PVC cheeseborg

Another refurb. The "PVC cheeseborg" was one of the later MK2 veeps I did, and also one of the better (in my humble opinion). I barely changed any of the original lines when I returned to it.

Leftmost is the original. From the moment I drew him, I imagined his pointy trousers being shiny yellow plastic. With the cutouts it became obvious to me that his name was "PVC cheeseborg". The "borg" part made sense at the time.

No shared theme here. These guys are generic characterful (oxymoron?) sword-havers. I decided #2 was armoured in some kind of scaly leather, hence the texture. The colour scheme took ages to get working though and it's still only just acceptable. With #3 I continue my inexplicable fascination with people in plate-mail leggings. He was this close to having a belly shirt too. No idea what it says about me that I keep trying to give men bare midriffs and metal trousers.

Very happy with #1's colour scheme. The grey bits were originally red and they looked nice, but I'm so glad I tested the grey. #3's eyepatch was an indulgence. They're such cheap and easy head-detail that I have to ration my use of them.

There's not as much variation in the swords as there might have been. They all needed to be long, slightly curved and relatively thin because of the pose. Because they go behind the head the middle part of the blade can't have any important details that might get lost behind a hat. I'm mostly happy with them, but I regret making all the blade/hilt joins boring. It might have been interesting to blur the line between those components a little. A sword where the blade becomes the hand-guard for example, or a hilt that extends up along the back of the blade.

Revamps are a good idea since I'm still having trouble with new sketches. I do want to go back and revisit some of the earlier stuff I posted on this blog, but for now I'd prefer to do as much new stuff as I can. If I ever wind up using these guys for anything, then I can get all perfectionist.

Sweep away the dust

What's going on here then, hm? Nothing much. So let's see about that then, hm?

I'd been stalled on these you see and had largely given up. But last night I sketched a dashing fellow with a wand. I scan him but before I even start on his linework, these unfinished broomboys catch my eye. Before I know it I'm dropping nodes and aiming arcs and shopping colours and here we are!

They felt a lot more androgynous while I was making them, but midway during the colour stage I had to face facts: these are men. Well, young men. Boys really. To my eyes at least. A second flavour of apprentice I guess.

Remarks:

#3's hair was added well after colouring had started. I decided he needed something more and so I went back and biddled with the lines. A little awkward to update the linework on a WIP colour piece, but it's all for the better.

#2's hair is silly. I'm trying hard not to think "Dragonball Z" when I see it. I like it though. Looks autumn-y.

#1's hangy bauble looks to be tugging his hat down. I like that. I'm not terribly good at making things feel weighty and solid, but this is a nice exception.

The brooms were all utter arse to do. This art style is not broomhead-friendly. It was one of the big things I stalled on way back when I started this (#2's hat was another, but big hair to the rescue).

The initial sketch was far more ambitious. Unfortunately it also wasn't very good. These are yet more static-looking flatfoots, but they're much less offensive to the eye than they might have been.

Dissatisfied with the faces. They're looking downward in an uninspiring and vaguely morose manner. I'm leaving them like that for now, but if I come back it'll probably be the first thing I fix.

In the future I'll try and take a crack at the new sketch that these distracted me from. I'll wait until there's something else I should be doing. I also have some more limes I could post up if I felt the need. Or I might wander off and forget about this nonsense. Time will tell.