Spike Artwork Retrospective.
I've really only recently in the past two or three years really gotten comfortable with my artwork (that place where you're still hyper-critical of yourself but know well-enough that sometimes it's time to sign your name and be done with it). I thought I'd share some of my earliest fanart from high school along with a lot of unfinished newer artworks and sketches that I haven't posted before.
I hope you enjoy my little trip down memory lane. :D
Warning, there might be a few not-quite-safe-for-work images under the cut. There's no danglies, but there's some risque stuff.
A lot of these, like the one above are of Spike and my OC Ursula because I was desperately trying to write my first fanfic (which is like the Duke Nukem of fanfic- it was never finished and never got anyway and was pretty much self-indulgent, over-intellectual twaddle that I kept revising year after year after year). The image above was from an unfinished page from my London Calling comic where Ursula is just a normal person (where I stopped trying to make her the Mary Sue from HELL).
When I was in high school (pre-2004), this is what Ursula originally looked like. Very Peg Bundy, very kitsch, with huge Sharon Tate hair. She was very blonde, very bitchy, and was one of the mulle (a type of Eastern European vampire). Man, Spike's face is all wonky in this. LOL:
I have no idea what I was doing, but this is her wearing a Hot Topic shirt that I wanted at the time ("Real Men Don't Tan" with a bunch of vampire bats). I actually miss drawing like this; I'm unable to do it this way anymore, and that makes me feel like I've lost something. :(
Old Skool Sharpie Marker drawings. Ursula with her big hair, and Spike being curly and adorable. I love drawing him doing cute things.
And this is when I first started trying to be able to draw with more realism, trying to hide the hands as much as possible, something I'm still guilty of. Since Sharon Tate inspired the hair, I just based Ursula's whole look on her. Ursula's nickname that Spike calls her in my fanfics and comics is "Sukie." I had no idea who Sookie Stackhouse was at the time I started doing it, but when I write it Sukie is pronounced sue-key not suck-eh. For me, the nickname was inspired by the blonde in The Witches of Eastwick. It's been harder to keep the nickname in there though because of the True Blood reference. Also to note in this picture, I was obsessed with drawing James's beauty mark under his right eye at this stage. I shouldn't have gotten out of that! I think his eyes are too far apart in this though.
I was still working in a cartoony style as well. This was a weird Alice in Wonderland sketch from 2005 or something when I was first in college. There's a Spike/JM emo Mad Hatter for some reason.
And then I discovered working with Photoshop to create artwork. This is the first piece I finished entirely digitally. I was working with a finger mousepad on a laptop to draw this. No laser mouse, no tablet and stylus, just my finger. It was very difficult and I'm glad I learned about better methods with Wacom Tablets or I would be insane by now.
This was the first piece I finished in a more realistic style. Some of you may remember it. Half of this was done with my finger on the mousepad, and about half-way through was when I first got my Bamboo Wacom Tablet. I have to say blending with your finger on a mousepad actually feels like painting though. It's interesting to do, but I don't recommend it.
My first piece entirely with a Bamboo tablet and stylus.
Spike and Ursula together, my first digital piece with them together before I started my "London Calling" comic. James Marsters wanted a Spike movie where he gets the girl of his dreams, completely perfect for him, but the catch is that she's human and has no idea that he's a vampire. To create the character, I took Ursula's sense of humor and a few base personality traits from my high school fanfic and fleshed them out in, I hope, a realistic manner... I also made her pregnant, but not by Spike. James said he was intrigued by this possibility when I gave him a copy of the unfinished comic, and he liked how she looked, which made me happy. I made the decision to make her brunette in the design process after talking to a few people who thought that Spike having a blonde girlfriend would be too much like Buffy. This piece got published in my college's art journal.
And my most recent piece with them together. Ursula's hair has gotten lighter and a little more like it used to be in that Bump-It Sharon Tate style. I think her boobs have gotten a lot fuller over time though. I blame it on her pregnancy. I am really, really happy with how Spike turned out in this. I feel like skintone-wise, this is probably the most correct I've ever portrayed JM/Spike.
And now for some unfinished pieces!
This was going to be the cover for the sequel to London Calling, but as I have yet to finish LC after two and a half years, I doubt this will ever come to be. The sequel was going to be called either "Absinthe Moon" or "Suitcases." Maybe one day I'll get to it. XD This is one of the few images I have the original scan of the graphite sketch without any digital lines on top of it. Spike looks off in it to me... I need to redraw this, I think.
Spike and Ursula as Bert and Mary Poppins with all the little penguins. This was supposed to be for Nekid_Spike's childhood memories prompt way back when, I think.
This was supposed to be for SockMonkey. It was going to be a large piece with a Steampunk Spike and Oz (with dred-falls), but I got as far as cleaning up the linework for the faces and never moved onto the rest. Fred is supposed to be in the center, but she never got beyond the messy sketch and was left out. I should really finish this.
This is pure hilarity. Actually, for this piece, I actually have gotten A LOT further to finishing this, but it has lingered on my desktop unfinished for over a year. Pretty much, Spike and Dru are the only uncoloured ones in the piece now, but I can't get it right to finish it. Anyways, this piece was inspired by 80s nostalgia, specifically Strawberry Shortcake. Fred is Strawberry Shortcake, Spike is a boy version of Blueberry Muffin, Drusilla is Plum Pudding, and Ursula is Angel Cake. I am such a nerd.
And because all things are cyclical, here's a cartoon of Spike and Ursula I need at the end of last year but never coloured. Ursula's gone back to her big hair Peg Bundy look because I really am fond of it. I think it does fit her after all, though she'll never go back to being all-the-way-blonde because I'm used to her having sandy/slightly auburn hair now. Spike is Scooby-Doo-ish, but obviously pleased. This piece is drawn on an old hunk of cardboard.
