Tag: 2011

The Droogle, A Live SynthPet ©BioSynth, from my novel “Mentor”

| November 3, 2011 | 4 Comments

2011 Day 03 SynthPet --Droodle

 

The Droogle, Designer DNA SynthPet from “Mentor” my novel WIP.

This SynthPet, Droogle,  ©BioSynth Corporation, was designed by Frabgo A’tal Rethgrad as a promotional gift for the wife of the Governor of the Lakes District of T’rest, Deira A’tan Re’kalanth del Re’sjahlak.  Deira found the whole concept of designer pets and humans for the marketplace sickening and abhorrent, but the political gambit on the part of the BioSynth Marketing paid off for them in spades.
The pet was hairless, brightly coloured, and was grown from DNA from a surprising number of indigenous species, as you can probably tell by looking at it’s flat snout, leathery ears, and claws. It was also tweaked to be playful, obedient, and docile in the presence of humans. It had no teeth and could only take liquid nourishment due to it’s tight chitinous neck rings. To Deira A’tan Re’kalanth it was the embodiment of an abomination, a parody of a living creature, an yet it was a living creature harmless and deserving of food, shelter and love, like any other living creature.

In her position, politically she could not refuse the pet since it was already alive. On the one hand, she could not condone a practise she found painfully abhorrent and that she had secretly been trying to undermine. On the other, she couldn’t bear to have a living thing destroyed, and she knew that the media (fueled by BioSynth tainted coin) would forever hold her up as a champion of the SynthPet market. It wasn’t the pets themselves that she hated. To her, they were the victims, like all the designer dna creatures BioSynth leased in public and in private.

Her strong views on Designer DNA SynthPets were known to the media and therefore the general public who held her in great respect. This of course kept the sales of the Synth pets lower than estimated, hence the design of a gift Deira couldn’t refuse. If she refused it the pet would be returned to the BioMass vats, effectively killing it, to Deira’s way of thinking. She grew to love the little Droodle as it was named on the certificate of ownership (which was actually a lease) at the same time as she grew to hate it’s creators.

When the Droodle began to show signs of biogenetic deterioration, patchy skin colour, fading, jaundice around the eyes and mouth,  she swore vengeance on those who had created a living being into a life of pain and torture. She finally formed the Society for the Abolishment of SynthPet Creation. Her husband the Governor, backed her up, risking losing everything. And just as the tension grew to a head, she contracted a rare new disease and died within days.

Upon the death of the owner, a SynthPet who was not passed on as heirloom to another member of the diseased family, was collected by BioSynth, and if healthy was re-sold. If found to be unhealthy was returned to the vats.

When Synth Corp arrived to pick up the Droodle, it could not be found. It’s disappearance was hushed up and the consequences of irresponsibility were once again cast aside by BioSnth Corp –for a time.

#3 Jude Stover

| November 3, 2011 | 1 Comment

false Positive Character DesignJude has to earn the approval of a practiced witch in order to become an apprentice and eventually an Initiate herself.

 

Day Three: “Johnny ‘the rat’ Raccoon”

| November 3, 2011 | 0 Comments

Day #2 – Warrior Monk

| November 3, 2011 | 0 Comments

It’s still day 2 in my timezone. 😉

We studied a bit about the Shaolin warrior monks in my Social Cultural Expression class recently and I found their way of life really fascinating. So I wanted to make a character inspired by them…a young man (I’ve christened him Jan) who discovers a group of warrior monks in a remote place, and longs to join them and bring meaning to his life.

This story doesn’t take place in the world that we know, but perhaps a parallel China, or another place entirely.

Jan is not actually in the ranks of the warrior monks because he got rejected (he was too old when he first asked to join, unfortunately) so he made his own garb, watches them practice from a distance, and tries his best to teach himself their ways in hopes that he will one day impress them so much that they’ll have to accept him!!!1

Lily Thane

| November 2, 2011 | 0 Comments

My goal is to try and at least merge the prose of each of my first few characters. Hope you enjoy.

