Marty and Joshua Cross Swords

Working on Joshua is starting to get enjoyable. He is based on a real person but I wanted to avoid a direct portrait as his purpose in the novel isn't limited to my memory of the person. I'm still working on him but the breakthrough was when I realised who I was trying to get him to look like. As an alpha boy he needs to have some hunkiness but a non luggy one. I needed someone from the era. John Travolta has already been taken for Gail's reconstituted boyfriend, Gary. Joshua needs to be vain but also substantial. The other night I rewatched The Parallax View, a great paranoia thriller from the Watergate era. And there he was, Warren Beatty. I stopped the movie and started drawing Warren Beatty. But he can't just be a clone. So ... I'm still working on him....

The Colour of the Sky

After party on the Strand

Autobiographical situation

Marty Moment

Ok, trying a few things out here. Using background colour to assist pacing, patterns, a little hatching (tending away from it with this look). I'll be putting a few of these up. They will not be necessary to read the novel but will express what I'm feeling about characterisation etc. Most will be from outside of the timeline (usually from school days so earlier). Overall they are helping me to make decisions about the visual style and getting used to getting expressive with colour. So, watch this space and hope you dig...