Friday, June 05, 2009

Wild!



The Wild Things are being unleashed over at Cory Godbey's blog tribute to Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. It's called Terrible Yellow Eyes and Cory was nice enough to invite me to contribute some original artwork.


I started in Flash, and ended in Photoshop where I added some watercolor textures to the background. I definitely wanted to show a wilder side of Max.


Here's my line art.


And this is the sketch I worked from. I actually did a lot of other drawings, which I may post at some point. I may contribute another piece if I get around to it, too. It was great to delve into the story again and explore the illustrations—I hadn't done that since I was a kid!

Today's a fun day because Cory is posting a total of 20 illustrations! One every half hour until this evening! So hop on over a have a look at the amazing talent (and tribute) on display.

7 comments:

Jason Curtis said...

Great piece Bob!

My wife and I had our first baby 11 months ago, and one of the first books I bought for him was "Where the wild things are". So, needless to say, this "Terrible Yellow Eyes" website is a real treat.

Love what you've done with Max here...and the colour treatment looks wonderful. Plus, I love seeing the progression from pencils to ink to colour.

chrisallison said...

hey bob, great sendak tribute. still loving your super clean inking style, and the watercolor texture was a realllly nice touch.

i'm loving your brainy character too. there's something SUPER appealing to me about it. i'd love to see it move or in a comic : )

that's interesting what you said about liking the tablet more than the cintiq for the fact that the tablet feels MORE digital. i actually like the cintiq cuz it feels closer to paper, although there's still a disconnect. i guess it's just invaluable for frame by frame animators because i do so much cleanup and roughing, that hte closer to paper the better. i agree with you that i'm kinda weary of digital REPLACING analog stuff, but hopefully the technologies and drawing tools will continue to get better as research advances. i try to treat the cintiq just like another tool, like learning to ink with a brush (which i'm trying too). if i can spend enough time practicing, maybe i'll eventually get comfortable on it.

you're right tho, nothing beats lead, col-erase, dip pens, and the smell of eraser shrapnel!

Bob Flynn said...

Hey guys, thanks! It's such a good story. I was reading about Sendak's process in writing the book...his edits, decisions. And also the controversy when it was released. People thought it would scare the devil out of kids, or turn them into little beasties. It's such a great story with a great message. Plus, what a unique set of monsters!

Chris: on the Cintiq business...I really haven't given it a fair shake. I'm sure if I spent a week or two with one, I'd come around. Somehow, having my hand covering what I was drawing (on a computer screen) annoyed the crap out of me. Plus, there IS a slight disconnect—literally, because of the glass. I guess I don't think it's worth the money (2G's!) for the big one. I know a ton of people who love them, so when the price comes down and the technology improves, I suspect I'll make the switch. Especially if and when I get into any serious animation.

Tomás Serrano said...

I like this piece, the light you have choiced. I like too see the first sketch.

Vhrsti said...

Amazing!!!

David DeGrand said...

Amazing illustration! What an awesome tribute to one of the best children's books of all time.

Steve Neu said...

great piece, just an awesome style