From what I know of creative writing, writers sometimes play games to challenge their imagination. Artists do the same thing, although graphic art often requires more dexterity and less imagination than writing, in my view. Artist exercises tend to bulk up the connection between the eye and the hand, and often leave the imagination out of the loop.
I found in one of my art books an exercise by Will Eisner. Will Eisner's books in my opinion focus more on the imagination than on dexterity. Burne Hogarth tends towards the opposite. In any case, the Eisner exercise has the artist create a full body pose based on a random set of circumstances pulled from a matrix.
I rolled CHALLENGING-MILITARY-WOMAN WALKING-FROM A FRIGHT. The result is Sergeant Penny, above.
James Bond fans will recall that SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) is the operational command for NATO. Sergeant Penny was transferred to SHAPE to act as executive secretary for Col. Drake. Drake is handsome in a hard-jawed way, and attentive to Penny's charms, perhaps to the point of distraction. However, he retreats into his own dark space with mention of the secret file room in the east wing. Certainly, Drake would never believe in the wild stories of ghosts that have haunted the file room since the days of the Cold War, but then how else to explain the flickering lights, the icy temperatures even with the heater on full, the disembodied groaning noises, and above all, the mysterious disappearance of Sergeant Wulreich, Penny's predecessor?
Penny does not believe in ghosts, either, but she refuses to let the matter rest. Gathering her courage, she seeks out the far corner of the east wing. Are those glowing red eyes past the microfiche stack? Or the elaborate ruse of an as yet unseen Communist spy gambit?
I kind of riffed on of Eisner's poses for Sergeant Penny. I also Spielberged the gun out of her hand and replaced it with a flashlight. The writing on the top of the image is just notes in my sketchbook, and have no real meaning.
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