Tag: 30 characters

#1 Scott Rivers

| November 1, 2011 | 2 Comments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Scott Rivers! He’s a 16 year old magical boy with the ability to control demons, and is the best friend of the main protagonist (who I have not drawn yet oops).

There’s a little more stuff under the cut which is about the story and junk yeahh

(btw if I’m doing something wrong with the upload rules/SOMETHING ELSE, please tell me!!!)

Continue Reading

Day One: “XYZ”

| November 1, 2011 | 0 Comments


“I stand at the edge of the crowd, looking at the people. I am about to change.

Who I am has started to bore me. I need something different, like a holiday.

It’s good, this thing. I don’t know what to call it. Power, perhaps? Every time I touch someone, I take on a little of their personality. Sometimes it’s their fashion sense, sometimes it’s their music taste. Once it was their accent.

The only problem with this is that I lose friends along the way. People close to me never quite know what to expect. With so many personality changes, it can become difficult to keep up. The one thing that stays the same are my boots. I don’t care if they don’t match with the rest of me. They are left over from before, back from when I knew who I was. They will never change.

If I touch enough people, I become a completely different person.

That’s why I like crowds. When I get tired of the way I am, I can just step into the crowd and come out as someone new.
I close my eyes and step into the crowd, bumping into as many people as I can.”

Text by Lana, art by Julian (Tosche).

#1-The Swine Smith

| November 1, 2011 | 0 Comments

A character that popped up in one of my zinc-plate prints a couple years ago, I’ve always wanted to get a drawn streamlined version. It’s at a very basic level a creator, of whatever. Weapons, houses, cars, animals, personalities if it starts out an idea, the Swine Smith can turn it into reality. Honestly, for anyone who’s read Supergods or has read enough Grant Morrison books and interviews, this character is the closest I have to come to making a fiction suit. For those who don’t know what that is, it’s essentially a way of placing yourself into a story or image to interact with the narrative characters. If the Swine Smith shows up, it’s there to destroy and re-create into something better and new. Or create new and hope it’s experiment doesn’t fail. The mask is to prevent communication, and to show the Smith as a force of nature, and while he may be a “fiction suit” something kind of used to commuicate, I always feel like there should be more action then dialogue when the Smith’s around.

I feel bad because it’s a little soon to get so abstract but this is just the first thing that came to me.

#1 – Alex Pratt

| November 1, 2011 | 0 Comments

So it begins…

This first character I produced is one of the leads in an upcoming strip I have in development entitled “The Majors”, due for release in early 2012. The story is basically about two brothers who end up buying their favorite hockey team, only to realize that ownership isn’t as easy at it looks.

Alex Pratt is the oldest of the two brothers. He is generally impulsive, irrational and disorganized, and is the main reason why the two brothers end up getting themselves into ‘situations’ that could easily have been avoided with some forethought. Alex is a passionate sports fan, but roots mainly for his favorite hockey team, The Motor City Majors. As the self-appointed idea man of the partnership, Alex is responsible for developing hare-brained schemes for attracting more fans to Majors games, managing player personnel and figuring out ways of keeping his newly acquired team in the news.

As a reference, Alex Pratt is very similar to the Tim Taylor character from Home Improvement. Bumbling and silly, but with the best intentions in mind – misfortune seems to follow him and use him as comic relief.

#1 Snake Jones

| November 1, 2011 | 0 Comments

#1 Snake Jones


My names William Palacio a freelance artist and I’m glad to join in on this great fun challenge.

2011 Challenger: Robert Worstell

| October 31, 2011 | 0 Comments

Robert C. Worstell

Thanks for this opportunity to show off my artwork.  I’ve been doing cartoons and such all my life, but it’s been taking second-fiddle to many different interests, such as “making a living” and “getting through school”, among others. However, I’ve recently been unearthing my old stuff I did in the odd corners of my life and reviewing these to see how I could get these going as a real enterprise – you know, start making money with this stuff and all my various talents.

And it’s encouraging to see how people are doing this, and all the connections which online publication and sales make possible these days. For I started in the days of actual cut-and-paste, having to send submissions by snail-mail and getting no feedback on the rejections. With cartoons and online publishing, I can get them out via my own virtual publishing house, with the whole world wide web to bring new clients to my virtual door. (You can tell I’m a bit excited about breaking into this, can’t you?)

