Brysketch: Logan

Annnd just a quick one before bed, this time of my best buddy in the universe, Logan:



(Okay, really quick one, but whatever, just for fun!)

Brysketch: Meryl Silverburgh

My friend Neil (who makes a webcomic called Ruby Nation) suggested yesterday that I draw a Metal Gear Solid character, and I got it immediately in my head to draw Meryl Silverburgh:


I tried something a bit different this time. Instead of inking directly overtop of photo-blue pencils like I usually do, I drew with a regular mechanical pencil, scanned that, coloured it cyan and lightened the lines up, then printed that out and inked overtop the printed version. The problem was I didn't have any high-quality paper that fit my printer, so I tried it on basic printer paper... which didn't really take the inks as well, making the job a bit sloppier than I intended. Fortunately I can just print the cyan pencils out on better paper and try again, but for now, here's what I've got!

If time permits, I might have something else on the weekend. (I almost forgot I have a comic to finish for Thursday!)

Brysketch: Link

And because I seriously can't stop, here's a quick Link head sketch to go with the Zelda from earlier:




That's... probably enough for one day.

Brysketch: Zelda

Since I can't stop drawing, here's another quick one - a head sketch of Zelda, as she appears in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword:




I don't play video games as much as I used to. In fact, before I got Skyward Sword for Xmas, the last time I played anything seriously (beyond Wii Fit or a few rounds of Street Fighter) was about a full year prior. And even then, I'm only maybe 1/3 through the game as of now - I only play when I'm in the mood and have nothing else pressing to take care of, so it's not super often.

But damn. DAMN.

It's really incredible. I'm loving it as much as I did Ocarina of Time back in '98 (when I was... holy shit, 14!?), and that game was practically a religious experience for me. The Zelda series has always been a huge favourite of mine (and it's maybe worth noting that this is coming from a dude with a Triforce symbol tattooed on his arm) but this has to be one of its best games yet. So basically I'm saying you should play it immediately.

Brysketch: Power Girl

Just a quick sketch today - I finished Monday's comic early yesterday and felt like doing a little something extra, but something different - a character I've never drawn before. Since the character's been redesigned recently, I went with DC's Power Girl (created by Gerry Conway, Ric Estrada and Wally Wood).

The funny thing is, I don't think I own a single comic with Power Girl in it. I haven't ever really followed the character that closely, despite being familiar with her... I just noticed the redesign online the other day and it got me thinking about the character for some reason.

Power Girl's probably most well-known for her "classic" costume. You... can probably see why. It's a pretty shameless look, and some artists (most successfully Amanda Conner) have embraced the cheesecake aspect in a fun, self-aware kind of way. Which is totally fine - that certainly has its place. But putting impractical, "sexy" costumes on female superheroes is incredibly widespread and overdone all-around, and it raises a lot of arguments about sexist attitudes toward women in comics that are pretty uncomfortable to say the least. I'm generally pro-practical when it comes to costume design for male or female characters, and feel that costumes are generally far more appealing -- and even sexier -- without tits or ass hanging out, or looking like they'd fall off or apart under any form of pressure.

But I'm not a huge fan of the new costume, either. It's... okay, but doesn't really grab me. It does away with the "cleavage window" but adds overly-busy gloves and boots with a lot of unnecessary lines (a common "New 52" design choice), while, as Comics Alliance pointed out the other day, looking a lot like the Image Comics character Supreme. And worst of all, the new Power Girl looks a bit... slight. The best part about her classic look was that she was a visually powerful woman. Unlike many/most superheroine designs, she didn't look anorexic or impossibly-proportioned; she was strong, healthy and curvy - often with a bodybuilder physique. That's a big part of what made her look so iconic, and now that's been lost.

I do like the covered chest/legs and exposed arms in the new look, though, so I took those aspects and worked them into the core of the classic design, and this is what I got.

Now, I did this really quickly while I was fairly sick, so it's... not great. I feel like the proportions are a bit off, but I didn't want to redraw it, so to hell with it, here it is anyway:




I know I'm not the first to draw something along these lines, and I'm sure it's been done much better elsewhere. But I think it's a solid tweak to the classic design that takes away a lot of the cheesecake factor while still remaining recognizable.

Everything in its Right Place

I've got about 700 unfinished blog posts saved in the queue and no time to finish them. By the time I get around to it, they'll either be irrelevant or I'll have lost interest. That's okay. I'll update eventually.

For now, it's life, work, comic. I'm damn close to hitting #100, which is sort of exciting!

This is how the process looks right now:


I have a system. Honest.

More... soon?