Recent Sketches and Gestures for Infinite Spiral

First off, news, "Infinite Spiral" is officially live.  Explore the worlds here!  You can also enter the Spiral on Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, and DeviantArt. dA showcase pages 1-10 (though edits are made as necessary before they are posted to the main site).  Page 04 will go live on the homepage on Friday.

In the past two weeks, I've been working through a ton of gestures and rapid sketches just getting to know possible characters and planned characters in "Infinite Spiral".  I shared these on the Infinite Spiral Tumblr, but want to compile them here for those that follow this blog. 

This piece is simply working through body language and poses of main characters, mostly Christian and James.  Christian is more open and gregarious, while James is more timid and protective.  I want to be careful to convey that through postures and movements, as well as facial expressions as they are introduced.  This gives room for this to change as the characters develop.

Another page of Infinite Spiral Sketches

Tons more gestures and sketches from the past week. Fun Christian drawings, Allie and gestures, a Kitty face sketch, and working on some ideas for how Matron Ava Fairchild ought to look (the whole bottom corner is full of thoughts).

James Hartwell Sketchdump

I was out of town (visiting family, vacationing from tech), so did a ton of sketching in lieu of my current page I'm working on. This is the first sketch dump from the last 5 days of crazy drawing, the focus James.

Top is a moment between James and Rory I'm playing out. There are several James sketches with different expressions, a sketch test working out thoughts for a scene in the Infinite Spiral that is scripted, a silly moment between Christian, James, and Allie, a wood elf that James, Rory, and Christian may encounter much later in the comic in Gelthor's forest (teasers!), James using his powers, and Gavin (he snuck in there ... apparently going Super-Saiyan or something). Christian is in the very bottom right corner again messing with that yo-yo. Suspicious.

Have fun with these!

Rory Perkins: Profile City

I'm really revving up on the Infinite Spiral.  Here's Rory's design refreshed with profile:

Want the full profile teaser?  Keep reading!

Holy Backstory: Headmaster Dorian Lamprey

Whew, now I'm filling in the first antagonist character designs. Ok, I admit, the Headmaster of the Asylum for Wicked Children is a tad Snapey right now (I had to watch Deathly Hallows Part II before I did this design). I'll be working that out. But, for your reading pleasure, the full history of the Headmaster-the first antagonist in the "Infinite Spiral" is now revealed.

 

I actually love that his palette is very similar to James. I think this is very appropriate.

BASIC INFO
Name: Headmaster Dorian Lamprey
Race: Quarter Named One/ Three quarters Human = Wicked
World(s): The world of the Wicked
True Name: Ira (watchful)

 

Read more for the full backstory.

The Wicked Children: Infinite Spiral

Here is are the other named children that live in the Asylum for Wicked Children with James and Christian.   This is a fairly rough and early sketch, with rough and early colors so I can begin to turn them around in my head (particularly those like Kitty that were fused with another old character of mine).

Allie: Infinite Spiral Character Design

I guess I got on a roll yesterday.  Allison "Allie" Collins has a bit part in the intro to Infinite Spiral, but is actually a more significant character down the line. How you will have to discover by reading.

Christian and James Flats

I'm showing some process again on this one, which helps me and others learn.  I've digitally flatted this piece using the lasso tool. Then, I went in with the eraser and cleaned up my penciling to make digital inking easier down the road.  Next I'll be flatting in some environment (which will make this image much wider).  The current flat is this semi-neutral purple to provide a base for a dark library aisle.  I'm going to be hitting some lighting reference on this hard.

Actually, I'm really happy with some contrasts in design I made with these two.  Even if you put James, Rory, and Christian together, James is going to stick out as ... different.  Which is something I want (Gavin's the same way ... he gets it from his Papa.)

Christian and James Sketch

It has been a little too long since I last posted a sketch, mostly because I've been working on Rory's costuming and would rather do a color test before posting more on that front.  But, today I got it in my head for a great picture that really begins to showcase the almost sibling like friendship that they have, so I'll be taking this sketch to a full illustration.

I can't imagine the ruckus Christian would cause in a library, but of course he would climb on James to get a book down.  I'm not sure whether James is concerned about the book or Christian or both, but Christian is having a great time retrieving the volume the hard way.  I've pulled some nice library references to build the environment.  I'm looking forward to bringing this one to life.

