Drawing for Dwelling -Morris's eye

Spying

This is the third drawing I created for the first chapter of @dougkarr's novel Dwelling. In this drawing the character Morris is watching his neighbours through a peephole in his door.

... pressing his nose into the marked up wall. He peered out through a timeworn relic of a peephole in the sealed wooden door.

@dougkarr Dwelling -CHAPTER ONE The Tenement

The process

I started off by sketching out a few ideas before choosing to go with the close up shot of the eye peering through a keyhole. I drew out my design on the paper in pencil, and then began to work over some of the lines with a dip pen and drawing inks.

Using a paintbrush I began to build up tonal washes of ink over the areas. I got to the stage where the majority of the image was finished, and I just needed to add a black ink wash to the background to suggest the dark exterior of the door.

I read the text again, and questioned to myself why the keyhole would have a ''glass ring''. Doh! I realised my image should look less like a keyhole and more like a round door viewer - the type you get in hotel doors. I scanned my image, and using a graphics editor I applied a round mask over the top of the drawing to suggest a circular peephole rather than a keyhole. Phew, no need to start again!

He stood up, his hulking frame towering as he leaned over the toilet, pressing his nose into the marked up wall. He peered out through a timeworn relic of a peephole in the sealed wooden door. A pair of communal latrines on each floor had once been shared by apartments bursting with tenants, but were now sloppily coupled to each living quarter in a string of slapdash late seventies renovations. Yet Morris's keyhole remained.

Through the glass ring, he caught the slightest waft of the artist and the blonde stumbling up the stairs. He’d missed his opportunity at a proper glimpse by mere seconds. The sheen of the blonde’s soft skin was painfully elusive in its rapid exit from sight.

@dougkarr Dwelling -CHAPTER ONE The Tenement

You can read the 1st chapter of Doug Karr's novel Dwelling now!

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Have a great day and Steem on!