Stats
Height: 5’5”
Weight: 124 lbs
Hair: Auburn Brown
Eyes: Green

Prose
Wind roared through the open driver’s side window as strange looking car streaked down a rural highway. Inside the vehicle’s driver seat sits a young woman looking to be in her late twenties. Shifting gears she seems to lack any sort of care for her personal well being as tires squeal around a particular curve. The flash of red and blue reflects into her eyes causing a smug smirk to slide across her face. Pulling her right hand off of the steering wheel, she reaches out to push a series of buttons on the stereo. Almost at once a pulsing sphere begins to expand in front of her, each pulse giving off a white light. Without hesitation she aims directly for the sphere and sends her car hurtling into it.

Almost as soon as it hits the sphere the car begins to seemingly melt away and reform into something else. Moments later the girl leans forward, the steering wheel she was gripping now just a simple piece of rope. Attached to the rope is a metal bar that is firmly lodged into the mouth of a pterodactyl. Tightening her grip on the rope she pulls back sending the her upwards towards the sky. Letting out a squeal of exhilaration, she all but closes her eyes letting the wind wash over her. Leveling out she finally takes a moment to glance around herself and that’s when she notices the cop car lodged into the greenery below.

“Aw piss,” she huffs, seeing that the police officer has already noticed her.

Pulling to the right she forces the Pterodactyl into a dive, the wind lashing at her face. Pulling back at almost the last moment she manages to land the creature as soft as possible. Staring out with piercing emerald eyes at the officer hiding behind a tree, pistol drawn.

“You’ve nothing to be afraid of there fella, this wasn’t meant to happen,” she states matter of factly.

“Meant ta happen?! What the hell are y’talking about!? How d’you even know muh language?!” the young officer yells out, terrified out of his mind.

“Look. I can explain, just calm down.”

#2 Loverboy

| November 2, 2011 | 0 Comments

LoverboyLove hurts. Nobody understands that better than him… except perhaps the object of his affection.

 

2011 Challenger: Clayton Johnston

| November 2, 2011 | 0 Comments

I am a graphic designer and cartoonist living in Dallas, TX. My comics can be found at krakadoom.com. I like to create cartoony, funny comics. My comics are Manuspial: a slacker with a strange power and frying chicken wings instead of fighting crime, Unparalleled Adventures: a jerk is gifted with superpowers and finds himself compelled to be virtuous, and Programmed to Suck: the silent surreal adventures of Lil’ Robot, drawn by my friend Kevin Steele.

Most of my posts are probably going to be characters I’ll eventually add to Unparalleled Adventures.

#2 – Dark Linus

| November 2, 2011 | 1 Comment
What did you think would happen, Lucy? What did you think would happen when you tortured him all the time?  Wasn't the blanket a clue? Couldn't you tell he was going to crack?  But you had to just keep pushing him didn't you?  DIDN'T YOU?!?

Dark Linus

What part of “He carries a blanket and believes in the Great Pumpkin” ever lead you to believe that this kid was going to be alright?

 

2011 Challenger: Nathan “Phoenix” Vargas

| November 2, 2011 | 0 Comments

Hey there, I’m a first timer in the 30 Character Challenge.

Fresh off the 24 Hour Comic Day Challenge and still roaring to go, I’ve decided to keep the momentum going! My brain just keeps screaming…Draw more! More! MORE!

And I try and do what my brain says I should do…

Boring Stuff About Me

I’m the co-founder of BlitzComics.com, a site that has tools that help comic book creators create. I’m also a game UI designer for Habatar.com…you’ll know what that is soon enough. 🙂 My drawing skills are rusty but practice will crumble all that away.

I’m attracted to the 30Character because I’ve always had random characters milling about inside my brain but never had the structure, format, or audience to bring em out. Now is the time!

#1 Trotsky, the Snowman

| November 2, 2011 | 0 Comments
 Thumpetty thump thump, Thumpety thump thump, Look at Trotsky go. Thumpetty thump thump, Thumpety thump thump, Serving as the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs

#1 Trotsky, the Snowman

There must have been some magic
in that old beret they found
for when they placed it on his head
he discovered class consciousness.

#1. Mischiefmaker

| November 2, 2011 | 1 Comment


Mischiefmaker!
All hail the Mischiefmakers! Don’t be fooled; these not-so-little guys are regular ratbags. The extra set of working limbs was at one time an unfortunate genetic mutation, but over time, it turned out to be a useful addition. Now, thanks to a slow process of evolution and natural selection, mischiefmakers have become intelligent little buggers that will explore everything, get into everything, and certainly will attempt to eat everything.

