I'm almost afraid to post these, after reading a few talkbacks at Gil Thorp sites! Eh, what the hell, here are the rest of my tryout pages—this time for football season.The first batch of samples (yesterday) featured characters that I tried to keep "on model." That's not the case with today's samples. I had a couple of pages of scripts and descriptions, so I was able to design the characters myself. I wish I'd have searched for the published version of Cully Vale. Wow.
Marty Moon, the announcer, ends up looking a lot like how he was previously drawn, even without reference.
I've received a few inquiries regarding why the Trib is looking for an artist. I have no idea if they're looking for someone to spell Mr. McLaughlin while he's on vacation or if they're looking for a permanent replacement in the event of him leaving the strip. I have no idea of a timetable as to if/when anything will happen. I just had fun drawing samples.
These are really good.
ReplyDeleteWow, they look like real people and everything ...
ReplyDeleteA vast improvement over the strip as it is now. They were crazy not to hire you.
Just terrific pics! Cully actually looks like a large, young man who might be a football player, instead of... well... a freakish collection of lines.
ReplyDeletePart of the charm of Gil Thorpe is the terrible art work... I can see why they didn't hire you.
ReplyDeleteThis is a tough call. You are technically beyond what I expect from Gil Thorp. The narrative has become less obscure considering the level of the writing. I would lik to see you working regularly on this, but the puzzle-factor would be missing.
ReplyDeleteThanks, everyone! I thought it would have been a lot of fun to tackle the Gil Thorp strip. A more realistic approach to the artwork could have really upped the Twin Peaks quality of the strip! Regardless, I had a lot of fun doing the samples!
ReplyDeleteIt would have been quite jarring to see Gil Thorp go from the surreal, post-modern, post-expressionist collection of almost-but-not-quite humans uttering inane dialog to well-drawn CHARACTERS that actually look like... people... in places where high schoolers actually might be. The shock could kill a man.
ReplyDeleteIt's going to be hard seeing A-train in the continuing saga after seeing him fleshed out by a pro... oh well.
Great work.