Welcome to today's throwback-Thursday
(now 100% more accurately titled!). Even though I drew this redraw
weeks ago, it's prescient that today I present to y'all this hard
working woman. Currently my husband (Jeff) is doing some hard working
for the next two weeks straight at his factory job here in the middle
of August, eight and twelve hour shifts. Hard workers are clearly on
my mind right now.
"Summer don-na!"- One of the dumbest SNL jokes that I remember.
He helped inspire how I colored this
character. She's in the thick of a long and hard work day. I would
say from the mix of oil, grease, dirt, and sweat stains I put on her
that she might be in the same line of work as Jeff- industrial
mechanic. Welding, replacing parts, making wrench stuff with wrenches
(his job is a bit baffling to me): these are just a few of his work
duties.
Do the details on this drawing look
gross? Jeff comes home ten times grosser. The thing about working in
a job like his is, much like working in a restaurant, he comes home
covered in a level of grime that lingers even after scrubbing (think
of the fast food worker who always smells like fries- Jeff always
smells a little bit like motor oil*).
I used him and a bit of Furiosa/Ruby
Rose from OITNB as inspiration for the redraw of this character
(though the latter two were mostly incorporated subconsciously, I
think). The original is part of my clone series where everyone looks
the same. But- I dig that arm cuff and impossibly small button-up
shirt on her.
For the redraw I got to practice a lot
of new techniques for making grime, all of which I am very pleased
with. This is due to only doing one of these drawings a week.
Changing things up has given me more time to develop my ideas, both
in the drawing and for the accompanying written parts.
Art notes: I'm noticing a trend of
finding myself drawn to the skin color you see here. I've used it on
several of my drawings by now. It seems to absorb red and pink
highlights very well which makes blending and shading easier. Also it
just looks nice.
Next week: A whole new batch! That
doesn't exist yet, but will by then! Also, my 80s Japanese prom girl
is going to get redone and released as well.
*So manly.