"Just Seine"

Just for the record here, I'm not kidding about the occasional serendipitous inspiration as a direct result of "en plein air doodling"... otherwise known as eavesdropping at the cafe with pen-in-hand. I was reading up on fishing industry in Alaska while sitting next to some kids and their conversation superimposed itself on the topic at hand. Not so much trolling for ideas as it is really more like snagging... not to mention chumming the proverbial waters with a combination of sleep deprivation, caffeine and random literature.

Here I'll spotlight an occasional event, known as completely botching up a drawing: while doing a demo of this particular panel, the first inked version went horribly wrong, which is rare enough to still be a surprise to see come out the other end of the pen - but happens enough that it ain't no big deal. Mostly a matter of composition, and the linear perspective of the mesh in the net + the ellipse of the bobbers was all wonky as well. Later that same evening I attempted a digital resurrection ie Photoshop salvage, but it just kept looking off. So I did what I frequently admonish students to try doing... give up and start over. Should also have paid closer attention to the initial doodle, as all the elements were present + in place as it was originally sketched out. Sometimes simpler is so much better and overworking flogging it death it won't necessarily make it any better, and in fact - this one being a case in point - maybe even make it worse. I even tweaked a scan of the line art on the second version, and abandoned it after doing a color wash, opting instead to go with the more raw rendering: which calls up another aspect of process that's important as well - sometimes trusting your instinct is as equally rewarding as slogging through endless revisions.

*Update: Seaking of revisions... hat-tip to cafiend for catching the typo!