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.
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.
2 comments:
This is really exciting, It's been bugging me all this morning though (in a good way). makes me wonder if you'll address other less romantic themes in the kids gone feral theme, if you choose to continue that is. Whenever these stories of feral humans crop up scholars have found that there's a pattern of extreme abuse that makes them break ties with society and take on the characteristics of an animal as a coping mechanism. These moments of action are really effective though.
Just a thought. Again, love it.
Thanks for the comment Rebekka- you bring up a lot of good points. In terms of where the story will go, I do plan to follow the same character and setting. On top of that, most of his narrative is worked out so he'll be confronting much more than just hunger or the cold fog.
Rather than approaching the more gruesome stories of the children facing all of that abuse- I wanted to show that more romantic, almost Jungle Book story, in a bit more gritty way. Examples like Genie- children being locked in rooms, and in her case, even strapped down to a chair or in her crib, would be too brutal for me to draw.
Instead, I wanted to work with something more along the lines of Victor of Averyron. A boy living alone in the wild for almost 7 years. When he was found, he was covered in scars, and felt no affect running around in the freezing cold. Just something I'm more interested in. It has that mystery to it, but at the same time, I can present it in a more dynamic manner.
No matter how you look at it, it's a very interesting phenomena. Thanks again!
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