My characters will be based on the caricatures I’ve been doing at County Fairs during recent summers. (Felt-tip pen and crayon-pencils on art paper.) In fact, I found out about 30 Characters from the website of a fellow caricaturist at Columbia College in Missouri (where we’ve shared gigs there for years.)

Final Series Issue - the end?

End of the Mexico Goat

Here’s a collection of a test run I did last year for a local Facebook celebrity called the Mexico Goat (who annoyed local pet-control officers for several weeks before a literal cowboy caught him with lasso from horseback.)

Luck to us all!

2011 Challenger: Warren Frantz

| October 27, 2011 | 0 Comments

I am the creator of the webcomic “Off Season“. It’s regularly published Mondays and Thursdays, with occasional extra guest strips or bonus strips on other days. It follows the adventures of a mild-mannered goalie surrounded by the zany world of ice hockey.

I have taken on the 30 Characters challenge for the last two years. In 2009 I did it on my own website, while in 2010 I joined the “Official” website. It can be a grueling experience, but I have a direction this year, which will hopefully make it a bit easier for me!

It has been a goal of mine to write and illustrate a graphic novel. I’ve been kicking around the idea of writing a story centered around my Day 4 Character from last year. During this year’s 30 Character Challenge, I’ll be taking my first steps toward making that happen by trying to develop that story’s world through it’s characters.

 

I can be found at Google+ (Warren Frantz) or at Twitter (@puckhogg4)

2011 Challenger: Ralph Contreras

| October 24, 2011 | 0 Comments

SHAZAM! Hey everyone!
My name’s Ralph Contreras, I’m an alumni of the awesome 30 Character Challenge. This will be my 3rd time around. The first year I completed the challenge, but last year I didn’t. I’m determined to see the whole thing through this year. It’s a great challenge and I’m really looking forward to it. In past years I’ve made some great online friendships with fellow creators.  I’m looking forward to seeing all the amazing characters everyone will create this year.

I’m a huge comic nerd with aspiration of working in the comic field professionally. Comics have always been a part of my life. I even owned and ran my own comic book shop. For the past few years I’ve really been trying to make the dream a reality. I setup a personal blog Comic Book Graphic Design, where I combine my comic artwork with my graphic design skills. I post all my sketches, character designs and comic book resources to help other aspiring comic artists in this journey too. I’ve very excited to announce my first self created comic project will be seeing print in early 2012, Amazing Hero Adventures (website under construction). Several characters in the comic were created during the 2009 & 2010 Character Challenge.

For this challenge I’m planning on getting some characters fleshed out for several comic stories bouncing around in my mind. I’ll be using this as my starting point, the challenge always sends my mind to all sorts of directions during the month. This year my goal is to pencil, ink and digitally color all character designs.

Check out my characters for the last challenges: 2009 Challenge, 2010 Challenge

Samples of some Character Designs.

Let’s be Friends!  Connect with me on my Blog & other sites!

2011 Challenger: Noel Burns

| October 23, 2011 | 2 Comments

 

Noel BurnsGreetings all,

I am Noel Burns and this is my first year trying the 30 character challenge. I ended up here thanks to Comixtribe and Tyler’s work through there. At this time I claim to be a writer. At other times I was an artist, but I got old and realized I wouldn’t be able to do the level of work I wanted to without being able to spend more time working on my drawings. A wife, three kids, a job where I work 45 hours a week, a second job where I work 12+ hours a week and then I am also starting a comic publishing/printing company at the same time. I don’t have near the time I would need to be able to work to the level I wish to be.

Now I help others who have dreams of making comics. I teach classes in Iowa City on Introductions to Comic Creation and Life Drawing Classes. I do printing for many people who are making comics now, and now through my publishing company I am starting our first anthology called Journeymen. We are currently taking submissions through the end of November. If you are interested you can find out more at www.icgeeks.com/journeymen

I am looking forward to the 30 characters challenge as a means to flesh out some of the story ideas I have banging around in my head. I am also looking forward to seeing what everyone else will be working on.

I can be found at www.icgeeks.com

www.twitter.com/icgpublishing

nburns@icgeeks.com

 

2011 Challenger: Eric White

| October 23, 2011 | 2 Comments

That's me!! (well...sort of)

Hello everyone!! Eric White here having a go at my 3rd year of the 30 Characters challenge.  I have yet to make it through all 30 days but I’m determined to give THIS year my best effort yet.

