What better way to welcome the first day of Spring (here in Aus anyway) than by showing you guys a piece I made that has lots of nice grass! Here are some photos of my progress from sketch and concept to final product. The story isn’t necessary auto-biographical like many of the other Sheena drawings but nonetheless I have thought about doing this. After all freshly cut or dewy grass does smell amazing.
First of all, I have been consciously trying to develop ideas that involve a full panel with background and scene set-up, not just for the sake of it but so that it contributes to the overall look of the piece but also enhance the idea. This worked well in this instance, the scenery contributes much to the story and is the main part of the story really. This is the avenue in terms of structure I want to go down for the next Sheena zine, where every page has full panels. Its a great challenge to push myself to do it rather than just purely self-contained character monologues.
I used two pens for the inking. Both zebra brand but different sizes, the smaller nib was awesome for doing the little details. It makes sense that it makes such a difference, any variation with brush sizes is always going to have a nice and dynamic effect.
With the colouring I wanted to exaggerate the grass being super green and kind of sickly, and somehow alluring in the second panel. As though she is in this lush forest, to try and make it more funny when you see that its really just suburbia.
Also with Sheena, I’ve been thinking about her animal side. Because she is a raccoon she has those animal instincts and perhaps thats why she is drawn to rolling in the grass. I think it is funny when anthropomorphised animal characters refer back to their true nature. In this way it also accentuates her nocturnal tendencies and the magic of night.
Hope this was fun for you too 🙂
Katherine ❤
Katherine Pigott 