Sketch Challenge - Plane Jumper

A while back I invited people to give me challenges on things to draw. Here is the first one (would love to get more suggestions so feel free to post them as comments or email me). The challenge was for a soldier jumping out of a plane, didn't quite get there but loved the suggestion!

Part of the reason it is great to get suggestions is that it makes you pay attention to things you normally don't. In this case, what exactly is a parachute rig going to look like, how do the straps work, what is the uniform going to look like, how exactly does a small Cesna look etc.?

The other thing is that creating situations to justify interesting poses is difficult. Having someone falling out of a plane gives a great degree of freedom, along with problems. In the past I've drawn elephants jumping off a cliff (don't ask). The problem was that they didn't look convincing in falling, just elephants with no ground plane under them.

So I wanted to really try for a feeling of falling. Also to make the face really scared. I know I would be and to any friends who are thinking of giving me a sky diving jump as a birthday present, I will NEVER jump out of a perfectly good plane!