background and messed it up good. I was trying to inject a similar feeling, in it, to one of Sean Dietrich's paintings. I was using spray paint rather than a brush, but I figured if I sprayed it close enough, it'd drip and run and look neat. No such luck. I was also somehow under the impression that layering it would create tone variation instead of just making it more opaque. Guess who doesn't apparently know how spray paint works? So I tried to then salvage the feeling I was going for by mixing up some ink wash and flinging it onto the board Jackson Pollock-style, but I couldn't lay enough of it down--the paint just kept sort of absorbing it, I couldn't mix it dark enough to show up very well, and I was too skittish (and nervous of how much I'd already ruined something I had liked initially) to just start flinging pure ink. It did add some neat texture, but not nearly enough. Deciding that the hazy effect of the sloppy spray paint job could possibly be passed off as the atmosphere the figure was hurtling through, I added the crusty shadow of a passing zeppelin with more ink wash--a detail I still like, but most people thought detracted. Oh well.

I also couldn't find a scanner quite big enough, so you're missing some of the nifty detail from the other ruined wing. If I find one big enough and there's demand to, I'll post the full picture someday, or take a photo or something.

Media: Tech pen, permanent marker, alcohol marker, spray paint, ink wash