Swap Challenge III (er, IV)

I just finished my half of the third Swap Challenge between my friend Brian and me. However, instead of doing this week's topic (a dream team of five Marvel mutants for our own personalized X-Men), I was inspired by a book I am reading ("Hornblower and The Hotspur" by C. S. Forester) to leapfrog to next week's chosen topic: pirates. And since Brian has only completed the first challenge to date, leaving him three projects due by the end of this week, I feel no remorse (haha). My team of five mutants will show up at the end of Week IV instead.

I sketched it out in the car while I was between appointments at work in Rhode Island, and spent today inking, shading, coloring and photographing my work. This week I am most pleased with the work just before I colored it. Sometimes I feel that just the black and white is best, and that when I color it, some of the drama is sapped out. This is why I always take photos at several stages of my progress. Feel free to confirm or refute my color theory (pun intended).

 

I am not thrilled with how his right leg turned out (it looks quite awkward to me), and the sea chest looks a bit off, but I laugh every time I look at my scribble of "The Birth of Venus" in the painting on the shipboard cabin's wall!