Heike Diver
Last week, I posted a drawing on my blog, titled Heike Diver, a drawing referencing the legend/fable of the Heike crabs from Japan. A legend based on facts, as most legends are. Here is what I wrote:
“I move slow on drawings at times. Sometimes because there are paying gigs in the way and at other times because I'm stuck or lazy or have a weird sort of gridlock because there are a lot of ideas to be had.
This one was because I was stuck and then put aside for awhile. I'll have more on the process of creating this one in a future Substack.
So, what's this about? Some years ago, I learned of the Heike crabs found in Japan. They have on their carapace what looks to be the face of a samurai warrior, hence they are also known as the samurai crab. Legend has it that they began appearing after the Battle of Dan-no-ura at the end of the 12th century in feudal Japan. It was a fierce naval battle amounting with massive casualties across the board. It ended with the grandmother of the seven year old emperor of the Heike clan took him and jumped into the sea, drowning them both, instead of being captured by the enemy. These Heike crabs emerged with many believing them to be the reincarnated souls of the samurai warriors who died in the battle.
And, I do like a good legend, so I incorporated a deep sea diver with the Heike crab/samurai warrior face/carapace. The imagery speaks something to me, not sure what at times, but how can I pass up a crab with a human face? I even added a touch of Hokusai in the background waves.
If you have the interest, read up on the Heike crabs, the legend, the actual history that it is based on and so forth. It's a good story. And stories must be told.”
So, with that, I thought that I would show some of the process for how this drawing came about. Below are my initial sketches done some years ago. My initial idea is what I ended up going with. That happens a lot, but the kinks needed working out.
In this next sketch, I believe that I was trying to work out lighting and texture, which can be a challenge when working in just black and white. I still kind of like the radiating glow of the moon, but, as you will see, I put that effect in place on the diver’s helmet.
Here I was going for a more stylized ‘face’ for the crab, but ended up with a more realistic approach. Maybe I should play with this design more, put some crab legs on it and sell it as a t-shirt.
I thought that I had a scan or photo of the penciled page and if I do, I couldn’t find it, so I will try to show what is going on just before the inking stage. When I first laid this out, I used geometric lines to design my composition. It was my first time doing so, and although this is a simple composition, I felt the need to try it. Keeping it simple for this first attempt made sense. To get a better understanding of what this is all about, I would recommend the book The Painter’s Secret Geometry by Charles Bouleau.
Another source for this kind of drawing layout would be to look up the work of illustrator Mark Schultz (Cadillacs and Dinosaurs). He uses this technique for his drawings and it is truly a lesson in design and composition.
In this piece you can see that he is not only using the rule of thirds, but also has the diagonal lines directing the viewers eye to the main points of action and subjects.
So, here is the drawing already in the inking stage, but you can faintly see some of the lines. There’s the center line down the middle, but there are also diagonal lines that I used to place the direction of the crab legs in a hopefully interesting way.
And, here is the final drawing, if you haven’t seen it already.
