Homo Ferus | Strength in Numbers

Better quality version: http://www.johnnydombrowski.com/illustration/homo-ferus--strength-in-numbers/

Just finished this tonight. With the amount of feedback I've received for the first Homo Ferus, the urge and pressure was on to continue the series. I've been going through a long dry spell so it feels good to break out of it. Sketch: About 6 1/2 x 9 inches.
One part of my work that I don't tend to show you is all of the tracing paper I go through. While I'm working on a piece, if I have the slightest bit of doubt of how I should draw something, I'll always sketch it out over the drawing. Before having him jump on the back of the elk, I originally drew him running behind- which you can see in the initial sketch. Along with a few drawings to get his hand right, you can see what the original pose looked like.Above: Original pose for the boy around a few wolves. Below: A few variations of his hand with the final version on the bottom.
Coloring it was also a challenge. Unlike the first, I had no idea what time of day I wanted to set it in. With a few ideas in mind, a dense fog quickly became the winner. I'm already working on sketches for another idea. I'm going to step away from Homo Ferus for a bit but he'll be back. Also, I may be working on a short comic soon but I'll keep you posted on that later. All the best.Inked line work: Around 18 x 24 inches.

Moleskin pages

Coloring a second Homo Ferus illustration. It's starting out slowly but getting there. Much harder to figure out the lighting in this one compared to the first. In the mean time, here are some more pages from a new(er) sketchbook...

Left are some thumbs for an idea I'm working on at the moment. (You can see the page in my sketchbook in a photo from an earlier post!) It was for an illustration about the return to normalcy and the eventual great depression between the two wars. Graphite with inked tracing paper.
On the right is a quick sketch I did during the Society of Illustrators' sketch night this last Tuesday. Most of the time, I'll just hang out by the bar and do the crossword but every once and a while, I'll spot a pose I love and draw it in. This being one of them. That model is great too- love her hair.

One thing I tend to play around with in my sketchbook is design. Though I never find a way to incorporate it into my work, I love typography and play around with it as much as I can.

And this is what happens when I don't draw in pencil. Not a pretty sight. I hated it so much I had to either rip the page out or draw it again. An interesting before and after though.