pondCAST episode 4 out now: Just do it! Featuring interviews with Stephen Silver and Mark McDonnell. Happy New Year illoponders!
The Incredible Flying Jellybean
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Hey guys, here's what I have so far for Steampunk number 2:The Incredible Flying Jellybean - The story of a hamster who owns the best candy/pastry shop in town. While experimenting with recipes for jellybeans he accidentally creates a special jellybean that grants him the ability to FLY! With his new found powers he becomes a crime fighter. ( I probably need a good reason for doing so, maybe I'll have his parents get shot in an alley after watching a movie or something, I don't think that's been done yet). He then goes by the name of "The Incredible Flying Jellybean".Part of the struggle he has as a super hero is that he's really bad at keeping his identity a secret. He won't actually give it away, but he'll accidently drop huge clues as to who he really is. The plot isn't finalized yet, but I want him to have a run-in with a mad scientist Lab-Rat character. Anyways, that's it so far. I have a rough character design and a logo. I think that for this comic I'm going to do the half-traditional-half-digital thing. I really like the look of the rough sketch below mixed with the digital coloring. Plus, I need to do more traditional work and get away from the computer a bit. I rely on it too much. This way, when I'm done I then have originals to sell. Anyways, getting pretty excited about this next one guys.LOGO:
ROUGH CHARACTER SKETCH:
And then, a little PROMO image just for the crap of it:
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HOT DIGGITY Hamster! I agree Mark, this is a great look! You gotta include a bit where he literally "drops" a clue... NO JONNY! That's not a chocolate sprinkle! I am so super psyched!
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Too Funny! Can't wait to see it.
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What about this style? Just trying out both to see which one is better. I don't know which one to go with. I like the pencil, but I also like the cleanliness of this one:
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Hey Marky GO WITH THE FIRST ONE. :o) Your initial treatment I feel is much stronger, it says an artists hands have made this! The clean one says, oh look at the nice DIGITAL hamster. Just to squeaky for me. That's just my opinion though. This is still a killer rodent!
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I'm gonna have to concur with you guys. My wife says the same. She's in town and gonna pick me up a big sketch book. So, HYBRID IT IS! I need to stop relying so much on the computer. It's pretty much a crutch for me right now.Tributary: I told my wife that I just realized that if my computer crapped out, I don't know if I could continue to freelance until I got a new one. I can't paint in oil. I can BARELY paint in watercolor. The only thing I could think of is maybe some nice markers or something. I could use ink and markers.So, I really need to get away from the computer a bit and get back to my roots. You guys are right. The hybrid has a more "gritty, steampunk" feel to it. And I want to have that "hand of the artist" look. So, thanks for the input guys. Hybrid style it is.
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I have to agree with everyone else. The hybrid style looks like the best fit.The digital style would be great for a parody of a Ratatouie style story or a Golden Book type of story.
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Thanks for the feedback everyone. Now I need your opinion on the Title/Logo. I can't decide which one is best. The more detailed top one or the more simplified bottom one?
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Yup! I'm a thinking the top one too.
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Thanks for the feedback guys. You're awesome.The dilemma I'm facing is that I like the wings on the bottom one because they look sharp and dangerous. I don't really like the black outline around them on the top version. "Well Mark, just take off the black outline from the top version and leave the rest." Yeah, I tried that already and it looks wonky. So, it either needs to go full blown crazy detailed or super simple and shiny. It doesn't mix very well. I really like the embossed gear too.Lee, I know that you REALLY want me to do this logo in pencil, but I'm just not feeling it man. Sorry.
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I'd agree with the consensus that I respond to the colored over pencil art more than the other style.
Have you tried maybe adding a pencil texture to the "wingy" bits? I think maybe adding that bit of layer to them might allow you to get away without a lot of the more fiddily shading.
"wingy" and "fiddily" are definitely words.
Also have you priced high end markers? If your computer went down you'd be better off buying a laptop (And I say this being the guy here who probably uses the computer the LEAST in his process). 48 markers that can go dry sitting in your box for $100 isn't really something I ever want to mess about with again. <-this said only slightly tongue in cheek. It's a sad day really when a computer is more economical than markers.
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"...a computer is more economical than markers." LOL. It's so funny because it's true. Well, true in a "it's true, but not really, but it kind of is, but not really" sort of way.I'm just getting REALLY nervous right now because my Mac Mini is about 6 years old and the hard drive is really low on space. That seems to be when computers get into trouble. I don't have any sort of backup or external hard drive or anything, so I'm kinda sweating bullets every day.On a side note I was just fiddling around with a cover idea and came up with this. I'll fully admit that I'm trying to rip off Carsten's awesome cover. I even pulled the color straight from his picture. I know. I'm a total hack. Anyways, here it is:
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Shameless! Perhaps we should all do an 8, a Hamster Anthology! I hesitated to type that because it actually sounds like a good idea. :o) I sure hope all of our philandering pays off for you before the crash! Might have to do a "Support the Harmon" fund drive. Looking very sweet by the way!
