More destruction.......

I took my original series of drawings and beat them up:

There's not much improvement though the small area with the digger may have some potential;

So I tried some experiments in the light of what I did with this:

Which is probably better cropped

 (with thanks to The Times and education fee rioters)

Revisiting the 1950's

Looking for a more 1950's typical colour scheme  I found these palettes on www.desktoppub.about.com   

Atomic Age Color Combinations  

 

I tried to mess around with the image on the computer but I couldn't manipulate the colour  to my satisfaction so I painted over the original with acrylic trying to keep the above colours in mind

I know it shouldn't matter but I couldn't leave the face like that

 I've also added the edges of the room as I feel it grounds the image in space

Then I spoilt it by adding carpet!

Choosing Content

What would the main character be like? In my minds eye I see a balding middle aged man with a round face & a frown or grumpy expression.
What clothes would he be wearing? He wears a suit (dark grey, maybe a slight pattern) white shirt & dark tie.
What furniture is in the main area? Plain desk and wooden chair both in a dark wood. A thin rug maybe dark burgundy in colour. Simple light fitting or possibly just a bare bulb. Possibly a tall filing cabinet. The walls are pale cream a bit scuffed & need redecorating

I'm influenced by old black & white films & photos, and have trouble imaging that there was any colour around during the war!

For me the mood of the piece is grey

and so the moodboard

I did some sketches of men in suits

this last one I experimented with the parallelogram of shadow

I saw my character standing at the window with his hands behind his back looking out on London

I liked the middle sketch and worked into it a bit before using the edge enhance effect on the computer. This is my character (actually based on an old photo of my Grandfather though I changed his expression)

I wanted to try & put him more in a setting and try giving him some colour His face changed when I redrew him

Is this finished? Maybe he has more punch if he's cropped.........

Not sure whether to keep working into it or not so I'm going to leave him for a bit & revisit some of the earlier projects