Inktober 2019 Retrospective | Day 23: Missy

Missy Chen actually wears glasses, and I forgot to draw them here. But YOU'LL never know!

Yeesh, she came out way more sultry than I intended. She was meant to look sly, crafty, wily. But I think the droop in her eyelid along with the roll of her hip make her look like a femme fatale. The effect would be abated somewhat if her eye was open a bit more. Missy Chen is intended to be attractive, but this is a bit much.

Really, though, this was mostly about the hat and her hands (gloved) crossing over black dress. So about the hat. The goal was to create the illusion of a floppy hat without too much overt line detailing. That one white streak to indicate the edge of the brim is there, but the part that communicates it most is the white graphic gap between the brim and the top of her hat. It's almost as if it caught the light coming into the foreground.

I haven't said I like this piece a lot, but I do. There is strong value contrast and balance. These big black masses of ink sure do eat up supplies, but the payoff is worth it. One thing I wish I'd mustered up the courage to do the shadow of her hat in ink. That or a darker pencil. The heavy shadow of the hat should be dramatic and dark enough to justify the choice to dump the other eye. It isn't quite dark enough, I feel. Had this been digital, I would have had the chance to test a fully black shadow. We would have lost her already stealthy eyebrow, though.

Also, she looks like she would be abnormally tall here, doesn't she?

Thanks for reading~

#ink #inktober #woman