Yes, this IS a story page. In visual Mucha-ese, 'cause why the DAMN HELL not?
Anyone who's been waiting on me to get anything else done, now you know why I'm two whole days behind. Having never aped the master of Art Nouveau prettiness before, the learning curve(s) was/were steep.
I'm actually really happy with this piece; I get a bit giddy when I look at it, especially with the lettering all done up. My mom bought be a bunch of overpriced Mucha books at Powell's what feels like a thousand years ago, and I've opened one or two up about once every other year since thinking "I hope these weren't a waste of money since I'm learning NOTHING from them and not using them at ALL."
Price: JUSTIFIED. You're welcome, mom. I mean: thank you, mom.
My first real exposure to Mucha was a wall calendar I picked out (also at Powell's) WAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY back in 1999. I was absolutely bowled over by his mastery and genius and the beauty of his work. Also: there was a nipple. This was years before I had free access to porn.
Thanks for drawing that nipple, Mucha. I draw further nipples in tribute.
ART.
Kathryn's arm is growing back in "panel" 2; she's let her self-penance focus lapse with Erica's distractions... or is there SPOILERS: more to it?!?
GASP. (Spoken out loud as a world, a la Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.)
Shan 14th Nov 2015, 5:12 AM delete reply
"Just a question about Erica's daughter Jayde. She's sees that her mother has a female visitor over and the first thing she asks her mother is if she's a lesbian now. OK, I guess that turned out to be accurate almost straight away to some degree given what happened next but it always struck me as a very odd conclusion to reach and a very odd statement to make straight off the bat.
Is it ultimately a lead in to suggest that she's actually just a bit psychic or merely that she's incredibly perceptive? Which I guess is an extrasensory power in and of itself (and a very useful skill to have)."
Jayde's observation is meant to show that she is, in fact, incredibly perceptive. She's her mother's daughter: a detective in the making.
Jayde is able to work out Erica's intentions based upon the evidence of observing Erica changing into skimpy PJs after arriving home with the unconscious Kathryn.
(The idea being that Jayde has seen her mom slip into such attire on many previous occasions, but for gentleman callers.)
Also, as the next page indications "Wendy at school" has two mommies, a novel and enlightening concept in Jayde's young, expanding mind. Absent a (present) father, she wouldn't mind a second mommy, so she's actually hoping she's correctly deduced Erica's intentions.
OK now, well that's a slight bit different then. If she just came down the stairs and was seeing all that for the first time (Kathryn seated on the couch) and her mother in the kitchen, that would have been a bit of a leap IMO. Having her earlier collected that bit of background information plus also now knowing those other things she knew earlier puts a slightly different spin on things.
That's a lot for me to have perhaps not communicated with the subtle effectiveness I was aiming for; I may have to go back and give Jayde another line (explaining, at the least, her observation about how sluttily her mother is dressed; I assumed it was obvious that she was going skimpy for Kathryn, but as she wears a baby-tee to police work, it might have just seemed like a given that her PJs would be so revealing).
No, it's fine. Leave it as it is. I just didn't there seemed to be anything particularly outrageous about how Erica was dressed (I mean I hear a lot of people sleep nekkid so I hear, obviously though she'd wear something to wear around the house ... usually).
OK, so I jumped to a conclusion that wasn't how you saw events unfold but it that doesn't mean it wasn't unbelievable. I mean real life has all these seeming leaps of logic or supposed bits of narrative missing. It happens. Also, I thought the way I read it was funny. Furthermore, just because I read it that was, doesn't mean everyone, or even a majority read it that way (most people may well have gotten what you intended).
I've worked for years and years, toiling away in hopes of receiving this EXACT compliment from someone, from anyone... and now, I can die happy. But hopefully also live happy for a while first too.
(This is not a joke, you totally made my day -- possibly my whole year. :) )
Ha, good point. But, if life has taught me anything, it's that I will embrace <i>literally</i> anything a hot blonde tells me to. Bible reading, soccer, breakdancing...
No matter how previously disinterested I may have been, each momentarily became my whole world. Because blondes.
Thank you! It was a real challenge to understand the Mucha aesthetic and try to emulate it, without completely abandoning my own style (since this IS a story page). I'm very happy with the results.:)
"Just a question about Erica's daughter Jayde. She's sees that her mother has a female visitor over and the first thing she asks her mother is if she's a lesbian now. OK, I guess that turned out to be accurate almost straight away to some degree given what happened next but it always struck me as a very odd conclusion to reach and a very odd statement to make straight off the bat.
Is it ultimately a lead in to suggest that she's actually just a bit psychic or merely that she's incredibly perceptive? Which I guess is an extrasensory power in and of itself (and a very useful skill to have)."
Jayde's observation is meant to show that she is, in fact, incredibly perceptive. She's her mother's daughter: a detective in the making.
Jayde is able to work out Erica's intentions based upon the evidence of observing Erica changing into skimpy PJs after arriving home with the unconscious Kathryn.
(The idea being that Jayde has seen her mom slip into such attire on many previous occasions, but for gentleman callers.)
Also, as the next page indications "Wendy at school" has two mommies, a novel and enlightening concept in Jayde's young, expanding mind. Absent a (present) father, she wouldn't mind a second mommy, so she's actually hoping she's correctly deduced Erica's intentions.
Jayde wants what Wendy has: more family.
OK, so I jumped to a conclusion that wasn't how you saw events unfold but it that doesn't mean it wasn't unbelievable. I mean real life has all these seeming leaps of logic or supposed bits of narrative missing. It happens. Also, I thought the way I read it was funny. Furthermore, just because I read it that was, doesn't mean everyone, or even a majority read it that way (most people may well have gotten what you intended).
Finally, she was right!
(This is not a joke, you totally made my day -- possibly my whole year. :) )
Great pic as always.
No matter how previously disinterested I may have been, each momentarily became my whole world. Because blondes.
Someone should outlaw blondes.