Playing with Curves...

It's all in the title. I started out fiddling with the levels and ended up screwing around with curves and came up with some bizarre images that I really like and think I could use but would never put out as a final image. Something to refrence for later ideas.

I also played around with trying to find something simple to give a little depth to my previous drawing...it ended up drawing attention away from the image (esp the wings) so I made it higher....

Didn't work out but I still learned a few things.

Grafted wings

This isn't strictly related to my FMP but I had the idea a while ago, it came back to me so I just had to do it. Although this is a character design I plan to use, it's to appear much later in another narrative project. Which, now that I mention it, is sure to crop up again.

To explain, I'm quite fascinated with the concept of altering the human condition (wiki covers it fairly well) and the various reasons for this desire from aesthetics, expressing identity to health and (debatable) improvement. I admit, however, though I've been interested in ideas surrounding it, I'm only just becoming familiar now with the term transhumanism.

Of course, this isn't anything new. Doesn't make it any less interesting or relevant for that matter.

Concerning the character in question, I have a very clear idea of how these aesthetic wings are supposed to function. 

Smoking is Hazardous to your Health

On another note, I believe this is the first smoker I've ever drawn.
This is just a rough image. While I'm proud of my line-work, my attempt to combine it with acrylic (my strong suit) failed and came out more like watercolour (NOT my strong suit).

Kudos to Jack and Tor for naming him.

Book trailers- Jon Klassen

Since I mentioned what I wanted to do for the FMP proposal I might as well point out an example of a  book trailer that influenced my decision.

Won the Caldecott Medal for 'This is Not My Hat' this year (2013).

One thing i can say is, he seems to really, really like hats...

FMP Proposal

The final FMP Proposal is going to be coming up in about 5 weeks. I'm hoping this will be ample time to get together:

• a trailer (I was going to do one anyway...what you've never seen a book trailer???) 
• and a Bulby doll. 

I was considering doing both anyway since I'm a fan of animation and would love to see Bulby in that format. And the doll because 1 it will serve as an excellent reference for Bulby's size, 2 fun promotional... thing and 3...yes, it would be nice to be able to give my character a hug.

Dark Woods

The Dark Woods is where pretty much the entirety of Bulby Book 1 takes place. It's a very grim environment where the trees completely blot out light and literally leeches out all colour (hence the name). It's littered with junk and the trees practically merge with industrial waste. So it's not just forestry. It's extremely important that I get the mood right in the medium and technique I portray it. Unfortunately while I'm confident with creating darker imagery esp with ink, I haven't yet been able to come up with imagery that I feel accurately expresses the despairing atmosphere of Dark Woods while also fitting around my characters. So i'll be doing a lot of experimenting with the medium I use and looking at other artists I find give a tone that reminds me of what I'm looking for.

Page example: Very rough pencil lines
- Inspired by Petra Erika Nordlund's Prague Race

Prague Race

One thing you should probably know about me is that I adore webcomics and have done pretty much since discovering the Internet as a child. Recently Prague Race quickly became one of my top favourites with it's eerie art style and story which is a lovely balance between dark and light hearted fantasy brimming with possibilities. Written by Petra Erika Nordlund aka Leppu, who demonstrates an excellent talent for storytelling in her characters and pacing. Not to mention her excellent use of plot twists which leave her audience completely on the edge of their seats (-cough-Colin-cough-).

I'd say it's definitely targeted at a young adult audience and lovers of the fantasy genre.

So if you haven't already read it you should probably go. read it. now.
And while your at it go check out her DA and tumblr.

Mr. Nemo

Who's this? Who is he? How will he feature in the story? I'm afraid I can't say without giving story away but I will say he's based on a good friend of mine. A very good friend.