Today I finished that special portrait of Dashiell I started almost a month ago. Because Dash is named after the author Dashiell Hammett, who wrote The Maltese Falcon famously portrayed by Humphrey Bogart in the film version, I had an idea I wanted to make real. Above is the fur texture layer along with a neutral grey background.
Then I added a shadow of the Maltese Falcon based on one of the two photos of Bogie I used as reference.
Of course, Sam Spade needs a dashing fedora.
And a trench coat.
Then the final touch, to give the portrait a real Film Noir feel…the shadows.
But something was bothering me. I went back to my other Bogie reference photo and realised what was missing: There is a dark shadow of his hat, and the original background had a shadowy texture. I went back and fixed those two things and…voilà!
However, I generally crop my drawings to a standard size, but I draw on a larger canvas. This is the full-size version. Not really different, apart from the proportioning. It’s such a great feeling to finally get the image out of your head so others can see it.
The Daily Abyssinian...and Singapura 
Really cool! Funny enough, I own a fedora – but it doesn’t fit me right. In fact, I actually modeled in it last night (after not having seen it for a couple of years) for Wednesday’s blog post!
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As Sam Spade himself said, “You’re good. You’re very good.”
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