#1 Valentine Mora

| November 1, 2011 | 0 Comments

Val tries to consider himself a fairly normal guy, but he knows enough to understand that he really isn’t. He reads a lot – no, seriously, a lot – and even volunteers at the library to have easier access to new books to read. Sports don’t really interest him much, he likes run-of-the-mill food, and he’d much rather run his fingers through his hair once in the morning than touch a jar of styling gel. People tend to assume he’s a hipster from the scarves he wears about his neck, but he really just wears them to cover up the bite marks from his roommate.

When the cruel fate of college stuck Val with his jock roomie Trent, he had no idea how he was going to get through even a single semester with his sanity still intact. But a freak situation ended up with Trent turning into a vampire, and Val was open-minded – and well-read – enough to be willing to put up with it. He even let Trent feed from him instead of going off to attack random citizens, much to Trent’s continued amazement. The two stayed roomies – and eventually friends – all through college and beyond, where they now share a run-down two-bedroom apartment just outside the city limits.

Val knows full well that people consider him a doormat, but he’s really just happy to help. He has his reasons for helping Trent, and uses his connections at the library to bring in books so he can read more about his roommate’s condition. He’s even learned a small bit of magic, in the hopes that maybe one day he can restore Trent back to full humanity. Until then, he’s more than happy to stay quiet and reclusive, working an administrative day job at a local temp agency to pay the bills while he focuses on his studies.

#1 Queenie

| November 1, 2011 | 1 Comment

Queenie is a wise, but weak queen. She is too impressionable and listens far too much to outside sources who are leading her astray…
I use ball-point pen for most of my preliminary character designs, because I apparently like to torture myself. I always hesitate when doing straight inks. But sometimes I end up being interesting clothing designs, so I continue to use it ^^

2011 Challenger: Stephanie Rattanachane

| November 1, 2011 | 2 Comments

Architect of Deviousness
Hello world! My name is Stephanie Rattanachane, and I am a graduate from the Art Institute of Tampa majoring in Media Arts and Animation. I have a particular focus in character design and 2d animation.

My inspirations are history, Gustav Klimt, Degas, Glen Keane and Tex Avery.

Let the games begin!

#1 Nameless Witch

| November 1, 2011 | 2 Comments

false positive webcomic witch

She’s forsaken all in her pursuit of the forbidden sciences. She relinquished her given name to become a disciple of secrets. She knows many of the forgotten rituals and rites for entreating potent demons and the old gods who lost interest in mankind long ago. She will even petition your ancestors for secrets from beyond the veils of life or beseech a deity to intervene on your behalf… for a price.

 

 

2011 Challenger: Akivos

| November 1, 2011 | 0 Comments

Hello, I’ve was introduced to this contest last year right after registration closed. One of my friends was participating and I thought, why not me next year. I also am doing NaNoWriMo which means a lot of my time is going to be occupied this month, but oh well.

I draw mostly anime style, as it’s the only thing I’m half way decent at. I can’t really color any of my drawings as I am terrible at coloring so black and white is for the best.

#1 Riley Hayes

| November 1, 2011 | 0 Comments

2011 Challenger: Samar Ertsey

| October 31, 2011 | 1 Comment

Hello everybody!
I’m Samar from Munich, Germany. I teach comicbook drawing and recently animation in my own school for free. I’ve been in the business for over 10 years and won several prizes (some smaller, far fewer quite prestigious in Germany, none of worldwide fame so far).

It feels good to be back! Although I didn’t manage last year to post an overview, I finished right on time, and it was a great inspiration.
This year marks an important event in my career. I’m going to develop the characters for a full-fledged nostalgia album with 48 pages before your very eyes. Timing could not be better. According to my schedule, I have to finish the character drawings by the end of November, and this will hopefully give me the necessary drive to pull that off. I hope you’ll like what you’ll be seeing!

And an entirely unrelated picture to show off a little:

2011 Challenger: Xavier Smith

| October 29, 2011 | 6 Comments

Hey!

I’m 6 years old and my dad already signed up for this (he’sMatthew D. Smith ). Whenever he’s drawing some for his comics, I sit at my small table next to him and work on my own characters. I even made some of my own little comics and sold them for 50 cents each at the last convention he did.

