gum gum people

A sort-of new Gum Gum Person drawing

Back in Inktober 2019 I drew this sketch for the prompt TREASURE:

Recently, and randomly, I decided to colour it (maybe I just like colouring books) and, as I’ve done before with other GGP sketches, ended up refining it at the same time. The lines of the chest are straight now, but if you look closely1Maybe not even that closely, really you can see the chest is not quite straight. But I kind of like it that way. Also, I admit to largely giving up on the coins. Maybe in the next revision.

Both drawings done in Procreate on my iPad Pro.

Gum Gum Person Blade prompt redone

One of the Inktober drawing prompts I had from several years back was BLADE. I used Gum Gum People for this, as is my way.

Below is the new coloured version, then the before/after with the original.

Shiny new:

Before/after:

I am still kind of amazed at how terrible the line work was in the older prompts. I mean, I know I did each sketch in a day and usually without spending a lot of time on them, but yeesh.

Gum Gum Person sleeping: Coloured remaster

The original version of this sketch was for a prompt called SLEEP, and it’s one of the few featuring a Gum Gum Person where I was happy with the result, probably because most of the GGP is hidden inside a sleeping bag. And yes, I forgot to actually contour the body in the original, and decided to leave it for the colour version.

The colour version only refines a few lines, so it’s mostly unchanged. After colouring it, I had the idea to have the campfire projecting light, though perhaps unrealistically, since it’s just glowing embers. I call it art. Yeah.

Here’s the colour version:

And side-by-side:

Gum Gum Slingshot 2.0

Again trying to rework the original drawing prompt sketch, this time the prompt was SLING.

The original:

And the reworked version:

The biggest changes are pretty obvious:

  • Much cleaner line work throughout
  • The band on the sling has been changed from a simple black line to an actual band and coloured to highlight it better
  • I shortened the right leg on the swingin’ Gum Gum Person
  • I fixed the left arm and adjusted the proportions of the one holding the sling
  • The blue is now more of a sky blue and the black line separating the blue and green is no longer perfectly straight, more strongly suggesting an outdoor scene
  • Shading has been added, though I’m still not entirely happy with the shadows

Gum Gum drag racing, before and after

First, the original pencil sketch, probably done back in the 90s:

And my modern interpretation of it:

And some miscellaneous notes and observations:

  • I tried to incorporate the ZOOM!! text but never liked the way it looked, so off it went
  • I originally resisted adding the reins to the bananas, because I don’t see the Gum Gum People needing them, but with their poses it looks a little better
  • If I redid this, I’d have them leaning forward, like they were riding motorcycles, without the reins
  • I removed the dialog because it is now canon that Gum Gum People do not speak
  • The motion lines/puffs don’t seem to convey the motion that well, probably again due to the posture of the racers
  • The shadows are iffy
  • I slightly reduced the size of the background GGP, but they still look too close together?
  • The GGP in the back has bigger feet, but, uh, it’s just a trick of perspective!

Gum Gum chef: Before and After

One of the drawing prompts I did way back for Making Art Everyday was CHEF. I used a Gum Gum Person because of course I did, but I never liked the final result, and at least one guy in my gaming group said the apron looked like a dress.

Tonight I came across that sketch and redid it from the original. The only things that didn’t change were the colours.

First, the new version:

And a before/after comparison:

Could it happen?

My fortune cookie fortune from Chinese food last night:

My reaction:

If I play those six numbers and win $13 million instead (the current Lotto 6/49 prize), I’ll accept that as compensation in place of people being impressed with my art.

Boxing Day 2021

I have no idea what the malls were like today. With snow on the ground, the high temperature of the day being -6C and the Omicron variant of COVID-19 doing a variation of Oprah’s “You get a car and you get a car and you get a car!” with the entire general population, it seems unlikely the stores were packed.

But people do love a good bargain.

I went for a walk but otherwise stayed inside, warm and content to avoid crowds, plague and things.

I did a quick drawing to celebrate Boxing Day, though. In hindsight, I wished I had put flaps on the box. I mean, I still could, but maybe I should just move onto bigger, better boxes.

I’m also thinking about restarting some art lessons, to better ground myself in the basics. I’m a bit rusty.

Tools used: iPad Pro 12.9″, Procreate, sketching pencil from Bardot Brush Pencil Box set