The Tower of the Elephant 1
84. THE TOWER OF THE ELEPHANT, 1 - A black ink and black color pencil on an 11 x 14 size coquille board. It appears in, "THE TOWER OF THE ELEPHANT," my art folio based on a Robert E. Howard story, published by Bortner and Kruse in 1977.
Whenever I did a drawing containing multiple figures, I first drew a rough sketch of each figure on a separate piece of tracing paper. I then positioned all the tracing papers onto a coquille board, moving all the figures around, reversing some, raising or lowering others, searching for an arrangement that looked balanced, trying to find a composition that "feels" right. And when I found one that satisfied me I stopped, transferred the figures onto the coquille board, and continued to work on the drawing to completion. That's how this picture was composed, as well as many others I drew that contained multiple figures and objects.
Whenever I did a drawing containing multiple figures, I first drew a rough sketch of each figure on a separate piece of tracing paper. I then positioned all the tracing papers onto a coquille board, moving all the figures around, reversing some, raising or lowering others, searching for an arrangement that looked balanced, trying to find a composition that "feels" right. And when I found one that satisfied me I stopped, transferred the figures onto the coquille board, and continued to work on the drawing to completion. That's how this picture was composed, as well as many others I drew that contained multiple figures and objects.
