Western Comic Inspiration

Loving this web comic that's also physically published by Archaia - Cow Boy by Nate Cosby & Chris Eliopoulos! It's a great read, and I like the cartoony, fairly efficient style of the artwork.

Terran Spark doodles

Hey-O,

Just a few sketches I worked on for my Western YARNS story and completely forgot to upload.

This one's a workie sketch...oops. Ah well, inspiration strikes in odd spots. I was trying out outfits for Spark and Ule's head configuration.

This one is Spark's sister, Stella. Not 100% satisfied, but playing around with old fashioned attire, and space-age flare.

I decided to make Spark a little older than I originally had him. So, now instead of the 13/14 year-old, he's around 16/17.

Lastly, one of the Terrayx that folks use to get around on Vita. Think of it like a mix between a Titanis walleri (or Terror Bird) and a Pachycephalosaurus, with the disposition and fortitude of an Arabian horse. Odd combination, I know... O_o

Western Pin Board

In true housewife gathering inspiration for her living room redesign fashion, I've started collecting some western inspiration here:
The Wild and Weird West

Thumbing

Some early thumbnails of a tale I'm brainstorming. Not sure if I'm going to do this one yet for Y2, but I thought I'd let my mind wander on it in thumbs to see if anything hatches.

Warmup sketches of Lucy the She-Ape.
Working title:
 Digger Jones:King of the Yukon.

Entered

I just entered this last year's Yarns cover into Creatively Quarterly's competition under graphic design. We'll see if anything comes of it.

Digger Jones: Adventurer of Lost Worlds.
...is back in his second installment, this time with his faithful sidekick Lucy the She-Ape in an all-new exciting adventure!

Digger recalls his close encounter of doom during his dangerous trek into the cold winter North!  Set in the 1890’s, the Yukon was booming with the gold rush and opportunity!  Yet in the mountains…rumor has it that there is something strange and evil afoot!
Digger and Lucy tread into the harsh blizzard terrain of an Alaskan frontier town...and find themselves heading straight into trouble!

Can our adventurer stay ahead of certain death? 

Who is the person being boring to death listening to Digger's re-telling of the story? 

Why is an Ape his sidekick? 

Is this a nightmare or a terrible reality?
Will the Man-Eating plant cut from issue #1 of Y.A.R.N.S. somehow miraculously make it into this issue?

Stay tuned for the exciting next chapter!

Terran Spark

Yo!

Better late, than never. Here is my super neato awesome pitch for YARNS 2.0. Western with a healthy twist of Sci-Fi! :)

In the not-so-distant future, the devastation of Earth has forced mankind to leave both its world and its galaxy in the search of a new place to call home. Vita unda offers the promise of such a place...if the land can be terraformed.

The story follows one of the first settlers to this new, desert planet--a young boy named Spark. With the help of his blood-bound guardian, the mysterious alien woman Ule, he sets out on a quest to find his missing sister and rescue her from the outlaws who stole her away.

Through Spark's journey he will find that there is more to himself and his sister than they ever knew and discover how their fate is inexorably intertwined with the very survival of the human race.

So, yeah. Let's see how this shapes up, but I am dreaming big for now. Below are some starter sketches of Spark and Ule in her two forms.

Coyote Cortés and the Silverman's Daughter

I have a fun, action-adventure story in mind for our western themed, Yarns 2. I'm still thinking about the overall feel with some faint ideas on art direction, so more to come. For now, here's the summary:


Silver tycoon, Thurston Goodchild and his beautiful, Harvard educated daughter Eloise make their way to San Francisco to oversee a new business venture. But, their trip hits a major road bump as the notorious Buckshot Bronson and his gang board their train and kidnap Eloise for ransom. Helpless, Thurston has no choice but to concede to Buckshot’s demands.

Thurston stops at the next town to obtain the ransom and proceed to the drop off point that Buckshot articulated, when a mysterious man who overheard his predicament offers another view point. Bounty hunter and local eccentric, Coyote Cortés knows that Buckshot’s not to be trusted and offers his services to get Eloise back. It takes some convincing, but when Coyote reveals Buckshot’s hostage survival history, Thurston decides to hire Coyote on. With the help of his trusty steed, Poncho and his spirit guide, Thistle, (whom Coyote can be often heard talking to, but never seen by anybody else,) Coyote set’s off in search of Buckshot’s gang.

keeping up the creative energy

I promised Amanda Nichole I'd relay this question to all you after-hours artists out there: "How do you maintain the creative energy to do comics and illustration after 8 hour shifts of squeezing your brain for design day jobs? … I find myself doing so much critical thinking and design for marketing agency work and FanimeCon that my brain and body are totally drained by the time I get home!"