Gunslinger

Ruinous vistas, glowering skies and strong female characters have been recurring tropes for years. This image began as a rough sketch drawn in mid-2012. A passionate but volatile relationship had ended badly, prompting a spate of ugly and despairing works, and the post-apocalyptic genre seemed upbeat by comparison. This character’s heroic proportions and defiant pose might represent a need to move on. Related images were well received but my frustration with Photoshop condemned this piece to development hell.

I find it much harder to be enthused about such work these days. It seems too romanticised – in its own way as contrived as chainmail bikini art. I still thought my 2012 sketch had its strengths so I refined it in mid-2014 and coloured it in late October. I’m more comfortable with Photoshop, so it never felt like drudgery, though I lacked the motivation to come up with a backstory.