King of the Road

If you've spent anytime on my blog you know that I have a deep appreciate for all things Harley Davidson. So, when on a recent visit to my brother in Texas, one of his acquaintances offered to let me take a spin on his '07 Harley Road King, I was thrilled. You need to understand that this is generally not done in biker circles. Most riders are very protective of their bikes and so, to let someone else ride yours is a pretty big deal.

I didn't get a chance to ride it very long, but I really enjoyed the experience of being on a big "hog." Honestly, I had just decided that my '02 HD Sportster was plenty of bike for me, but after that, I now know that I will always hunger for more.

Sometime later Leo wrote and asked me to create a drawing of a lion on a Harley Road King. (Leo - Lion, Lion - Road King - you follow the logic, don't you?) After the generous offer of a ride on his bike, I was all too happy to create an illustration for him.

The first illustration is one that I sent Leo before going on with the color work. I'm glad that I did because he wrote back saying that he liked the drawing, but the leg on the lion looked a little too "girlie." I wrote back saying that my legs were my best feature, but that I was happy to comply. He suggest that I add some leather chaps on the beast.

(My wife told me that if I bought a motorcycle I could never BUY leather chaps. I agreed, but later on a friend GAVE me a pair. So I've kept to our bargain. She never said anything about me not accepting a pair as a gift.)

The next drawing has the lion now modestly dressed in chaps and blue jeans. I think the chaps add to the illustration. What do you think?Next you see that the color and the lettering that have been added for the completion of the job.

I am beginning to have a growing collection of motorcycle artwork. (See my post on Sept. 25, Feb. 16, Jan. 17, Jan. 5)

Actually, I'm really not all that comfortable with creating illustrations that include mechanical stuff. I prefer more free hand, "artsie" kind of work. I really struggle at drawing these kind of pieces and so it took me three or four whacks with a pencil before I felt comfortable putting it down in pen.

I am really proud of this drawing. There are a few things that I don't like about it, but there always are. It's a totally freehand illustration that is fun and makes a definite statement about what kind of "beast" rides the road on his King.