#012

The Beauty of Side Projects

Welcome, all, to the twelfth post. This week has been another busy one, drawing nearer and nearer to that fated day of Christmas. Having been so busy, and not wanting to fall back on my past art as a crutch again, I decided to simply sketch and doodle. Doodling is the beginning of all happy accidents, where those bright new ideas spawn from a random line or stroke of a pen. Many artists I have watched and read agree that drawing for fun is where all the best work comes from. I have been too busy to work on the short story, spending time with family, catching up with friends, taking interest in my personal life in general. Also, the motivation has been lacking to actually get back on track. When this sort of thing happens, the best thing to do is to just do the thing anyway, and push through the lackluster.

The Art

As stated above, this week I doodled. In the beginning, I wanted to make up a new team of superheroes based off of my favorite anime. (For that list, go back to last weeks post). I had a cool idea of a the heroes, an overpowered beast-mode muscle head with bright red hair, inspired by Garou from One Punch Man, a bored genius with incredible mind powers, and a normal guy with common sense. This could be a manga comic, “My Roommates are Superheroes”, about a normal guy learning to live with insanely powerful people, and showing them what common sense is. (Heck, I’d watch it). Then I realized that this was a huge project to take on right now, so I bumped it to one of my backburners and just started drawing. Most of the sketches are of poses, breaking down the forms, and of heads, which I doodle when my brain starts to hurt. The second page features some pretty weird people, and I am saving them for a special story later on, supernatural in nature and in an alien environment, inspired by Cosimo Galluzzi and other similar artists.

An Idea

The man on the second page (be he man) with the dot on covering his face is a being of great power, maybe a wizard guardian of his world, or an angel on a mission. The creature in the mantle could be a guardian of a secret vault, or a servant of some lord in the sky, or mysterious spirit from another world. I link these with the world of Square Head and the Madhi of Space. They share that otherworldly surrealness, that alien aspect that sets them apart. The blob of idea is slowly taking form, a shape appearing in the mist.

The Plan

Next week I will attempt to continue working on finishing the thumbnails for the short story, and maybe (maybe) get to some concept art for the comic. The most difficult part is scene two, which has some dialogue. Dialogue is tricky to get right, so luckily I have plenty of resources at hand (YouTube and blogs), and lots of time to get it right. And I must keep in mind that this is a newbie’s first project, so I won’t stress myself over getting it 100%. The concept art is what I’m most excited about, because I get to just go, and let the art draw itself. I have a good feeling that something original will come out in the end.

Merry Yuletide

I wish you all a happy Christmas, whether or not you celebrate that holiday. Please, tell others about this blog, specifically editors and famous artists, but also your family and friends as well. Comment on ideas for this new idea taking shape, what you think the characters are up to, and if there are any others I should consider. I hope the week finds you all the more jolly and folly because of it. Farelwell.