War Days: Sketches and Development

War Days is a comic idea I've had for many years now since undergrad cartooning classes at Columbia. I've thought, wrote, and sketched about the idea over the years but am finally fully committed to seeing it through! The idea comes from my experiences (as well as my older sister's) going to a very strict Catholic grammar school as children. The initial drive for the story was to express how I became an atheist and my views about religion, but there's also a lot of other themes such as defying traditional expectations of girls and women and other's preconceptions and judgments of who you should be. It's a coming of age story at its core. Almost two years ago I made a comic for the project but then took a long hiatus, however I never stopped thinking about it. Now's the time!

So I've been starting with a lot of sketches to define the characters and the style before diving into the comics this time. I also plan on making some short animations as well since I've been getting the animation bug the past few months. In the meantime, here are some development of characters.

the main character will be myself, but there will also be teachers, fellow students, my family, and possibly my stuffed animal Brownie will make an appearance or two.

This is the principal, the strictest sister of them all. I feel like the teachers and priests still need a lot more work...

 

lineup sketches to depict the character's development

I started a full time contract position at VUDU about two weeks ago so that's why posting has dropped. I'm going to get back into it and will update weekly (instead of twice a week) and the day will fluctuate, but I still want to keep this blog alive. It really helps to ensure that I keep drawing and working even while having another job. On another note, I'm a mere five heads away from hitting 900 in the Thousand Head Drawing Challenge!!! So there will definitely be some heads in the future....

Depths of Space: Finish

Now that I've finished my thesis, I want to share the remaining illustrations I haven't posted. For today, I'm starting with S P A C E . . 

This illustration is a cover for a comic idea I've been working on with my partner (mostly still formative, discussion) but there was a really cool scene he told me of the woman scientist going into space to meditate, for moments of thought and self-reflection. I really wanted to capture the feeling of drifting in space while still being connected (ie, not the scary drifting kind that is seen in the upcoming Alfonso Cuaron film Gravity--though I do want to see this movie when it comes out). Even more importantly, I wanted to communicate her melding into space, her consciousness fusing with the ultimate. It took many studies and experimentations, but I'm happy with the final!

Notes, notes, notes. Studies, studies, studies. I did a lot of sketching to explore the motion of the body, as well as research into future possibilities of space suits since I knew I didn't want the current suit--and it's set in the future.

More notes and another study. Then two different takes. The first take was a bit rushed and although I liked where the stylization was going, the pose was way too active. In the second version, the pose was getting better but she looked too stiff and there were a bit too many chords going on. With helpful feedback from fellow grad students, I started again.

This time I liked it. I took more time with the drawing and inking, really controlling my line weight. Then took it into Photoshop and worked.

I'm really happy with how the final turned out. Hopefully there'll be more developments on this project in the future.

Thunder Thighs in Pleasures of the FLESH!!!

Very fun commission for a friend Sergio of his original character "Thunder Thighs". She's a superhero with awesome pheromone powers and the ability to explode any and all who do the nasty with her. Awesome superhero, hands down. In this scene, she has been taken hostage by the evil Dr. Colossus and multiple superheros have tried to save Thunder Thighs but find their ends in a burst of pleasure. Next is the idiotic, entranced former president George W. Bush. Will Thunder Thighs ever escape?!

First Sketches of Yonder New Year

I might develop the last sketch into a color illustration/possibly painting. But I'm not sure how strongly I want the "you suck" to be.... hmmmm......

More Charcoal! And a Deadline!

Charcoal is still far from being my favorite medium. I just feel like it's so hard to control... not impossible or as hard as other mediums, but I just have a difficult time. I need much bigger charcoal. These hands are way too big for tiny, pointy charcoal.

What is fun about charcoal is the mess. I always look forward to seeing how ridiculous I look after a drawing.



This was only after two drawings. lol And not even those really dark ones (the first in the post). Mah face is dirty....

ALSO..... DEADLINE!!!
I've decided that the deadline for the first chapter of my comic will be February 1, 2010. This gives me my break between semesters to work on it, and that should be enough time. So I'll be posting teasers on here, but all of it won't be available until the physical minicomics are made.