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Hmmmm. . . maybe I could start up a Kickstarter to get a new computer. :POkay folks, I'm just about ready to hit the showers and go relax, but before I go, here are some random victorianly dressed animals. Just background characters and such. Enjoy.
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Squeeeee! So excited!!! Sweet Sweet sweet!How about a bake sale? Or Lemonade stand? :oD
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AHHH! Ok, Can we get Three projects going? MAN, that would BE EXCELLENT! Must Be serendipity man! You gotta put Stack Stuck up on indyplanet. A hamster anthology, That is an idea to keep in the pond I'm telling ya!
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This is coming along so great my friend! I don't how helpful it would be, but 1 terabyte external hard drives are going for like $100 bucks or less. Plus there's lots of great deals to be found on the internet. We actually scored a MyBook 1 Tb external HD for $50 bucks on clearance at staples.Anyway, if that helps to offload some of your HD and improve your computer's performance that might be a little bit more achievable option than a computer at this time.
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Mark, I often forget so many people are Mac native in their work environment. It certainly ups the cost of the machines. So my sort of true but not really joke is less applicable. My own desktop is starting to show its' age as well. Even though I've tinkered with it and suped it up a couple times over the years. In the relative near future I'm going to be in the market for a whole new set up.
A six year run is a pretty good turn, I can see where the nerves might be mounting. Lee has the right idea though. Thankfully storage space is super cheap these days. I'd splurge for the backup drive as soon as you can pull it though. Once you're safe your drive will go at least 2x longer than it should. Only because the data is safe. Which is win/win really. (This observation comes form my stuff always breaking the day before I've scheduled to perform maintenance)
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Yeah, I just got my tax return a couple of weeks ago, so an external HD is totally doable. Hey Lee, if you ever see something like that again I'll totally mail you a check and have you pick one up for me. Actually, that goes for anyone else. If you see some super steal of a deal like Lee mentioned I will send you the $$ to pick it up for me. That would be awesome. A pretty good website for tech stuff is Newegg. I'll need to poke around there some more.Another computer tech question: Will doing a "nuke and pave" install of the operating system regularly cut down on problems? My main concern is a mechanical failure of some kind. I've been pretty good at not letting it be on for more than a week at a time. I usually shut it down on the weekends. I also don't have lots of crazy stuff running all the time or anything like that. I pretty much use it to draw, listen to music, and surf the web. So, I don't really over work it very much. But, I'm still weary. I'd like to get me an iMac. I've never been a laptop kind of guy. If I did though, I would get a MacBook and get it modded into a "ModBook". Ever heard of those? There's a company that takes the monitor part of the MacBook and replaces it with a pressure sensitive screen, pretty much turning it into a portable Cintiq. Anywho . . . uh . . . JELLYBEAN, YEAH!
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Mark,I'd have to agree with liking the top logo better.Here's an idea...A jelly bean Hampster anthology"The Incredible Flying Jellybean"Now in 8 assorted flavors!!!8 stories! 8 artists! 8 pin ups!I'd throw my hat in on that.I'd even be interested in it if 8 artists did their own hampster characters.As far as computers go, get yourself a good sized external drive and put all of your files on it. Get them off of your computer and do a "install in place" , I believe that's what it's called. It allows you to reinstall your necessary files without touching anything you installed yourself, like Photoshop, Illustrator,...If you're willing to take the time reinstalling everything I would recommend doing a complete overhaul.I have 5 external hard drives that I use. Two are hard drives from previous computers that bit the dust. You just buy a case for the hard drive and use it for storage.I try to use two of them to store all of my art files every few months.As far as a lap top goes I started using one 3 years ago. Since then my G4 tower has been neglected quite a bit. I don't think I could go back to being tied to one spot anymore. I like the mobility. You can't take your I Mac to the local bookstore and use it.As far as getting it modded. I wouldn't do it to mine, but I don't paint on my computer. I never got the hang of a tablet.
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Hey Mark,
Looks like I arrived late for this post! But DUDE!! Im loving your characters!! You know how I feel about great character design!
- For the idea of doing a "hamster" book, I will be happy to throw my hat in for that one! Everyone doing a different version of their own hamsters.
- for your computer setup. I don't use Mac (I know!! what artist or designer does not use Mac!?) Mac is just far too expensive here!! Im not part of a big design studio, YET. Anyway, I have always worked off an external harddrive. I don't have any files on my computer OS. I learned the hard way few years back, when my computer harddrive burnt out in the middle of a project, and I lost a years worth of work!! That cost me a load!! Also, just baught a laptop in Dec, and I am sooooo impressed with this little thing! I don't touch paper anymore, since I invested in my Cintiq12WX. I do miss the pen on paper thing, and having an original piece of work. I also reinstall my OS once a year, backing up a few programs, and starting on a clean OS, this helps in keeping your computer running happily. My plan has been to be completely mobile, so I can move all my work with me. No paper trail! (haaaa, see what I did there!)
cheers
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Mark - this looks fantastic! I'm also late to the conversation but I agree on the hybrid style (looks richer and more interesting) and the more detailed logo.Can't wait to see where this story goes - it's obviously going to look awesome. I would also throw my hat into an all hamster anthology. Anything like that where we're all drawing the same animal in drastically different ways could really be impressive.
