Samurai in Motion

This is the work of my friend Jeff Johnson. Jeff, along with his lifelong friend Scott Kolins, is fairly well known in the comic book industry. Both worked for notable publishers such as DC Comics and Marvel. I selected this image of Jeff’s to experiment with different ways of interacting and new ways of enjoying his work.

There are three ways to play with it:

• Ink in water. The lines lean away from wherever you point, then wobble back when you leave.
• Wind through the robes. Sweep across him. The faster you move, the harder the gust, and the loose outer robes flap longer than his face.
• Re-inking. Rub the ink away with a cursor, finger or stylus, down to the pencil underneath. Leave it alone and the ink seeps back in.

Line boil adds the gentle jitter of hand-drawn animation, and Swinging sword lets you knock his arm so the blade sways on its shoulder hinge. It all works with a mouse, a finger or an Apple Pencil.

What I’d like to hear: which of these feels like it respects the drawing, and which just gets in the way of it.