Fly Swatter, Ideas on The Fly

A peek into my drawing process

For the past couple of days, we have dealt with a fly problem.

Problem, as in, there were two flies, and I took care of them.

I killed them, that is.

My wife is freakishly averse to bugs of any kind—flies, wasps, moths, you name it. As far as she’s concerned, I am the designated bug killer in our household. Not that I mind the role.

Where does that lead me? Well, to draw, of course. As an artist, I’ve learned to take inspiration from anywhere or anything. From the mundane to the outright cool stuff like, say, a cool gothic building in Chicago or, you know, mercilessly murdering a fly. As I swatted the last fly as hard as I could, I thought to myself, Man, it sure would be cool to make a character who zaps bugs for a living.

“No, that’s stupid.”

I instead drew myself swatting the fly in an art style I’m not comfortable with. The style is known as unfinished sketch.

I could attempt to elaborate on the profound thought process that led to the creation of this extraordinary artwork, unlike anything ever witnessed by humans. However, I will reserve embellishment for tales and fantasies of grandiosity. I’ll save that for Paperboy.

The goal of the Fly Swatter piece was to loosen up a bit. Not only was I in the middle of a client project, I was also clawing my way out of a debilitating creative block. I also tend to be a perfectionist at times. If it’s not colored in with a fully rendered background, its not a finished piece. So I took this as an exercise in exercising restraint. Restrain myself from those tendencies that cause unfinished pieces and multiple start-overs.

I also used it as an opportunity to keep my muscle memory in check and to get acquainted with Procreate (I mostly draw in Clip Studio Paint).

With that being said, this is Vincent. Enjoy the 30-second timelapse of Swatter being drawn. If you’d like such profound nuggets of insight from time to time, subscribe to the blog. It’s free!