how to build a pic
I loved seeing sueworld2003's demonstration of how she built her hot little fairy-Spike-in-a-jar manip, and it gave me the idea for something similar: how Bound was built. Dial-up users beware... big images behind the cuts.
Oh, and guaranteed 100% NOT worksafe. Unless you're a porn store clerk.
This is the first idea, a fast pencil sketch. I had specific reference for Spike's body and knew this was the correct placement. I was less certain of Xander's positioning; no reference, and I wasn't sure that I could "sell" the pose without very specific photoreference- a matter of the angle of how the two bodies relate plus where/how his weight was supported.
First "snapshot" of the final drawing: bodies sketched in, colour started. So, um, yeah, I started with that pretty cock. Well, it is the focal point of the composition, okay? Seriously, it is.
Later the same day- a second scan of the work in progress. Xander's hair is sketched in with a mix of sepia and blue-black inks, and the headboard is lightly indicated in sepia. The rest of the colour so far is coloured pencils. It's right about this time that I decided to set myself a small technical challenge: no black would be used in the drawing, not ink nor dry media. This in contrast to the first two in the series, which were made using only black ink either straight, or diluted into washes.
Each of these progresses including the initial sketch was emailed off to lit_gal for comments. (She liked them.)
And here is the finished piece!
Colour was built up in retrained layers, pardon the pun. In the shadows around Spike's body I used a wash of turquoise ink, Pelikan Peacock Blue, which was for many years my ink of choice for handwriting. I used a little non-local colour (not the natural shade) in some places, for fun. Having finished the iron headboard, I added a little shadow detail for background. Xander got his two-day stubble. The composition deliberately cuts off points of interest- the manacle on Spike's right wrist, Xander's lovely bum- both partly obscured by the edge of the "frame".
The scan was much improved after the tech-husband had a second go at it (my computer graphic skills are as current as my knowledge of Ats canon- which is to say, nearly nonexistant). Even so, areas like Xander's hair and some of the shadow details are SO dark that you'll have to take my word for it: there's no black anywhere here.
Here is an early version of the second drawing, Chains, that didn't quite make it. There were a bunch of small details bugging me, and I couldn't quite get my finger on just what felt really wrong about it. Xander not looking like Xander- could I rescue the resemblance? Spike's upper body position; something in the chest area (or lack of same) really not right. The pose too reminscent of an earlier piece, Sexual Healing in the Beautiful Broken series.
So, I sent the scan off to lit_gal, who said it was very hot etcetera, but noted that in the text of the epilogue Spike was actually standing with his chest to Xander's back, and his arms wrapped around his waist. Bingo! No wonder it felt wrong- it WAS wrong, it didn't illustrate the story. Relieved, I started over.
Sweet little ass though, eh?
Oh, and guaranteed 100% NOT worksafe. Unless you're a porn store clerk.
This is the first idea, a fast pencil sketch. I had specific reference for Spike's body and knew this was the correct placement. I was less certain of Xander's positioning; no reference, and I wasn't sure that I could "sell" the pose without very specific photoreference- a matter of the angle of how the two bodies relate plus where/how his weight was supported.
First "snapshot" of the final drawing: bodies sketched in, colour started. So, um, yeah, I started with that pretty cock. Well, it is the focal point of the composition, okay? Seriously, it is.
Later the same day- a second scan of the work in progress. Xander's hair is sketched in with a mix of sepia and blue-black inks, and the headboard is lightly indicated in sepia. The rest of the colour so far is coloured pencils. It's right about this time that I decided to set myself a small technical challenge: no black would be used in the drawing, not ink nor dry media. This in contrast to the first two in the series, which were made using only black ink either straight, or diluted into washes.
Each of these progresses including the initial sketch was emailed off to lit_gal for comments. (She liked them.)
And here is the finished piece!
Colour was built up in retrained layers, pardon the pun. In the shadows around Spike's body I used a wash of turquoise ink, Pelikan Peacock Blue, which was for many years my ink of choice for handwriting. I used a little non-local colour (not the natural shade) in some places, for fun. Having finished the iron headboard, I added a little shadow detail for background. Xander got his two-day stubble. The composition deliberately cuts off points of interest- the manacle on Spike's right wrist, Xander's lovely bum- both partly obscured by the edge of the "frame".
The scan was much improved after the tech-husband had a second go at it (my computer graphic skills are as current as my knowledge of Ats canon- which is to say, nearly nonexistant). Even so, areas like Xander's hair and some of the shadow details are SO dark that you'll have to take my word for it: there's no black anywhere here.
Here is an early version of the second drawing, Chains, that didn't quite make it. There were a bunch of small details bugging me, and I couldn't quite get my finger on just what felt really wrong about it. Xander not looking like Xander- could I rescue the resemblance? Spike's upper body position; something in the chest area (or lack of same) really not right. The pose too reminscent of an earlier piece, Sexual Healing in the Beautiful Broken series.
So, I sent the scan off to lit_gal, who said it was very hot etcetera, but noted that in the text of the epilogue Spike was actually standing with his chest to Xander's back, and his arms wrapped around his waist. Bingo! No wonder it felt wrong- it WAS wrong, it didn't illustrate the story. Relieved, I started over.
Sweet little ass though, eh?