Saturday, October 13, 2007

Extremes: Cafe Maria


Click to enlarge!
I'm submitting a work in progress for this week's subject, "extremes," for Illustration Friday. I'm very excited, because I actually submitted this topic, and the timing is very promising. I had a job interview on the Friday Penelope posted the topic, so i had no idea it had been chosen. I had to fly to the interview, and my plane was delayed. it was so "extremely" delayed i missed the bus to the train, and then i missed the train to the city, and in the end I didn't get where I was going until 1 in the morning. the return trip was even MORE delayed, and I didn't get to bed until 1:30 in the morning, and I usually go to bed at 9! with all the time i had at the airport and waiting for buses and trains and such, i had LOTS of time to work on this drawing. i finished it late last night, sitting on the floor of Baltimore's Thurgood Marshall airport. The interview went well, i finished the drawing, and I'm extremely happy! I'm extremely tired! the drawing is extremely detailed and it will take an extremely long time to color it! extreme extreme extreme! ok, i guess i've used the word extreme enough now. extreme. haha.

the story behind the picture: go to ZBS.com and buy their stuff. they ROCK!!!! the incredible audio adventures of Jack Flanders, Mojo Sam, little Frieda and others have enchanted me since i was small. they record on site in places like Bali, Morocco, Costa Rica, and the sound effects are incredible - as incredible as the stories and acting. this is what I imagined when I listened to Orchids and Moonbeams, set in an undisclosed jungular location. so, it's a cafe with only 2 walls, and on each wall is a mural. on one wall is a mural of a jungle, with a scarlet macaw settling onto the top branches. on the other wall is a sea picture. sometimes you can see a whale. sometimes you can't. sometimes the macaw is gone, but the scenes only change when you're not looking.

i thought it would be a great challenge to 1)illustrate a mural of a jungle against the backdrop of a jungle. could i do it? and 2)draw a whale that both is and isn't there. can i do that? i don't know. you judge. i'll get back to you when it's colored.