newjackcole

Terrace

Added 2022-08-14 21:31:42 +0000 UTC

Fox goma and lion gohma. The drawing itself is from somewhere between 2014 and 2016 I think. I was experimenting with different techniques, using brush, technical pen, and a white gel pen, and laying down tones with pencil.

I almost abandoned this one completely to be lost in the "never show pile" because the perspective is off and the characters are kind of wonky, but I gave it another shot coloring a couple weeks ago and managed to get the colors to a place I like. The abstract shapes manifesting above the lion's head gave it a bit of color that I wanted, and a certain mystical quality that I wanted to capture, which was of the lion's presence altering and abstracting the environment around himself.

The coloring also allowed me to create a sort of surreal background, which is shrouded in darkness while the building is being hit by sunlight. I like the idea of the world of the goma having all manner of strange weather and skies. Magritte's painting "The Empire of Lights" in which the sky is like a normal daytime sky but the environment is dark like the end of dusk is a big inspiration. In a similar way that the goma/animal people navigate the world with impossible bodies, I want to create environments that reflect a certain "impossible but fully functional" quality.

Otherwise as far as any other themes, its a little too far back to remember. I don't know why the fox is chained, and it looks like I drew a fountain coming out of the base of the pillar, which is a neat idea which maybe I'll try and re-use somewhere else.