Backfire - Art Process

The Spirit's Notes: I had completed the pencils and inking for Backfire back in mid-December of 1998, and coloring in January of 1999. While my early application of colors are rather simplistic compared to my standards today, this drawing still retains elements that I am fond of. So we can learn from this that the final art is not totally dependent upon the use of color (though color is vital as well). If your drawing does not look good as black & white line art, it still will not look good in color, and vice versa. So the use of color as a form of enhancing any drawing can be measured in degrees. A good pencil or ink drawing will always look good, and if one leaves it at that point, then that is the artist's intention. But if the artist had conceived color to begin with, then a multitude of painting skills will further enhance the art, bringing it as close to the artist's original concept as they can. This depends on the artist's experience laying down color. So using this piece as an example, my use of color did meet my objectives at the time, yet, to what degree? The color successfully brings this scene to life, it does it's job without detracting from the drawing's own self-standing enchantment. Of course it would look different if I painted it today because of my experience painting form to help define dimension, therefore the degree of success may have been be greater by my standards today.