Like any good comic book fan who has some aspirations to draw comics…I’ve created a million superhero beings in my life.  Instead of making 30 more of my style of characters (which are mostly superman & spiderman clones) I decided to try something different.  I took one of  my favorite games, Heroes Unlimited, and rolled up the 30 character types and the powers that accompany them.  No character details, history or drawings…just the type and powers.  I used all the rules provided by the book for character creation (beginning from what type of character to create all the way through the process).  ALL rolls were actual and true.

Here is the rolled information for the character which I will draw for Day 1.  If you’re familiar with the Heroes system or are a geek (which…lets be honest…if you’re reading this you probably are a geek) you’ll understand what all of that stuff means.

Power Category: Experiment – Chem & Rad – experiment that can not be replicated
Education Level: 3 years of college
# of Powers – 5 minor
Side Effect: Super Hairy
Experiment Sponsor: Military
Status with Sponsor: Allowed to leave peacefully

Powers:
Extraordinary physical prowess
Heightened Sense of Taste
Energy Expulsion: Electrical Field
Flight: Glide
Heightened Sense of Smell

You may be asking…why did I do all of this work before hand? For one simple reason: I love role playing games and this whole character creation process and because of that I basically re-read the whole book. Once I decided to use this approach for character creation I knew it was going to take me forever. And I was right!! Rolling all 30 characters alone took me something like two weeks worth of evening to complete.  Every roll meant flipping pages and reading paragraph after paragraph…and I loved it! So much fun!!! Incidentally…if there are any people or groups in the Omaha area that are playing RPG and are looking for a new member…it would be kind of ok to let me know!)
So we’ll see what comes of all of this.  I’m looking forward to an exciting month of creativity.  I hope you’ll all follow along and have as much fun as I’m planning on having.
NOTE: this is a truncated version of my original introductory post.  I wrote a highly over worded (and very cathartic) post about my 30 characters experience to this point.  However, I decided that instead of subjecting 30 Characters to that hot mess I would post the wordy bits over on my site, www.geekywhiteguy.com, and just the most important stuff here.  More than likely I’ll be doing that through the entire month of 30 Characters.  The drawing and a little information on this site…and a FULL, bloviated post on my site.  With over 260 participants signed up for this challenge and hundreds of people viewing the site every day I don’t see and point in cluttering up this site with all my ramblings.  So if you want to read my full post…go see my site now.

K’s 30:30 Ghost Parade

| December 3, 2010 | 2 Comments

First 30 characters challenge, and I must admit, it WAS a challenge! Just sitting down to conceptualize, ink and scan thirty stories takes a lot of discipline. On the other hand it was a good, guided outlet of sorts; choosing to go with a 100 Ghosts Procession » theme, it was supposed to be simply a loose portraiture of thirty weird things; now I think it’s created its own universe of sorts, which I’ll probably expand on.

Many thanks to Tyler James for making this possible, and everyone else who participated, who, by posting their stuff consistently, encouraged enough. Thanks also to my WriMo nutfriend EK » who let me know about this in the first place. I look forward to do another set next year! 皆さんお疲れさまでした!

I created a Tumblr account separate from my main to house these guys: KannnibalSanjuu.tumblr.com »

Ralph Contreras – 30 Characters

| December 1, 2010 | 3 Comments

Wow! What a great month! So many awesome new characters from all the participants. I really enjoyed seeing all the creativity every day. Thanks to Tyler for gathering us all together. You Rock dude! So I didn’t quite finish the challenge. I did come up with 30 characters, but I was only able to illustrate 12 of them. If anything I learned I need to work on my time management skills.

Entering the challenge I planned on coming up with fresh ideas every day and not having any preconceived plans to the characters before I put my pencil to the paper. But once I started with the first character I started getting ideas for other characters. Eventually I created a list of 30 characters that were not only connected to each other, but also connected to the universe of my current personal comic projects.

I’ve included my list of the 30 characters with a strike through on the ones I was able to illustrate and post. Although I wasn’t able to get them all done in time for this awesome challenge. I will finish them and post on my personal blog (ComicBookGraphicDesign.com).

