30 Characters Challenger: Micah Weltsch

Hello! How’s it going?

My name’s Micah, a near-30 amateur artist and history graduate student from the Midwest. I loved to draw as a child, quit for a while (I was convinced I wanted to do something else), and then came back to it about ten years ago and I’ve been doodling and drawing ever since. I’m not a professional, but maybe someday I’ll get that opportunity! For now I’m trying to finish my masters degree in East Asian history, with an emphasis on China, Japan, and the history of memory. My thesis project is an analysis at how the memory of a particular Japanese figure has developed over the last thousand years or so. Once I get that done and settle into a steady job, I’ll really start pursuing my dream. Meanwhile I feel a little overwhelmed by the number of professionals doing this challenge 😉

Until then, I work as a web developer at the university I attend. I also write and draw Planescape: Metamorphosis, which I need to make a button for so Tyler can post it up over there —->

The comic’s been a phenomenal learning experience for me because it forces me to do a lot of things I wouldn’t have ordinarily done. I was in a serious rut before I started it, but it’s helped me break out and keep trying new things. I look forward to more challenges it gives.

Anyone that has played D&D during the 90s (and even during this decade) will recognize the term “Planescape.” My comic is based on the old D&D setting of the same name and follows the adventures of Qul, a saurian man, and his companions across different worlds. Of course, they haven’t left Sigil, the City of Doors yet, but I have plans after my next story arc!

I joined this challenge to try and grease some character design wheels and have a good excuse to get some designs done that I need to do. I’ll be using the challenge to develop some characters for my webcomic, and try my hand at some other designs I can make use of. I love the superhero genre so I might make a few of those. I’ll probably also work on a bunch of fantasy or sci-fi style characters that I can use for other projects. Since I don’t have time to do fully colored digital art every day, most of my designs will be pencil sketches, sometimes colored with markers and/or colored pencils. Here are some examples of my finished art and some sketches I’ve done! Almost all my art ends up over at my very starkly-decorated sketch blog or my deviantART gallery so feel free to snoop around there, too!

Category: Participants