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4th Winsor McCay Drawing in my Transformation Series

NOVEMBER 15, 2018
Transformation Series - Winsor McCay Little Nemo #4
Transformation Piece Not Quite Finished 11-14-18
Finished Transformation Piece - Nemo #4 with Sleepy Trixie 11-14-18
This was one of those drawings that began with high hopes before I managed to overwork it and, after a brief bout with despair, I wrestled it into a decent painting.

I didn’t like the larger character’s mouth, but I otherwise liked the piece, so I used thick yellow gouache to paint out parts of the parts I didn’t like. I made things worse and I had to leave my studio for a while. When I returned, ready to trash the piece, I thought I’d go at it one more time. I scrubbed the entire surface clean with a wet paper towel, leaving behind the fragmented heat transfer comic strip imagery and most of my graphite drawings, although they were faded. I liked the soft, yellow background that was created when I wiped away the paint, which reminded me of aged Sunday newspaper comic strips. I went in with pencil and watercolor to bring back my faded images, worked in some new images and came away pleased with the results. I think my McCay #3 drawing is better all around, but this one has some really nice imagery in it. 
 
Okay, enough blathering, I’m off to the studio to see what’s waiting for me in Elwood’s World. Thanks for stopping by.
© 2024 Elwood H. Smith