THE SANDLAND/SANDLANDS (November 4, 2022)
The Sandlands. I'm excited for this part of the series, though we likely won't see any of it until book three (or maybe the very end of book two.) While nowhere outside of heavy kingdom walls is truly safe, the vast deserts of The Sandlands are home to all manner of malicious creatures and giant sand-dwelling insects. On top of that, survival proves far more difficult than most regions of the world, with harsh temperatures and huge stretches of barren wastelands that hold no water for the thirsty traveler. Kingdoms and Clans litter the sands wherever there
is water to be found, though they're rather stand-offish towards outsiders. A traveler found wandering alone could very well find himself enslaved and working the rest of his life in a stone camp, should he wander into the wrong territory. It is a large continent that dominates most of the southern hemisphere, (and I'll draw a map soon, promise.)
CONFLICT OF CHARACTER (November 12, 2022)
This is just a peek at whats to come, and something I've wanted to properly conceptualize for a while now. Without giving too much away, a lot of the conflict in this story comes from Connor being chained to what is literally the spiritual embodiement of everything he hates in a person, (i.e., a woman, from royalty, with largely progressive views and ideas.) This is just one of the many things/ideas that the two of them can't seem to agree on, and works well as a standalone image. Plus I've been wanting to practice with some more dynamic poses for the characters, something I'll be furthering on in the next landscape drawing I do for the various continents in the world. Even with Connor laid back and balancing the sword and bottle, it still doesn't look as fluid as I'd like it to be.
HATCHING STUDY (January 22, 2023)
As I've mentioned before, I'm new to working with color. What I've always preferred is clean, black and white linework with hatching and cross hatching to imply color and shadows, maybe some greyscale if I'm feeling really out there, y'know. I wanna mix this new style I've been learning with my usual artstyle, but the two just don't mesh well to me. I dunno, I feel like I can get it to work eventually, but I'm not sure how much more fiddling and conceptualizing I'm willing to put into that idea. Mainly because there are some serious scenes planned that I'd like to give some extra emphasis, here and there. It's not something I'd end up using for the whole book series.
BIG MONSTERS (November 22, 2022)
Naturally, Connor and friends are gonna have to fight some nasty monsters along the way to their varying destinations. This is one of many ideas that are floating around in my head, probably something they would run into in the Sandlands. Video games like Elden Ring and other Souls-type titles were a big inspiration here, and I'm sure will be again.
ARMOR CONCEPTS #1 (January 17, 2023)
Simple stuff. I've been wanting to get a better understanding of medieval armors and combat so as to write it into the story a little more tactfully, and this is one of a few studies I've done on the subject. I've always appreciated attention to detail in movies and books, so I want to at least attempt to practice what I preach. One of these days I'd like to enroll in a fencing class, for the same reason. Sure it's easy to make a fight seem flashy and visually interesting, but it adds a whole new level of immersion when the moves are grounded in realism; even for a cartoony comic book such as this.
BRAIN JELLIES (January 17, 2023)
Book two concept stuff. I was reluctant to post this one, as I kinda wanted these to be a big reveal for later on. But, I really don't think I'm spoiling much, nor am I showing my entire hand with what I've got planned for these things. As you may be aware, a large chunk of book two takes place on a pirate ship, so there going to be quite a few sea monsters and naval obstacles to face. This is only one of them, effectively sirens without the mermaid part.
SANDLANDER KINGDOMS (February 23, 2023)
I had the Sandland on the brain recently and wanted to world-build a little, so I sketched this along with some notes that I've got stashed elsewhere. I sort of want the sun to be centric to their way of life, this all-powerful life giving (and life taking) thing that they worship like a godly diety. The sheer temperature plays a huge role in keeping foriegn invaders off of their homeland, pair that with the endless miles of empty, barren desert, and a ground invasion for most Sandlander Kingdoms is all but impossible. The sun is also important in a more traditional, peaceful sense, in that it grows their crops, tells the time, and can even cook/dry their food. Water is also important to them for similar reasons, but less so.
STYLIN' AND PROFILIN' (February 24, 2023)
I kinda wanna do something where Connor has an outfit that reflects the vibe of each of the places he visits throughout the series. I'd probably do something like this for practical reasons anyways (like temperature, i.e. the Sandlands and the Ice Sheets). There's also a stylistic side to it that I like, though. It puts some variety in what you're looking at over the course of the story, and helps with the tone of each individual setting. I'd do something similar for Meowmi as well, wouldn't need to bother with Dath or Eliza as they don't really have physical bodies to worry about.
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