save me guildingham

Figured I should share some tidbits and do a type of study/guide for Keith since over time he has been challenging to master in terms of drawing him in case anyone wanted to learn as well! I draw him on the semi-realistic side.

A few extra pointers and tips I wasn’t able to write on the page:

Keep lines loose when drawing anything! Don’t be afraid of being messy in the beginning. I didn’t clean up some of these lines to boost your confidence. You can always clean later and perfect once you get anatomy down.

Map out planes of the face and basic shapes. You don’t have to go crazy, just the main points to practice with. USE REFERENCE PHOTOS!! It’s super important if you want to master the likeness of any person. It’s also totally okay to trace over photos when learning the shapes and anatomy, but try to free hand the actual drawing to build hand and eye coordination when studying the reference photos.

Pay attention to hair patterns and volume as well, as the hair gives the character their unique appearance.

We know how Arnie's personality is described by Stephen: Intelligent, Sweet, Thoughtful, Quirky, Humourous, Shy—but it all takes a turn when he's influenced by Lebay's spirit and Christine.

1st image is Arnie at his best before disaster happens.

2nd is transition and him realizing something isn't feeling right. I took inspiration from the phone booth scene near the middle of the book when he's realizing something is wrong and wants to reach out to loved ones but can’t get any help. I love how Stephen depicted him not fully understanding what's happening to him and the horror and confusion he feels when the switches happen. I find that scene so sad...

Quote: "Arnie came back to himself suddenly, scared and wide-eyed, breathing hard. What had been happening to him? He had seemed like someone else there for a moment.." —Christine by Stephen King

(Also unless I missed it, it's not mentioned if he ditches the glasses earlier, but I would assume his vision improves as apart of the "healing" process. So I drew him with and without glasses here.)

3rd is complete disassociation and decent further from his true personality.

I focused more on personality here than how Stephen described his looks. I might explore his book descriptions more later, but Keith is my go to representation.

SIDE NOTE: Arnie has legit GRAY EYES! I know Stephen described them as gray like a cloudy autumn sky, but I didn't take it literal for some reason, but then I looked it up and gray eyes are a thing! I love him so much better with gray eyes, so I made the change with these drawings. (I'm slow)