30 Characters 2010 – Ralph Contreras

  • 1. Foot Soldier of the Cyber Lords (male)
  • 2. Zarruk Xeon (male)
  • 3. General Grimm (male)
  • 4. Surge Shocker (male)
  • 5. Penelope Chamber (female)
  • 6. Leon Perrie (male)
  • 7. Psycho Bringer (male)
  • 8. Susan Spektor (female)
  • 9. Legerity [Sandra Spektor, sister of Susan Spektor] (female)
  • 10. Solarus [John McCarran] (male)
  • 11. Brother Jeffrey Hamilton, Founder of the Church of Solarus (male)
  • 12.Cyberonic [Jason Tabort] (man)
  • 13. Solarus II [Benjamin McCarran, son of original Solarus] (male)
  • 14. Jeremiah Stone [Elementals; Earth] (male)
  • 15. Susanna Ridley [Elementals); Wind] (female)
  • 16. Bo Stone [Elementals; Water] (male)
  • 17. Jed Griffen  [Elementals; Fire] (male)
  • 18. Victory [uses a modified Foot Soldier energy staff] (female)
  • 19. Red Mammoth (male)
  • 20. Tiger Shadow (male)
  • 21. Crimson Sun [Cameron McCarran, son of original Solarus and brother to Solarus II] (male)
  • 22. Cakka’ria, Cyber Lord field leader (female)
  • 23. Kevin Spektor [son of Solarus II and Susan Spektor] (male)
  • 24. Azaark’con, interstellar bounty hunter (Female)
  • 25. The Shadows Man [Alec Samson] (male)
  • 26. Mighty Max [Maximilian Murphy] (male)
  • 27. Arcanzra Bliz’chat, Acarien Rebel leader (arachnoid alien male)
  • 28. Shak’urra Bliz’chat, Acarien Rebel [daughter of Arcanzra Bliz’chat] (arachnoid alien female)
  • 29. Hexson Ichubuz, Former Foot Soldier, now free (male)
  • 30. Oun Da Zerka the Cyber Lord (male)

Thanks again to Tyler James for gathering us all together, and to Daniel Govar (saulone) for the great .psd templates. As an alumni of last year’s 30 Character Challenge, I was proud to participate again this year. I’m happy to have made new friends with a bunch of great and talented artists. Anyone else that wants to connect with me, follow the links at the end of this post. See you all next year again for the 2012 Challenge! – Shazam!


Let’s be friends:
Connect with me on my Blog and other sites!

BONUS! #31 The Android – Net Avatar

| December 1, 2010 | 0 Comments


Okay, I was pretty sure I was done with this, but I had one more killer ass idea…

Got the inspiration for this after trolling the TV Tropes archives and coming across the lovely article about Humanoid Abominations (Wow, I’m twisted). He’s not technically a new character, but I figured since the firefly and the master AI have incarnations that only appear on the droids’ network, it’s only appropriate our old buddy, the Android, have the same thing going for him.

So if you’re floating around the droid world’s computer network, this is what the Android looks like. Feel free to run in terror when you see him.

Day# 30 MobU and Stats, robot symbiotes

| November 30, 2010 | 3 Comments
#30 MobU+Stats, robot symbiotes for Wheeler's Orbits by Jande Rowe

#30 MobU+Stats, robot symbiotes for Wheeler's Orbits by Jande Rowe

“Days like this make me think I was manufactured under a bad sign.” ―C-3PO.

#30 MobU & Stats, Robot Symbiotes

You might be forgiven if at first glance you think there are two robots in this artist’s sketch of Stats and MobU (pronounced “Mow’bew”). And in one fairly obvious way you would be right. They look separate, though MobU can attach itself to Stats’ head piece once the antenna has been retracted. But they were created in fact as a single unit. Though if Stats‘ personality splits any further, there may be a true dichotomy.

Wheeler and Ikey assembled Stats when they were kids from parts scavenged from the local industries on their home planet of Foglio IV, many of which were experimental, some of which were top secret. That may have been the reason why Stats often had memory failures. It may account for the fact that the robot could spout statistics about things that Wheeler or Ikey had never even heard of. It also may be why he or uh.. lets just call it “he” for now, since it, uh… he has just achieved a conscious state of sentience for the first time in over a decade –Well its system combination of CPU [Central Processing Unit] and HMC [HoloMemoryCore] had. Consciousness had been hard-wired in by a series of bizarre accidents, perhaps even before Wheeler dug the logic core out of the recycle bin. Then again, with Wheeler’s luck, not to mention timing, and total lack of training, the boys might have had a little to do with the personality, or… Personalities, that emerged.  But to all intents and purposes Stats had finally been delegated to a dark corner of the jet park cubby-hole the last time he had a memory failure. Wheeler wasn’t that interested in statistics anyway, though Ikey got a bit of a kick out of them. By this time he was frustrated by the breakdowns, and he and Ikey having just discovered that girls were not the icky fragjaws he used to think them, he managed over time to forget all about having tried to create the world’s first Super-Destructo Paintball Robot (Some fads never die).

