Amanda Properzi

A bit of background: I'm working on a comic about hiking in the badlands. It's one of my favourite places to go and I have a couple of stories based on real things that I have happened there.

So here is my first attempt. I did the drawing without looking at any references. I mean, I know what the badlands are supposed to look like and I did glimpse at an image or two, but I didn't really think about them or the shapes that make the badlands, well, badlands.

After all was said and done, this didn't appeal to me. I didn't like it, I didn't like the inking, and then I just left it for months. It was a failure to me.

Well, I didn't really want to give up on it really. So months later, I picked it back up. I was determined to fix whatever the problem was. First I tried re-inking it, but that didn't help because the problem was the image itself. That doesn't look like badlands--it looks like a dumb mountain!

This time I sat down with some references and I'm much happier with the results. I think it's a step in the right direction. Anyways, this is a reminder to myself that revisiting artwork is worth it sometimes. Also, use the gosh darn references!

This is very much a WIP. I had a bit of a messy pencils mishmash as I tried to pin point exactly what I want it to look like. Already those characters and those sedimentary rock formations look like they belong. Hopefully the finished page will still have all its charm.