Gone to Seattle…

I need a vacation!  I’m off for some good times with old friends in the Pacific Northwest, where I also plan to do a little drawing and make an appearance at the Emerald City Comicon in a week.  If you’re in the area, please stop by:

So close, yet…

The best thing about issue 3 is all the rocky, outdoor settings.  There’s something very freeing and satisfying about creating such abstract and unlimited environments. I used to be a professional geologist, and I guess a love-of-rocks is still part of me.

In this panel, Clarabelle realizes that, despite how far she’s already come, she still has a long and difficult climb ahead of her.  I certainly sympathize with her.  Life seems to be a non-stop uphill, even when doing something as fun and satisfying as drawing.  As much as I love making comics, sometimes I look at all the pages ahead and feel overwhelmed.

If she asked, I’d tell Clarabelle, “In life, as well as when scrambling over mountainsides, just keep your focus on what’s right in front of you and worry about tackling the far-off  slope once you get there.”  Oh, and snakes.  For the gods’ sake, watch out for snakes.

Sketchy guns

Who likes sketches?  Here’s a look inside my compact, little sketchbook I carry around with me.  They’re supposed to be an artillery gun needed for the story in Father Robot issue #3.  At first I was going for a spidery-looking vehicle that could kind of crawl around the hillsides, firing on our intrepid hero.  It occurred to me that not only was that going to be a real headache to draw with the story needs, but that such a design would not be practical for a powerful gun.

This sketch is very close to what I actually ended up using.  In fact, I took the concept phase no further once I had these sketches on the page.  It looks like it might be able to walk (or at least waddle) around, but could keep its footing when that powerful canon is fired.  If you look closely you can see FR, a lil’ person,  and a Southern Forces robot standing off to the side for scale.  A human should be able to climb up and stand in that glass canopy in the front.

Fun!