And so, here I am, and I leave you with a cartoon of Spike with a koala attached to his head. :D
I hope you enjoy my little trip down memory lane. :D
Warning, there might be a few not-quite-safe-for-work images under the cut. There's no danglies, but there's some risque stuff.
A lot of these, like the one above are of Spike and my OC Ursula because I was desperately trying to write my first fanfic (which is like the Duke Nukem of fanfic- it was never finished and never got anyway and was pretty much self-indulgent, over-intellectual twaddle that I kept revising year after year after year). The image above was from an unfinished page from my London Calling comic where Ursula is just a normal person (where I stopped trying to make her the Mary Sue from HELL).
When I was in high school (pre-2004), this is what Ursula originally looked like. Very Peg Bundy, very kitsch, with huge Sharon Tate hair. She was very blonde, very bitchy, and was one of the mulle (a type of Eastern European vampire). Man, Spike's face is all wonky in this. LOL:
I have no idea what I was doing, but this is her wearing a Hot Topic shirt that I wanted at the time ("Real Men Don't Tan" with a bunch of vampire bats). I actually miss drawing like this; I'm unable to do it this way anymore, and that makes me feel like I've lost something. :(
Old Skool Sharpie Marker drawings. Ursula with her big hair, and Spike being curly and adorable. I love drawing him doing cute things.
And this is when I first started trying to be able to draw with more realism, trying to hide the hands as much as possible, something I'm still guilty of. Since Sharon Tate inspired the hair, I just based Ursula's whole look on her. Ursula's nickname that Spike calls her in my fanfics and comics is "Sukie." I had no idea who Sookie Stackhouse was at the time I started doing it, but when I write it Sukie is pronounced sue-key not suck-eh. For me, the nickname was inspired by the blonde in The Witches of Eastwick. It's been harder to keep the nickname in there though because of the True Blood reference. Also to note in this picture, I was obsessed with drawing James's beauty mark under his right eye at this stage. I shouldn't have gotten out of that! I think his eyes are too far apart in this though.
I was still working in a cartoony style as well. This was a weird Alice in Wonderland sketch from 2005 or something when I was first in college. There's a Spike/JM emo Mad Hatter for some reason.
And then I discovered working with Photoshop to create artwork. This is the first piece I finished entirely digitally. I was working with a finger mousepad on a laptop to draw this. No laser mouse, no tablet and stylus, just my finger. It was very difficult and I'm glad I learned about better methods with Wacom Tablets or I would be insane by now.
This was the first piece I finished in a more realistic style. Some of you may remember it. Half of this was done with my finger on the mousepad, and about half-way through was when I first got my Bamboo Wacom Tablet. I have to say blending with your finger on a mousepad actually feels like painting though. It's interesting to do, but I don't recommend it.
My first piece entirely with a Bamboo tablet and stylus.
Spike and Ursula together, my first digital piece with them together before I started my "London Calling" comic. James Marsters wanted a Spike movie where he gets the girl of his dreams, completely perfect for him, but the catch is that she's human and has no idea that he's a vampire. To create the character, I took Ursula's sense of humor and a few base personality traits from my high school fanfic and fleshed them out in, I hope, a realistic manner... I also made her pregnant, but not by Spike. James said he was intrigued by this possibility when I gave him a copy of the unfinished comic, and he liked how she looked, which made me happy. I made the decision to make her brunette in the design process after talking to a few people who thought that Spike having a blonde girlfriend would be too much like Buffy. This piece got published in my college's art journal.
And my most recent piece with them together. Ursula's hair has gotten lighter and a little more like it used to be in that Bump-It Sharon Tate style. I think her boobs have gotten a lot fuller over time though. I blame it on her pregnancy. I am really, really happy with how Spike turned out in this. I feel like skintone-wise, this is probably the most correct I've ever portrayed JM/Spike.
And now for some unfinished pieces!
This was going to be the cover for the sequel to London Calling, but as I have yet to finish LC after two and a half years, I doubt this will ever come to be. The sequel was going to be called either "Absinthe Moon" or "Suitcases." Maybe one day I'll get to it. XD This is one of the few images I have the original scan of the graphite sketch without any digital lines on top of it. Spike looks off in it to me... I need to redraw this, I think.
Spike and Ursula as Bert and Mary Poppins with all the little penguins. This was supposed to be for Nekid_Spike's childhood memories prompt way back when, I think.
This was supposed to be for SockMonkey. It was going to be a large piece with a Steampunk Spike and Oz (with dred-falls), but I got as far as cleaning up the linework for the faces and never moved onto the rest. Fred is supposed to be in the center, but she never got beyond the messy sketch and was left out. I should really finish this.
This is pure hilarity. Actually, for this piece, I actually have gotten A LOT further to finishing this, but it has lingered on my desktop unfinished for over a year. Pretty much, Spike and Dru are the only uncoloured ones in the piece now, but I can't get it right to finish it. Anyways, this piece was inspired by 80s nostalgia, specifically Strawberry Shortcake. Fred is Strawberry Shortcake, Spike is a boy version of Blueberry Muffin, Drusilla is Plum Pudding, and Ursula is Angel Cake. I am such a nerd.
And because all things are cyclical, here's a cartoon of Spike and Ursula I need at the end of last year but never coloured. Ursula's gone back to her big hair Peg Bundy look because I really am fond of it. I think it does fit her after all, though she'll never go back to being all-the-way-blonde because I'm used to her having sandy/slightly auburn hair now. Spike is Scooby-Doo-ish, but obviously pleased. This piece is drawn on an old hunk of cardboard.
And so, here I am, and I leave you with a cartoon of Spike with a koala attached to his head. :D