Wed Oct 21, 2009 10:30 am
#30951
Each year I create a new illustration of a Zombie Pumpkin. These little guys serve as the mascot for the season, appearing on the site, t-shirts, fliers, and maybe even haunting your nightmares.
They are often some visualization of that year's theme. For example, for 2009's "Dawn of the Zombie Pumpkins!" title I wanted a warm design, to convey the feeling of the sun's morning rays. The heat idea eventually translated into design elements like hellish burnt scrolls licked by flames.
But back to the mascot, the face you see peering of the top over this page like breaking dawn on the horizon. I knew I wanted a mostly symmetrical face, to represent the rising sun. And a flame in his head was another idea bouncing around in mine. But the rest was yet to spring from my mind.
So as with most of my cartoon drawings, I just started with a very loose sketch. Drawing with my Wacom graphics tablet, I redrew the pumpkin face several times. Refining each new version, I progressively added more details, and made my lines more specific.
Once I was satisfied with the sketch, I retraced it with vectors, thickened the lines, added color, shading, and highlights. And just like that, another Zombie Pumpkin is born.
Check out the blog hereto see the step-by-step process that went into drawing this year's mascot.
They are often some visualization of that year's theme. For example, for 2009's "Dawn of the Zombie Pumpkins!" title I wanted a warm design, to convey the feeling of the sun's morning rays. The heat idea eventually translated into design elements like hellish burnt scrolls licked by flames.
But back to the mascot, the face you see peering of the top over this page like breaking dawn on the horizon. I knew I wanted a mostly symmetrical face, to represent the rising sun. And a flame in his head was another idea bouncing around in mine. But the rest was yet to spring from my mind.
So as with most of my cartoon drawings, I just started with a very loose sketch. Drawing with my Wacom graphics tablet, I redrew the pumpkin face several times. Refining each new version, I progressively added more details, and made my lines more specific.
Once I was satisfied with the sketch, I retraced it with vectors, thickened the lines, added color, shading, and highlights. And just like that, another Zombie Pumpkin is born.
Check out the blog hereto see the step-by-step process that went into drawing this year's mascot.