The Fourth of July is almost here. It's a perennial topic for a Caption This cartoon. So let's set a fuse and run and duck behind some cover as this week's sketchbook blasts off.
The idea for this came pretty much fully formed. Heck, I emailed myself a quick note about the idea Sunday night before I drew it Monday. A few years ago I did a July 4 Caption This were a dad is about to set off a dangerously large amount of fireworks as his family looked on. I thought it'd be funny to see what happened before that happened.
I scribbled out the idea on notebook paper. Usually I use cheap newsprint for my ideas, but I ran out. (Note to self: put "giant newsprint pad" on grocery list.) I took a photo of it, sent it to my iPad, and got to work.
The drawing was done in an iPad app called Procreate using the Apple Pencil. I don't know how those wizards at Apple did it, but they made a digital drawing device that feels like a real pencil. I tried to be very loose with both the sketch and inking, something that's hard for a perfectionist like me to do. (Notice I didn't say "fast." I've had a bit of strain in my arm, which has caused me to draw veeerrrrryyyy ssslllloooooowwwllllyyyy.)
Below is a timelapse video from sketch to inked drawing. The video is about a minute long, while the actual drawing took close to eight years.
