Constructing Homer

So - I'm back to freelance work - and lo and behold a toy industry exec I know asks me "Can you draw Simpson's characters?"

I immediately said "YES" - hoping it was for a job and not for a birthday cake or something. Turns out that a licensee of the Simpson's wanted some concept art for new products and packaging because they were applying to expand their license from the UK and Europe to North America. "YES" I repeated, "I can draw Simpson's characters." We went over the requirements and I went home absolutely thrilled.

In the car on the way home I realized that, despite being a big Simpson's fan with the prerequisite ability to quote from any number of episodes, I have never EVER drawn a Simpson's character. Not a single one. Not a sketch, not a doodle - nothing.

So - I spent about a half hour after getting home digging out some reference and drawing up a Homer, resolving to do it until I could feel secure that I could pull it off.

It took me 6 drawings, all of which I post here. I was pretty pleased and convinced I could deliver.

And then the next day the word came down that they did NOT get the license extension they were seeking - and that was the end of that.

Dammit.

The process of drawing a decent Homer was pretty cool though. Proving to yourself you can do something - even a small thing - that you haven't done before. I thought I did a pretty good job right off the bat. The 1st sketch was clearly off - the proportions of the eyes and mouth, their placements - but the other three faces came out pretty darn good. The 1st full Homer I did I was completely pleased with so I just cleaned it up. (Obviously, had the job gone through, I would have cleaned it up a bit further and inked it so it had the density of line to match the animation - and colors, of course.) The licensee was very pleased also, so I guess that's something...