He thought it would be cool if we both did this challenge this year. I’ve already started working on some of my new characters. My dad scanned some of the drawings I’ve done of other characters to show you on this post. Here’s Megamind, Bartman, and two of the characters from my dad’s comic The Adventurers of Liberty City: Eclipse and Drill.

Thanks, Xavier!

2011 Challenger: Michael Nimmo

| October 29, 2011 | 0 Comments

What am I doing?

I really enjoy drawing  ‘old school’ – Paper, pens, pencils, markers…then I scan them and upload them.

I’ve dabbled with more serious art – darker looking, but it doesn’t work, so I’ve moved back to my more cartoony style!

Online I’m a comics blogger, specialising in digital comics – Android, iOS and Kindle mainly. That has really kicked off in the last 6-9 months and I’ve had to up my output!

You can find me over at 3 Million Years or on Twitter or Google+

What I’ve got in mind will vary, and I’m already getting suggestions from my son & daughter.

Expect weirdness?!

I don't know where I was going with this....

 

2011 Challenger: Matthew D. Smith

| October 26, 2011 | 0 Comments

Like some of the other people on this site, I was interested in entering the “30 Characters Challenge” previously, but talked myself out of it for whatever reason. I decided to bite the bullet and give it a shot this year.

Since 2007, I’ve been self-publishing comics that I’ve been writing or drawing. I’ve been fortunate in that time to meet some really great people who have been gracious enough to work on these projects with me. With David Simonton and Brad Jaskula, I work on the superhero comic, “The Adventurers of Liberty City”, and and oddity anthology called “Wichita Gravy”. I also worked on a series of mini-comics with Katie Omberg called “Suggestion Box” and the first 8 have been collected in two digests: “Tales From The Suggestion Box” and “Confessions From The Suggestion Box”. Just this past year, I wrote two horror graphic novels: “The Curse of Stranglehold” (with art by Melanie Florencio) and “Bee Sting” (with art by Jeremy Massie). I also released the first issue of a 10 issue slice-of-life series called “Simon Says”. It’s a drama/comedy following a group of high school kids in the mid 90s. The first issue features art by Desiree Pittman (her husband, Jason, supplied the cover), and I have a different artist lined up for future issues.

I figured the 30 character challenge would help me out in a lot of ways…there are several character ideas in my head for allies and villains in “The Adventurers of Liberty City”, ideas for characters to be featured in a “The Adventurers of Liberty City” spin-off, and some minor characters yet to be introduced in “Simon Says” I want to design. I have some other ideas in my head as well for characters that may find their way into “Wichita Gravy” or some mini-comics.

You can check out my stuff on-line at my blog: www.mdsmithcomics.blogspot.com

2011 Challenger: Jamie Gambell

| October 26, 2011 | 0 Comments

My name is Jamie Gambell and I am the writer of the comic book series, The Hero Code.

I’m also the creator/writer of the series, Omnitarium – the first volume of which was finished and released in 2010.

I currently live in LA with my wife and son, and work as a sound utility technician in film and television. The day job eats up a lot of time, and the few hours I have left over I like to spend with the family, which often means that I have to find extra time in the day for working on comic books. Because of this sleep and I have an arrangement, which I’m sure one day he will come to collect on!

The Hero Code series artist, Jonathan Rector, and I both agreed that it would be fun to do something with the 30 Characters challenge as a means of working out some of the cast of the series. As I type issue one has just seen print, but we’ve got so much story worked out and so many characters coming and going, that it seemed like a good idea to have a single place to work out the look of those characters.

I’m really looking forward to participating, having followed the previous two challenges, and to checking out other peoples work at the site.

Good luck everyone!

2011 Challenger: Mike Gagnon

| October 24, 2011 | 1 Comment

My name is Mike Gagnon, I’m a professional comics creator. Been doing small press and mainstream for almost 12 years. Currenly work on comcis like Classics Illustrated for Jack Lake Productions, Dagar the Invincible for Dark Horse and Monkeys and Midgets, my creator owned humor comic. Started doing illustration, but have focused on inks, writing and colors the last few years. Want to get my drawing arm loose again so decided this is the perfect excuse, plus it looks fun!

I'm so pretty LOL

Mike Gagnon - Time to make the comics guy.

