Hobology

This is a single page pencil illustration produced as part of a texturing assignment in John Larison's Materials and Techniques for Sequential Art class. I am posting it to convey the idea that the conception of one's work should not only be derived from personal experience and the stream of one's consciousness and/or conscience. Sometimes, you're given an assignment, and just have to think of something as quickly as possible. The criteria was as such:

Two detectives are standing over a dead body in an urban setting. A crowd has begun to form. There must be at least twelve people on the page, and the manner of death must be evident.

I referenced the city of Asheville, NC for the backgrounds, and decided that the characters would take on the appearance of contemporary hobos. My ultimate goal with this assignment was to see how much detail I could fit in a 10" x 15" surface area. I believe, at final count, I placed 15 people, a dog, multiple buildings, mountains, a dumpster, lettering, bricks, a hat and a rucksack. I made some edits in the final version, which involved the appearance of the blood, the tones on some of the clothing, and a few sizing issues.