Inspiration from Gustave Dore

I like to submit comics to the signal newspaper but recently I've been having difficulties coming up with ideas. I don't like forcing anything on myself so I figured I'll just draw for fun until I come up with something I like.There's not a lot of incentive to submit comics for them anyway, so I'm under no obligation to (unless they pay me). I wanted to go back to my routes for a little bit and draw traditionally rather than digitally.

Recently I've been absolutely captivated by Gustave Dore's work:

 

I liked this image so much that I wanted to flesh out the story of Jacob wrestling God in comic form. It would go like this:  Jacob is alone sitting at a fire, contemplating the flame, filled with anxiety. All of a sudden, he sees a flash of light in the forest. He runs over to investigate. In the darkness Jacob sees two eyes like beams pierce his soul, it stands up on its legs like a bear of 8 feet tall. The creature attacks Jacob, but Jacob fights back for his life. They struggle till daybreak. Jacob strikes the creature’s face. Then, Streams of sunlight through the foliage reveal the face of a deity with a bloody lip. In anger and fierce momentum, the deity strikes the hip of Jacob and he falls. 

The deity turns his back on Jacob and begins to walk away. Jacob grabs the deity from behind. 

“You stubborn jackass of a man! when will you yield?”

“I will not let go until you bless me!”

“What is your name?” 

“My name is Jacob, supplanter, for I have deceived my brother and robbed him of his birthright and now he seeks vengeance upon me, who are you?”

“From now on you will be called Israel, for you have wrestled with the Lord your God, Persevered, and prevailed. So then, do not fear your brother or any man, for what can mere men do to you?”

God grabs Jacob by the arm, holds him to the sky, and blesses him. 

“See to it that I do not come back, for if I need return, Surely I will not spare your life.”

He leaves as he arrived like lightning striking the heavens. 

Jacob falls to the ground. He finds a long stick to help him up. He limps to his campsite, beaten and battered but smiling. 

He's an engraver but I wanted to recreate the look through pen and paper. I went so far as to buy an illustration gallery on Amazon and borrow a book from the library that showcases his work so I can study it very closely. Here are a few days progress:

There's still room for improvement. I hope to implement this skill in later works that are related to my art classes and comic submissions. 

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