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Here's my concept for the the evil mad scientist rat guy. Don't have a name for him yet.
And just for the crap of it, mainly because I'm procrastinating writing this thing, here is TIFJ dealing out some sweet, sweet justice.
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The Incredible Flying Jellybean (revised) - Okay folks, here's some changes to the story and a very simple basic outline for the plot and so forth.- The whole world is made up of rodents - Mice, rats, hamsters, squirrels and so forth.- Jellybean's bakery is loosing business, so he decides to start making candy as well as pastries.- While combining ingredients to make jellybeans, he gets the recipe wrong and creates special jellybeans that give him the ability to fly- With his new found power he suits up and goes out flying, because of course, flying is cool- While flying around the city he notices someone in distress and saves the person.- He really liked the feeling he got from helping others, so he decides to become a hero.- While all of this is happening, an evil Rat builds the worlds first ever flying machine in order to take over the world.- Because it's the ONLY thing that can fly, the city is at the rat's mercy. The military and local law enforcement can't combat the rat.- Jellybean realizes he's the only one that stands a chance at saving the city.- He flies up to the air machine, fights the bad guys, disables the air ship thingy and confronts the rat.- The rat admits defeat, but points the falling ship towards the city.- Jellybean has to choose between catching the evil rat or saving the city. He chooses the city and the rat gets away.- Jellybean becomes a hero. THE END.
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Well, I'm glad one of us is looking forward to seeing those, because I'm sure not looking forward to drawing them. Architecture kills me!
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The story sounds great, Mark! Can't wait to start seeing some pages.
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Thanks Michelle. Hope to be getting some pages out soon.Lee - I'm doing this traditionally, remember? I'm only going to COLOR this thing digitally. Everything else will be traditional, so paths will do me no good. Sure, I could draw simple squares and stuff and then put the paths and junk on them digitally, but I think my buildings are going to be more complex and "cartoonish" then regular buildings. Don't know how good it will be.I'm digging through the internet and the Google 3D Warehouse to see what I can find for reference.
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Um . . . I don't have access to a light box, nor do I have access to a place that has access to a light box.I think that I just might have to do more digital work than I thought.Anyways, here is some REFERENCE I found on the interwebs for the direction I want to take with the rat's airship and some building designs that I like:
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Mark,Do you have Google Sketchup? It's free.It's an easy 3d program that I use to create sets for my art when I need them.They can be as simple or detailed as you like.The good thing is you can create the set, position the camera wherever you wish, export the image to Photoshop, print it out at 10 to 20% and then draw over the printout, scan that back in as original art and color it on the computer.I would kind of like to see the airship made out of parts that are to scale to the rat rather that some big fancy ship.I like the first reference sample in your post because it looks like a creature. maybe yours could look ratlike.
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Hey Rob, I TOTALLY have Sketchup. I downloaded some ship and spaceship models to see if I can fudge them to work.As far as the ship is concerned, it's going to be a massive ship. Almost like an aircraft carrier in the sky. I want it to be kind of epic, as much as I hate that word.
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Mark,Robert has a great idea there! You can print out your reference at a low opacity or print it out in a light blue, and then after scanning into photoshop, you can remove the light blue through the image adjustment options or remove the low opacity black with the levels in the image adjustment panel. It's your call man, but lots of comic book pencillers do this type of stuff so that they have tight pencils for crazy Background elements.
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Did this just for my own purposes, but just thought I'd share it with you guys.
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Mark,Is that brown circle his tail?Or is it a covering for his tail?Hamsters have tiny little insignificant tails.If it's a covering why is he covering his tail?
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HAHA! Um . . . yeah, I didn't really think about that. I'm gonna get rid of it. It was supposed to be his tail, but now that you point it out, and now that I really look at it, I'm just gonna remove it.
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Okay folks, here's the deal: As you may or may not know, I'm totally ripping off The Rocketeer's costume. But, I think that it might be a copyrighted outfit, so I need a plan B. So, here are some Plan B ideas. I actually kind of like number 2 myself. Let me know what you think or if you think something else would look cooler. Thanks.
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Hmmmm. . . yeah, I'm just gonna run with the infringement version, but I'll change it a tad. Your version there just gave me an idea to sort of combine what you did and the original rip off. I think it will change enough to be okay. Here's what I'm thinking:
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In this Discussion
- Charlotte May 2011
- clintsutton March 2011
- Denver March 2011
- gonzalexx March 2011
- Lee_Wiley May 2011
- Mark Harmon May 2011
- MichelleKondrich April 2011
- NickPerkins April 2011
- pandeiacomic April 2011
- RobertSnyder May 2011
- sammyborras May 2011
- samuel kirkman May 2011
- warrenbelfield March 2011