Character Sketches Since Spring Break

So, I'm attempting to be very thorough with the character designs for Angelborn to learn more about the process and honestly get better at it (since I adore designing characters).  Also, I really want designs I can stick with through the event line.  This means, I'm spending serious time on costuming (and silhouetting), expressions, poses/body language, and colors schemes to really nail down who my characters are now that I'm nearly 30.  

 
Rory, my adbal from Angelborn, will be making this face frequently ... at Christian or in response to him. As part of forcibly going through characters designs for this comic idea, I'm making myself practice these different aspects of character design. This particular piece focuses on expressions, but I'm planning to work through character poses, body language, and costumes for each as well (I should really do the first two with Gavin at this point). I've focused a lot on Rory as I've tried to discover her real character, and it is proving to be an interesting and arduous journey. I really see her being a little Dorothy meets Peter Pan inspired, but we'll see how that turns out really. My characters tend to take on minds of their own and quickly.

I'm spending some time on Rory sketches today, with a bonus Christian sketch and colored piece.

Digital Colors for James and Rory Character Designs

I couldn't stop yesterday and just kept practicing digital coloring (mostly cell shading style) with sketches.  I'm glad, because I'm getting a great feel for how I want the Angelborn world to look when I begin pages.

I digitally colored my character sketches of the adbal from Angelborn who wanders around with James  I was down to two names, Rory (Aurora) or Perry (Peregrine), but my sister approves of Rory and I think she is right that it should be the name that sticks.

Now for last names, the list (in no particular order):

More character designs, must be Spring Break

I've been busy with pencil sketches, and trying some new techniques to quickly test color palettes, etc without full painting (as the Gavin picture has demonstrated that takes hours and hours).

I had to draw Alexis again!  It has been so long, but I finally got that vivid character picture in my head I've been looking for.

Alexis is a character near and dear to my heart.  She's bitter, a little crazy, and probably the only person in the Angelborn universe that actually understands exactly the kind of world Gavin lives in on a daily basis.  She has a "milder" version of Gavin's sight, which is actually scarier in many respects as she does not see his world of realities and spirits as clearly, leaving what she sees open to misinterpretation.  A kindred spirit, then an enemy, then an ally, she is a character that I look forward to exploring as I tell Gavin's story.  Not on that, but she is also, hey, an abdal, and the daughter of an old ally of James's (what a tangled web?).

This piece was a pencil sketch and I applied layers of flats using Photoshop to give it a wash and explore her new color palette.  She's gotten less "goth" and more gray, which I think will make her a stronger character.  May go back and make those buttons brass like I'm picturing in my head.  I think I've nailed her costuming though.

Gavin on a Sidewalk WIP

I sketched this interesting drawing of Gavin during the MSU Comics Forum, and started today working it up. I actually nixed the sketch for this post, and did some quick lineart to throw over it. I'm pleased with how things are coming along, mostly flats with most attention currently on the face.  Will be taking a pass around those clothes next, though I'm ready to break for now, as I currently don't have the best desk set up for this kind of art. Actually, it makes me realize how long it has been since I've done any images of Gavin in color.  Hmm, still looks like Gavin (duh).

I have to play with that BG next. I just vaguely roughed it in.  View the original sketch here.

Lazy Reading Inks WIP

I wasn't going to post until I'd finished the inking phase of Amanda's lazy reading portrait.  However, I am very excited about how her hair turned out:  it is black and curly--two things that become a challenge to ink.  I'm inexperienced at doing this traditionally (despite having Amanda forever, I've always focused on the "outlines" being black, so her hair would wind up this awful blue-grey), so I'm very excited about the progress here.

Obviously, I'm still working on problem areas, but I was tired of the pencil for the black hair smudging.  This was a fun solution.  It will be interesting to take this one out to digital coloring.  I think I will have to touch up the arm drapery (it got out of control), but we'll see one the entire piece is inked.

Work in Progress and More Angelborn Character Sketches

My work preparing for Angelborn, I admit, is fairly scattered due to the number of game projects I am involved in this semester.  However, I keep squeezing in time to refamiliarize myself with the core characters and dig some old ones out of the closet to balance the cast (Angelborn is chock full of female characters).

I was really excited about a sketch I started of Amanda over the weekend (Gavin's older sister, James's daughter, fun stuff).  She's simply musing over a book.  I liked the expression and the lazy way she seemed to be drifting over pages, I've actually moved to fleshing it out and cleaning it up, as well as adding environment. 

