"Crimsonpug Wishes"
New Years 2002
This was part of a little drawing contest some of the associates and I held at work one evening. We each had an assignment that would really put our "skills" to the test. Mine was to illustrate Erik and Kari in front of Times Square on New Years Eve among millions of people, and it had to look like Times Square. And I had only six hours to fully draw and ink it. Yeah, I know just the description alone spells "instant failure"; but I was more interested in trying something I had never attempted before: having Erik and Kari kiss. Forget the rest of the assignment - the kiss to me was the challenge! You see, getting two characters perfectly in scale with one another when they're so close together is tough. Having their body shapes entwined without stretching the contour shapes out too far is even tougher. And when it's kissing, something the artist has no personal experience to base it upon except for magazines and movies (*grumble, grumble*)... well, to pull those three things off well would be an accomplishment. Now, I usually try to stay modest and point out the failure as well as the successes in the pieces I do but... well s**t, it is an accomplishment! I actually pulled it off! Me! And it actually looks realistic! - Jake