One of my favorite scenes from Moby Dick is when Ishmael wakes up to Queequeg snuggling him. I thought it would be fun to show him with the New Zealand (shrunken) head. However, after re-reading it's clear that the shrunken head was packed away before Queequeg hits the sack. And it was made clear in the assignment instructions - STAY TRUE TO THE NARRATIVE. So with that, I literally opened my copy to a random chapter and was greeted with Chapters 89/90 - chapters on the Fast-fish/Loose-fish laws where it in essence explains that a whale which is beached or loose, even if pursued by a ship with the crew's harpoons in the whale, it becomes property of the Crown. Then explains that the King gets the head and the Queen gets the tail. I'm envisioning a designed, graphic feel. Play with division of land/sea, of king/queen and heads/tails.

HAHAH that was a lot of fun, obviously a sense of scale abandoned me when time started to press and a person quickly changed to a completely different individual, but still, it is a cool task to work on) I've decided to change materials from time to time to find something ) it didn’t quite work out, but brought a lot of smiles) As far as interesting goes though - curiously my 8 minute drawing is more accurate than 15 or 30, at some point, I’ve changed his chin and carried the wrong one with me till the end on the bright side - right eye stays consistent!!👀😂 Though I chose 4min one to add values and form back a bit via the use of calque) - I like the feel of brush and if I wasn’t in a hurry - pretty sure I wouldn’t butcher negative spaces as bad) Good day and smiles to anyone who reads it.. if someone does 😅

I've realized that I tend to elongate shapes in general. I didn't notice it when I did the one-hour drawing, but I did when I saw all the versions together. This tendency persists across them. However, I found the four-minute sketch particularly interesting and used it as the foundation for the rendered version. Moving forward, I'll be more mindful of this habit—though I may still do it, at least with awareness. Great exercise!

Woof. That was a great exercise. I noticed that the eyes kept drifting slightly higher and to the right with each iteration. The 30-second sketch was the most interesting, so I created a more illustrative version with references.

Didn’t notice the figure on the ground on the first pass, so I threw a little light on the third (man) pass

I’m digging these exercises

High key thumbnail in acrylic; painted layers of glazes with a bit of negative painting to get contrast;

When I think darker range, I think charcoal.

Days of Heaven. As a kid, I had an Issue of National Geographic which featured the work of N.C. Wyeth illustrations for Treasure Island (a title that only the best illustrators are called to do ;), as well as his son Andrew Wyeth's Christina's World. It haunted me, literally gave me unsettling dreams. Days of Heaven has so much of that visually as well. Incredible film. Talk about images that speak... Anyways, here's my playing with that still.

I've realized, thanks to this assignment, that I could really make more use of the space. Since it's not a lot of space, I've really only allowed myself to do one part of the work in my studio. I'll take reference shots, sit models, or arrange objects elsewhere and then take sketches and photos to the studio. This may just work to have a space for models and objects with lighting in the same space. I'd love to do more work from life. It would be really nice as well to have a larger work table, even if it means sacrificing some storage.