Bear Seasons: All Together Now...

[kybearfuzz]

Seasons of the Bear:
Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn

Drawing cartoons based on real people is a challenge. There is I think an inherent risk of making the cartoon unflattering to the subject, even when the setting is fantastic. Even when I draw the superhero-toons of folks, I worry. It is never my intention of making someone look odd or weird. The feedback from these has been overwhelmingly positive and that is a big relief. I'm just happy that everyone enjoyed them. In fact, they are among some of my most viewed pics on my Flickr account. In each one, I wanted to include something specific about the "model" that was personal to them. Here's a bit of info on the design of these four.

Winter: madknits was the subject and I think a lot of RPG and fantasy folks have really enjoyed the kilted Bear of Winter. It was the first of the four drawn and in comparison to the others, it seems a bit sparse in the scenery department, but in a way I think it's fitting. Winter is very gray, very clean. The personal element in this was of course the kilt. Ken wears it well and I copied the colors from the one in photos of him.

Spring: prisoncitybear expressed interested in being a subject for Spring, even though he admits to being a Winter. The idea was that he was bringing the color back to season after the gray of winter. I've read comments that he's coming across as something of a large leprechaun. With the green tunic, the pot with the rainbow, the time of year, I'm surprised it didn't occur to me. The personal elements in this was naturally his tattoos and the jug was to represent his own art of pottery.

Summer: Back when I started plotting this out, I imagined njbearcub1 as Summer. I really wanted it to come off as summer fun and him putting the sun in the sky. If I had it to do over again, I would have made him shirtless and made the mythic elements a bit stronger and obvious. The personal element was Ed's most recognizable physical attribute, his beard, which is full and incredibly handsome. I did like how his beard turned out, though it was something of accident (made a note for future beard drawings though).

Autumn: mrdreamjeans made a comment about being a "fall" in the same entry that madknits wanted to be the "winter." I think Neil has the right coloration for an Autumn actually. I wanted to include a pose of him contemplating the apple like Hamlet contemplating the skull of a man with infinite jest. The coloring of the trees was my favorite part, I admit.

Now that the seasons are finished, I think I'm going to take a bit of a break from structured "project" stuff, though I have been jotting notes for a possible third issue of "Grizzly and the Bear Patrol." My work travel schedule is starting to fill up, so we'll see where it goes from here.

Comments

[mississippicub.livejournal.com]

love it :)

[spatts5.livejournal.com]

Now that your "Season of the Bear" is complete, you should think about a "Calendar of the Bear". You already have 4 of the 12 needed.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

LOL... Wow, that would be quite an undertaking, considering how long it took me to do these four :)

[spatts5.livejournal.com]

You can't rush great art work!

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

You are too sweet. I think issue #3 of the Bear Patrol is the next large project I'm considering, so the rest of a calendar may have to be a back burner project :)

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

I love it and love you for doing it!

HUGS!

[dendren.livejournal.com]

this totally rocks. I was actually just thinking last night how impressed I am with your art and how nice it is to see someone with such clear and total appreciation that you have for the bear male body. You love your bear men and it really shows in your art.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Well, thanks! I know many cartoonists who spend a great deal of time creating their fantasy of the perfect woman. The same holds true for we admirers of the bears I guess :)

[bruinwi.livejournal.com]

I think it's great that no only did you capture the various color palates of the various seasons, you also captured the varied hues in the clothing and bears of your chosen Bears.

VERY well done!

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

LOL... well, I couldn't have let them all come to the show in the same thing. I've heard that's a fashion faux pas. (joke)

I did try to pay attention to what they wore. For example, I wanted to use a red shirt for the summer, but of all the photos I've seen of njbearcub1, not a single time was he in a red shirt, so I assumed he didn't wear red often.

[rootbeer1.livejournal.com]

It's hard to say which one I like best, but I'm leaning toward winter and summer.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I think it's natural to gravitate toward one or more of them. In looking at the number of "views" on my Flickr account, it seems pretty evenly distributed.