Chapter IV: CCLXIII (row 2)
Newly minted emperor of Rome at the time of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, Titus worked hard to meet the needs of his citizens in the aftermath–travelling to the area, arranging for aid and distribution of funds–and during a series of other disasters early in his reign.
Titus would also have been increasingly interested in finding good doctors to put on payroll.
Learned men and rhetoricians like Helvius (man of many talents) were already being offered stipends to come to the city of Rome during Vespasian’s reign, even though Vespasian was notoriously stingy about spending.
Like the previous extra comic, row 2 of this one was also drawn after this Friday’s comic, so is numbered out of order in the countdown. 🙂
I have really to congratulate you on your art. I like how the characters no matter how minor, have their own distinct look.
You have managed to avoid the sameness that prevail throughout the comic scene, in which characters have the same look and are only differentiated by clothes and posture.
And I was just thinking how much cleaner/clear your lines have got over the last couple of years. Everything is so beautifully defined, without being fussy. You grow daily in you art.
I guess practice really does make perfect? 🙂
I hope I can continue to improve and grow over the next 5000 drawings….
For everyone except the famous people (who hopefully look like themselves anyway), I’ve tried to give them their own individuality. It’s nice to know that I’ve had some success with that!
There are so many portraits of Titus and Domitian, I’ve been able to take an average of the portraits and come up with my own way of depicting the two of them. For everyone else, they come from all sorts of inspirations. Sometimes from observing folks on the street, sometimes from looking at ancient painted portraits, sometimes, somehow, just from out of my head. Iusta and Vitalis were meant to look alike; Caius takes a little bit of his look from Stephanus; and so on!
(above, the imperial brothers)
It says a lot about your commitment. I’ve been reading comics (dead trees versions, webcomics and manga) for years. Many times the graphic artist decides to simplify his/her workload by basically copy pasting bodies, faces, etc. and then finishing them with specific stuff like eyebrows, makeup or clothes to differentiate them.
Instead you have decided to go the hard route and really differentiate them individually from body and face proportions so that if they stood side by side naked, you can still recognize them. I salute your dedication.
And I also agree with David’s statement that you art has grown since SPQR Blues started. It is true that practice makes the master. And you are if not one, becoming one.
Titus looks like a D&D gamer that spends his nights with his pals playing D&D all night long, while Domitian looks like a jock who is a fanatic of the Rome’s Lions. 😉
I think Titus is more of a wargamer 🙂