I was absolutely over the moon a couple of weeks ago, when
after finishing Ratty Babes roller derby decal, I was approached by one of her
team mates who wanted one of her own.
Unlike Ratty Babe who was happy for me to head off and
doodle something I though would work, Exodus knew exactly what she wanted and I
don’t mind saying that after reading the description, I had a moment where I
simply started at the paper and wondered how I was ever going to fit everything
in.
Luckily after several cups of tea and some scribbles in a
writing pad (Why is it always easier to layout a design when you’re scribbling
in the margin of a ruled pad?) I had a fair idea of how to do it.
I like to get my cartoon style illustrations down on paper
before inking and colouring digitally, so I used my handy circle template (a
old side plate) to set the boundaries of the decal and set about work out the
design. The hardest part was the waves to either side. I wasn’t entirely sure
how those were going to work until I inked in the lines, but once I picked out
the shapes and removed the inner wall of the white border I loved the silhouette
they made.
The colouring of the decal was probably the easiest part if
you don’t count the row I had with Photoshop over which colour green I wanted
to use. (You may have won this battle Photoshop, but the war is far from over!)