Aaron Walls Intro

| October 22, 2011 | 0 Comments

My name is Aaron Walls this is my first year attempting the 30 Character Challenge. I am an aspiring creator with loads of Ideas and a few stories in several states of being done. I look forward to pushing myself with this and seeing what everyone else comes up with as well.

2011 Challenger: Shannel Gaddy

| October 19, 2011 | 1 Comment

Hello, I’m Shannel. I’m a recent graduate of The art Institute of Tampa, and I’m a storyboard artist and illustrator. I actually stumbled onto the 30 Day challenge a few months back when I saw a tumblr post of someone who completed all 30 drawing last year. It seems really fun and a greatway to get a few good (and bad XD) ideas out and on paper.

Here’s an old drawing of mine. I want to start doing a bit more characters since I mostly domore realistic drawings. I will also probably try out drawing these characters in different ways/styles; try to really loosen me up some.

2011 Challenger: Kristin Bowles

| October 19, 2011 | 1 Comment

Hey there, people-who-are-reading-this!

I’m Kristin Bowles. I’ve got a fancy-schmancy website (www.kristinbowles.com), a fancy-schmancy blog (www.kristinkreates.wordpress.com), and a fancy-schmancy degree (BFA in Game Art & Design).

As a recent graduate from the Art Institute of Tampa, I’ve managed to network with a whole bunch of cool people, several of which showed this event to me, and at least one of which told me I’d better participate, or else.

That aside, I used to draw random characters all the time. Y’know, before I went to college, back in the days when I had time. And I’d like to get back to doing it, and having time.  And I need a huge kick in my drawing butt. So, here I am. Woo!

Tyler James instructed me to put up some pictures. So, here you go.

Kristin Bowles Logo
Whoa, it’s my logo! 
Kristin Bowles
Ugh, it’s me. Sums things up pretty well, anyway.

And here are some tiny thumbnails of some stuff that’s decent enough for me to share!

    

   

Oh, and some stuff I plan to do, or at least I’m mulling over in my brain:

  • using a random word generator
  • revisiting old character designs and improving them
  • using a predetermined list of theme words (including months, seasons, and holidays)
  • drawing more men, because all I seem to draw are ladies!

2011 Challenger: Jande Rowe

| October 19, 2011 | 5 Comments

Jande Rowe, Author of "Aedre's Firefly" Online Graphic NovelHi all. I’m the author of the online graphic novel Aedre’s Firefly. This will be my second year of doing this challenge.  On Twitter I’m @EccentricOrbits. Do say hello.

Of the thirty characters I created last year, I have only just introduced one of them to my storyline. But what the heck. The world always needs more characters, right?

Since having a medical problem with my eyes, I’ve started drawing in a more simplified style, sticking to black and white mostly except for covers. Also I won’t have time to do detailed storylines like last year.
Looking forward to seeing what everyone creates this year!

 

Colour Cover for "Aedre's Firefly Chapt. VI: Awakenings"

Colour Cover for "Aedre's Firefly Chapt. VI: Awakenings"

2011 Challenger: David R. Vallejo

| October 19, 2011 | 1 Comment

Hello

My name is David, aka graphiteman.  I am an artist who is interested in way too many things.  My current art projects are portrait commissions, religious paintings and pursuing illustration (mostly editorial).  I’m also kicking around several graphic novel ideas.  To supplement my income, I also do a bit of art instruction with grade schools.

I’m not sure where I fist heard of the 30 Characters Challenge, but I recently came across it on Twitter and thought it would be a good feat to take on.  I’m always looking into challenging myself and have participated in several online challenges, such as Illustration Friday, 30 Days of Creativity, and Everyday in May.  I find these challenges get my creative juices going and help build my portfolio.  The kind of stuff you might expect from me will be characters that will be used in a novel writing contest challenge http://www.nanowrimo.org/ that I will be taking on at the same time during the month of November.  So as if designing 30 characters wasn’t enough, I will be writing an at least 50,000 word novel by November 30th that uses all 30 characters.  I don’t think I’ll be getting much sleep in November.

You can find my work on my website:

http://davidrvallejo.com/

and my very current art projects on my blog:

http://tactilblog.blogspot.com/

While you’re at it, you can also ‘LIKE’ my fan page:

http://www.facebook.com/davidrvallejoillustration

Look forward to seeing all the interesting characters for this year’s challenge.

Peace!