Thursday, September 23, 2010

Illustration Friday: "Acrobat"

Stevie Ray Vaughn was a great blues guitarist and musician. Not only was he able to hit the sweet notes, but he was a master at showmanship. Playing behind his back, an acrobatic feat, was one of many ways he would entertain his audience.
With this illustration I had two objectives. The first was to make it not look like a typical SRV drawing. There are so many drawings of him that look too similar. Secondly, I wanted to effectively utilize white space to add contrast and interest. This is something that I am going to work on with future projects. I think I was pretty successful with achieving both objectives.
Created with watercolors and pen & ink.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great drawing, great color!

Lynn said...

You were very successful! I really like the unusual perspective.

Unknown said...

Interesting angle! I am a little curious though, why you didn't choose a pose which represented the 'acrobat' of his performance. It is a fabulous sketch as is, but I keep trying to link it back to the topic.

David R. Vallejo said...

Thanks, all, for the comments.

Raena - I actually did focus on the acrobatic feat of SRV playing his guitar behind his back. Interestingly (at least to me), he didn't just start a song with his instrument behind him. What he would do is in the middle of a song, mid guitar solo, he would unstrap his guitar from the front position and restrap it in the back, and continue his solo and the rest of the song, all without missing a beat. This illustration probably caters more to the fans of Stevie Ray Vaughn and his showmanship than those who are not that familiar with him.

bettyfromtexas said...

This totally succeeded! He is one of my all-time favorite guitarists, and I recognized him immediately, though I agree that it is a unique perspective! And the white space is a very pleasing contrast!

Unknown said...

My apologies, David!! I should have looked a little closer the first time. I think my eyes played tricks on me because I thought the guitar was in the front still.

David R. Vallejo said...

Thanks Betty. He's one of my favorites too.
Raena - I know what you mean because when I first saw my posted illustration I noticed that the guitar almost appeared to be in front of him. Thanks for your comments. I always appreciate them.

DALowe Artist said...

the perspective is fantastic. really makes the piece. great job.

Alex said...

Nice drawing! =) love the perspective and the colors