Hi Tim,
You may or may not have noticed that I'm between websites/blogs right now
so you get first crack at these two 'Gerebus' commissions.
The first, the single figure above, was a simple request and modest price.
The other one is the kind of request I've come to expect from Brian C. Imaginative, challenging, a lot of work and ultimately a lot of fun. His original idea was to have a triptych that features Gerebus in a dream sequence tumbling across three distinctive Gerhard landscapes - the giant dark tower of demonic faces, the moon and a well-stocked bar.
My first layout had the figure in relative fixed position. My take on it was that he is falling from the chair the whole time through the imagined/remembered backgrounds. I thought of putting the demon heads into the shape of the Regency mostly so I could put a sunset in behind to give some colour to the top part of the piece.
Brian suggested he'd like more movement and that he sees this as a 'reverse ascension'. So I figured that the moon should be on top and we went with falling diagonally, size increasing incrementally, I added the tipped chair and stein, and had Gerebus extend past the border as if he's fallen right out of the picture. Not that anything should be inferred or implied by that.
'Something Fell'
Image size is 10" x 15", ink pen and W&N dyes on watercolour paper.
(See more images at ComicArtFans)
Image size is 10" x 15", ink pen and W&N dyes on watercolour paper.
(See more images at ComicArtFans)
Details from 'Something Fell':
Gerhard's 2016 Convention Itinerary:
March 18-20: Comicon Toronto, ON
April 8-10: Wizard World Madison, WI
May 6-8: Wizard World Minneapolis, MN
June 2-6: Wizard World Philadelphia, PA
June 17-19: Wizard World Sacramento, CA
July-August: Gone Sailing Georgian Bay, ON
September 8-10: Wizard World Nashville, TN
November 4-6: Wizard World Pittsburgh, PA
8 comments:
Dang. So. Cool.
I love the Dave head there in the middle!
Hmm, can I get to Pittsburgh or Philly?
Gerhard, if you're reading, any chance this will be made available as a print?
I also would love a print of this. I do like the reverse ascension layout with the moon on top, the demon heads poking a bit out of the top there, this looks great!
Fantastic, Ger! I'll see you at the convention center in Minneapolis in May, as it is about three blocks from where I live. I'll see if I can Dream up a commission idea for to bring to me there, like last time...
Looks a bit like a Punisher skull on one of the bottles.
And it seems like Gerberus is more cartoony and a bit heavier here than how I'd think Dave would've drawn him.
And I guess this is not a World Without Cerebus commission.
If only I didn't have these blasted kids and wife I gotta keep fed I'd have Ger do up some of them there nice drawings for me!
Steve
As always, Brian makes a great amanuensis in seeing this work gets created!
Awesome! Print Please!!!
This is the kind of thing that makes me quietly long for an all new Cerebus graphic novella produced purely by Gerhard. It doesn't have to be canon, it could simply be one long dream sequence, or a deeper delving into Estarcion (the name of the world that housed Cerebus for those who might not know). It wouldn't be as intense and amazing a prospect as Dave himself producing something with Ger, of course, but I wouldn't hesitate to order an all Gerhard Cerebus novella. I had this same thought when reading Margaret's previous post: "...would they be able to live up to what Dave and Gerhard did? I find it hard to think they would." Nothing could live up to Dave and Ger in tandem (except maybe Dave solo...), but Ger himself might be the next best possible thing. Chance of it happening: zero, right? Ah well. File this under "a boy can dream".
While I'm here and dreaming - my inner nerd has longed to see a greater penetration into (or fleshing out of) Estarcion. I'm a big fan of mythopoeic writers (Tolkien, etc.), and Dave is certainly one of them, but I think the overarching mythopoeia of Cerebus was undermined by the initial intent to serve as parody rather than literature. The narrative grew into literature with Dave's growth as a writer, but by the end of the narrative, I didn't have a sense of the presence of Estarcion to the degree that I had a sense of, say, Middle Earth after reading Lord of the Rings. One of the reasons I so loved the character of Lord Julius (pitch perfect Groucho Marx likeness aside), was that he seemed to be a tomb of knowledge regarding the inner workings of Estarcion; in fact, he seemed to emerge from the very bowls of Estarcion whenever he appeared. I suppose the counter argument would be: if you illuminate Estarcion TOO much, you lose the mystery and intrigue that made the narrative so compelling. Anyway, if Gerhard created something akin to a "Tour of Estarcion", I'd be all over it. If Dave was directly involved... froth, froth, twitch.
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