After I did my Destiny Fanfic I knew Tycho would have to write one of his own. He went after League of Legends and the back story behind his favorite champ, Leona. I had a lot of fun drawing this one. I really tried to push myself in some new directions. I feel like these non PA strips are a way for me to explore some different techniques. I thought I’d share some process stuff with you all.
First here are some of the thumbnails I did. These are the rough sketches that I use to layout each section.
I also put together this animated GIF that shows the process I went through on the large Leona panel.
When it came time to do Diana I wanted to do something a little different with her. In my take on the character she isn't beautiful like Leona. She had a fucked up childhood. She's gonna look hard. Leona loves Diana but Diana can't convince herself it's not just pity. She loves Leona and resents her at the same time. Leona is the pretty sister, the good sister, the right sister. What does that look like?
I know not everyone is going to like my take on these characters but it was a fun experiment and I'm proud of the results.
It's funny, yesterday I started teaching an art class here at Penny Arcade. Kiko had suggested a while back that it would be good for all the designers here to get some insight into how I draw the characters. Yesterday I sat down with Gavin, Dabe, Kiko and I invited Katie as well. I spent about an hour talking about how to draw Gabe. It was really eye opening for me because it forced me to think about my process. I know how to draw Gabe, but how do I tell someone else how to draw him? What are the important things that make Gabe look like Gabe?
Before the lesson I was really nervous. These are all very talented artists in their own right. What the hell was I doing teaching them anything? I usually feel like I hardly know what I'm doing. I figure I've been drawing for about 28 years now and I still feel like I have so much more to learn. I still look at a comic like the one I put up today and find things I like and things I hate. I feel like my sketch for Diana was solid but I lost some of what made the sketch so good in the Inks. I'll beat myself up about that for a while but in the end it just makes me want to do better on the next piece.
I finally decided I could not look at it as me "teaching" them. I had to think of it as simply sharing the lessons I've learned over the years. I don't feel like I'm ready to teach anyone but I do think I can offer some tips and certainly when it comes to drawing PA characters I have a unique insight.
Anyway I just wanted to say that I appreciate that you guys afford Tycho and I the freedom to do stuff like this. For the last 16 years I feel like I've been learning to draw in front of a few million people. That's honestly fucking scary sometimes, but seeing the response to comics like today's makes me feel pretty great. Thanks all.
-Gabe out
