The Rehearsal - final and process (Patreon)

The Rehearsal! I watched this show very quickly and then when I was drawing it I was like what even happened that I can draw? I wanted to draw a door (haha door city) and the house because its so iconic. Then him and family (father and son moments) and his class. And perhaps like something showing a line of people waiting to be called. Tons of babies and like clones and stuff. I got most of all that! And all-seeing eyes… My chairs are excellent. You think you know how something looks until you try to draw it. Does a square chair have rungs? These do.

I began by gathering reference. Photos 1 and 2 show my refs. I merged two refs and then undressed a layer of clothing intellectually. The jacket was not the vibe, but the laptop harness was. I could’ve used a reference where he was not wearing a jacket and already had the harness on, but you wouldn’t understand…. I need the challenge. Actually frankly, maybe in my mind I was like I don’t want to just copy a reference and I forged my own Nathan, for me.

Anyways, this was pretty standard portraiture. After all my stranger things drawings, I was well practiced in this sketchy style. And I employed that on his clothing for the first time in human history. It is just a splotchy color blocked layer underneath scratchy hatch linework layer. Very simple! The laptop has a brightness that casts over him and the harness strap that is doing a lot of the heavy lifting here. It is just a pale yellow gradient with some sort of blending mode. Art is just constant life hacks.

I am not sure I like the aged, tea-stained paper background vibe. But it is inoffensive.