As you can see, I am trying to work out the value so I can properly ink her black hair.  What am I doing to myself?  Black hair, curls?  But I love it, so it sticks.  I am also fighting a bit with this chair (I wasn't quite sure what I wanted it to be), so I'll be out for some references for Victorian furniture this week to tackle that more effectively before inking.   The hands need some additional work as well.  Time for another page of hand drawing in my sketchbook.

 I like that she is sitting with a cup of tea.  James does that too, and it is kind of a fun little add in. 

Twins, Villians, and Wannabe Characters: Oh my!

Throughout the week I've continued on my mission to develop and redesign characters from Angelborn.  I've amassed a few more concepts (though I may have to sit on them before I decide how happy I am with them.)

The first is of Celeste, Gavin's twin.  She dies at the beginning of his part of the tale, rather the catalyst for his adventures.  She's always been a troublesome character to draw, but these sketches have captured many ways she should look.  Also, if you look carefully, you can see where I decided to try and draw with my left hand (I sometimes get the desire to do things like that).  That could be because Gavin is left-handed.

 

But I'm not done yet.

Older Gavin with Amanda, his sister

I got in a fun mood last night (meaning, let's play with Angelborn characters) and wanted to try my hand at drawing Gavin older than usual (it is always fun to try and draw characters through their ages).  Hey, Gavin has a bit of his mother's nose by this point. I've always had it in my head that I'll have to engage him at older ages within his storyline anyway.  At this point, he's abandoned his all black trappings from childhood--dressing more like his pa. (James just loves his good old vests and coats).

I also took it as an opportunity to have a go at redesigning Gavin's older sister, Amanda (not that she really looks older here).  I've almost captured her, but I need to give her a bit more forehead height--when I started the drawing I worked the structure lines as though she were looking up more.

Gavin and Amanda are 5 years apart in age (when he was 8 in the "January" prologue I wrote back in the 2000s she was 13), so she should be older here.  But I was taking advantage of having them on the same page to work that old family resemblance angle.  Though, given the idea of Progression in their universe ...  Oh I tease, you'll have to learn about that in the comic once it is under way.

Closer to Angelborn Post Comics Forum

So, yesterday I spent the day in the MSU Comics Forum Artist's Alley.  Now I deliberately did not bring my computer in a serious attempt to spend some time with my Angelborn characters and push them forward.  As a result, I have a ton of new sketches posted today (and I don't desire to spam with separate blog entries at this point.

I'm pretty pleased with how Gavin has evolved now.  I need the rest of the cast to follow suit, organize more of the initial plot and I'll be ready to start drafting some scripts and pages.  I'm excited to finally feel like I've developed my art enough to do this story justice.  Now if only I don't gag at it a year from now.  I'm thinking of getting my feet wet with some character vignettes.

Anyways, new art:

Artchives: The Evolution of Gavin

So, as much as I've adored the manga style Gavin picture I've done through the years, as I've stated before, the Angelborn world is moving away from that style.  This means I get to redesign Gavin ... again!  Actually, he really is the most consistent of all of my characters.  I just need now to actually make him look like he is nine years old instead of four years old (seriously!  I made him look super young).

Gavin is easy, so I'm pretty pleased with this interpretation.  I was actually redesigning James at the same time, so actually am trying to give them an acceptable family resemblance.

But I suppose you are ready for the iterative tour of Gavin's character design, right?  Hoo boy! This will get trippy (and go clear back to high school if I can dig out those images).  We'll start from the old (and scary) art and move forward.  This is a great lesson in how art should improve over time if you are always observing and drawing.

Rough Angelborn Sketches

Some folks know I've been working to redefine characters in my Angelborn universe, a world with characters I've been cultivating since I was about 12 (though if you include Meeperia, it is actually much longer than that ... yes, I was one of those children).

James and his traveling companion (which used to be me--yes, again, one of those children), are the oldest characters in the mythology of the world.  James, seen as an ultra rough sketch in back, is the timid one (in other words, the character that was actually like me as a kid).

I wish I could name this abdal, it is driving me crazy.  But this is her toward the very beginning of the story, young and displaced from her world.

 

Of course I have other interpretations, most notable the "Child of Bloom" illustration, which is more of her coming into her power and becoming more aware of her role.