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Step 1

I started this whilst on a pleasant trip in New York. I began brainstorming on this when I was lost in the subway on the "F" train. I'm not a type whose afraid to wander around in a big city, so instead of fear enveloping me, I was inspired.

I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art which, in my opinion, is a must see for everyone who visits New York. I saw some beautiful pieces of art there, many of which where in "Triptych" format. For those of you all who don't know, a Triptych is a piece of art on three separate panels, usually hinged together. A Diptych would be the same, but only with two panels.

I am rather proud of the sketch as it is done completely with pen, and you all know that one can not make a mistake if you are using ink, because it's impossible to clean up.

There won't be many steps to this drawing because I'm only using one medium, and 95% of the piece is going to be in black with just little splashes of colour here and there, all of which will either be red, purple, blue, orange, or green. Typically I love spending lots of time on my pieces, but the nature of doing something much more simple (such as this) will, naturally, result in less time spent.

For the lot of this piece I will be using PIGMA MICRON pens. They're brilliant!

As you can see, I only decided to do a "step by step" for this piece after I had already finished the first panel on the left, save for the lips on the creature to the bottom right of that portion. Sorry about that.

1) In the first panel, I started with the large face first, and then did the eyeball to it's left. The figure on the bottom left followed, and the fellow on the upper right was next. The bloke on the bottom was not planned, but I inserted him as a means for managing the negative space.

With my work, once I've got my concept figured out, I'm extremely whimsical. I don't do much thinking. . .I much prefer to just let things happen. I say to myself:"Hmmm. . .perhaps and eyeball here, a face there, some rather large lips here. . . .Presto!" You all may think I'm crazy for that, but in my opinion, it's wrong to over-think things when you're working. It can destroy much of the magic, not to mention, the FUN. Too much planning would eliminate what we artists call "The Happy Accident."

2)Typically I paint and draw with a universal light source, displayed through my ability to gradually blend from light to dark. Aside from a naturally boundless and insane imagination, shading, has always been the strongest aspect of my skills.

For more examples on my usage of lights and darks, see the "Value Diagram."