Wedding Gift (if you're near my brother or his fiancé, kindly open this somewhere else) (Patreon)

My brother is getting married this month!! So I'm kinda pulling out all the stops, wedding gift-wise.

Realism is not my forte, and neither is inkwash, but I wanted to make Brent and Katie something classy, so I figured, meh, the worst that could happen is it turns out looking like garbage and I buy them something from their registry, so why not give it a shot? 

This took all fuckin week, but it was fun and it was a BIG ol' learning experience. I'm having these made into folded greeting cards for the couple, and using the silhouette to make extra notecards and, if all goes well, a stamp. I'll share those later!

Pretty much everything I have to say about this inkwash is written up in the picture, but I forgot to mention one thing (in case you're curious, fellow artists who don't know shit about inkwash, like moi): I used Higgins waterproof ink for all of the illustrative lines (and plaid lines), and Higgins Black Magic (non-waterproof) ink for all of the gradients. That way the lines were 95% permanent, but I could go in and add or rework the gradient washes. 

The coolest thing about drawing directly from someone else's photo - something I try not to do unless it's a gift - was that it allowed me to REALLY appreciate the photographers who did their engagement photos (and will photograph their wedding). Everything about this photo - and all the other ones they took - is so thought-out, from the clear silhouette (the edge of Brent's hand isn't flush with the outline of Katie's hair), to the way Katie's hairline breaks the horizon line in the background. So thoroughly well-done!

In case you're looking for a photographer, you can find the Hursts - a husband-wife team in Pennsylvania - by going to their website or their Instagram account. Oh, and in case you're interested in the podcast I caught up on while working on this, Comic Lab is hosted by Dave Kellett and Brad Guigar and it's my faaaaavorite!

I'll show y'all the finished product later! Now that this is put to bed, I'm gonna get ahead on BOO! It's Sex strips. >:)