ANOTHER CHARACTER DESIGN

Fantom-Fury Costume Variations

So, I’m still toying around with this character design in my (all too little) free time. You may recall I posted some stuff a couple months back. I’ve been kicking this idea around for years and can’t seem to shake it. I think the previous versions were a bit too macabre for what I want to achieve — something more in the classic superhero vain. Not too gritty, not tortured or angst-ridden. I’d love to do something with this character a kin to a classic, full-color, full-page Sunday comic strip. You know, the kind of thing where the heroes are good, the villains are colorful and the kids can read it without fear of the material being overtly sexual or graphically violent. Those of you who have seen some of my previous work are thinking, “whu-HUH?” Anyway, who is this guy? What can he do? Why does he do it? I guess we’ll all have to wait and see… maybe when Reformation and Atomic Yeti are done…

FANTOM-FURY FRIDAY!

Comics, Illustration

You didn’t ask for it and no one demanded it but back by personal demand, its Fantom-Fury Friday! You may recall this character from previous posts, there spelled “Phantom-Fury.” I went with “Fantom-Fury” for this week’s post for alliteration.

I recall this illustration having been pretty well received. The assignment was to emulate a favorite artist’s style. You may recall my attempt at Shane Glines awhile back. For this assignment I chose a long time favorite, Mike Mignola. What makes this piece so gratifying to me was that, according to legend (or, the professor, if you prefer) the prof showed this to her friend, wait for it… MIKE MIGNOLA! And he liked it. My inquiry as to whether Mr. Mignola might have a Hellboy project for an asspiring artist, such as myself, to work on went unanswered. Oh well, the compliment was enough to put me on cloud nine for a week.

Phantom-Fury, After Mignola

GOOD KNIGHT AND GOOD LUCK…

Illustration

I don’t know what today’s post title is supposed to mean other than making some ham-fisted reference to today’s illustration. This one, again, comes from my character design class and was focussed on presenting a character in a researched, period costume. The reference photo we were required to work from showed the model in the same pose but a different outfit altogether. I chose the knight because the guy in the photo was already holding a sword but, it was a saber, I think. Anyway, the pose just said “knight” to me so that’s what you get. This was also one of the first pieces I did for that class that I did a colored version of as well. It wasn’t required for the assignment but I was so pleased with the outcome that I HAD to see it in color. Here, for your viewing pleasure, are both the black-and-white and color versions.

Good SIr Knight-B/W

Good Sir Knight - Color

DO DRUNK ELEPHANTS SEE LITTLE PINK MEN?

Illustration

Do androids dream of electric sheep? If a tree falls in the woods, does the pope wear a funny hat? Wait… Anyway, we may never know the answers to the second two questions but I have attempted to answer the question in the post heading: I think they do. Or, at the very least, this is the kind of thing you ponder as a child when a road-side advertisement goes horribly wrong.

For those of you who are now completely lost and wondering if I took my meds this morning I assure that I did not (that’s what “they” want, after all).

What I am actually talking about is today’s illustration! It was based upon a real road-side liquor store promotion I used to see all the time when going to my grandparents house when I was young and impressionable. Yes, this is a real thing. I am also lead to believe that it still proudly stands in front of the Wagon Wheel Liquor Store in Fortville, IN to this very day.

Photo by Cindy Seigle

So, if we base our assumptions on that old trope that people “see” little, pink elephants when they go on a bender (a favorite of MGM and Warner Bros. cartoons of yesteryear) then surely the following illustration is a distinct possibility. Just saying.

Little Pink Men

Please note that, in the interest of proper attribution, the above photo was acquired here.

GHOST-BUSTING DOGS?

Illustration

Why not? Continuing with what has apparently become a “thing” with me recently I present another in a series of exercises from my recently completed character design class. Today’s entry is a couple of ghost-busting dogs. The purpose of this exercise was to anthropomorphize an animal. I have a Basset hound named Flash so I used him as the basis of one of my characters. The other is a Malamute or Shepherd or something. Anyway, their individual characterizations were based on a combination of the 1984 Ghostbusters film and that awful live-action-TV-show-turned-cartoon Ghostbusters (you know, the one with the guy dressed as a gorilla). So there you have it.