Later with the rise of the family fortunes, the house and jetpark were sold off, the contents of the jetpark including the deactivated robot were sent to a Goodwill recycle plant, and the family moved literally up to the next level on Foglio IV.

The Techs at Goodwill were astounded to find the rather scuffed Robot as part of a donation delivery. They tried activating it. The lights blinked and went on blinking, but nothing happened. No response to voice input anyway. One of the techs thought he might have an old keyboard stashed away in the back, but when he looked for it, he decided it might not be worth digging through centuries of museum pieces for it. Then another truckload of donations came in and he left the Robot powered up and didn’t remember until the following day when he came in to find its lights had stopped blinking and it was turning its head this way and that as if looking for something, or maybe… scanning?

He tried voice commands again but all the tech could get out of it was a stream of archaic statistics. It did however make a fine cup of tea, and so it was installed in the tech lunch room. There it stayed for about a year, entertaining them with tea and statistics, until one day they arrived for tea and the robot was gone. No one seemed to know where or why. It hadn’t been sold. It might have been stolen, but who would steal from a charity organisation run by volunteers. Nah. The Robot was an unstable device at best. It probably had the  mechanical equivalent of a brainstorm and wandered off. They would miss the tea.

And brainstorm was exactly what had happened. A kind of accidental pre-programmed brainstorm caused by conflicting commands, and timed relay synapses opening certain logic gates that weren’t meant to be opened. And so a robot child was born. And it wandered away in search of its mother, with no clue of how to interact with the world as a sentient being. But it was learning. And one thing it was learning was that that nagging voice in his head really WAS in his head. The MobU was still firmly attached, and wasn’t much liking it.

MobU is the shortened form of “Mobile Unit”, even though its base also had a more limited form of mobility. It was designed to be a completely separate Unit from the MainFrame “parent” (note: MainFrame has a whole different meaning in the 24th Century) while sharing memory and some of the parent unit’s CPU cycles.  During the time Wheeler and Ikey were trying to get the darned Robot to do anything but recite outdated statistics, more and more of the MobU’s capacity was taken up with memory backups from the main. Which had the unexpected result of  both units becoming sentient at the same time but growing differentiating personalities based on their differing functionality and mobility.

The MobU was a free-floating (some say flying, but it couldn’t go far from the parent unit, although no one has had a chance to determine how far that is), dish-shaped device that had one curious aspect. The material it was made from was a top secret amalgam of human biologicals and mineral-metallurgicals at the molecular level. It could not only heal itself, but its logic boards could really think. It’s only limitation to the kinds of changes it could make to itself was that it could not change its own total mass. In that, it was one singular and unique unit. And its biggest problem, as it soon learned, was that it was trapped in a relationship with a slower “thinking” and much more confused other half. But that was only the beginning of its problems.  They were stuck with each other and would have to make the best of it. Unless…

Perhaps could those who had created Stats and MobU find a way to separate them? If MobU was to turn its vast and unique fledgling intelligence to work in tandem with Stats‘ longing to find his creator. More than a decade had passed since lights out. Could they do it?

~~~~~

I had a hard time stopping writing long enough to upload this one. These guys really caught my imagination. Hard to believe I sat and stared at a blank sheet of Strathmore Bristol for over an hour this morning with an equally blank mind. Later, as my panic grew, I started scribbling heads in the hope it would get the juices flowing again. This piece is the result and I’m extremely happy with the Characters, their relationship, and the many ideas for fun story arcs they have given me. I hope you enjoy my Finale piece as much as I do, and will continue to enjoy these two Characters when I incorporate them into Wheeler’s Orbits comic.

#30 Kan’ahn-Greatmother, She Who Is

| November 30, 2010 | 2 Comments

30 親

Kan’ahn-Greatmother • She Who Is

She goes by many names and in many variations, but she is the Greatmother, the Grand President, who officially welcomes the new Parade participants after the long walk. Her tattoos tell the story of the world. Once a new Parade participant enters the City for the first time, she herself paints on them their tattoo. Every soul gets one; in the event that some acquire multiple passes and return to the Layer of Mortality, the tattoo stays with them, branded in their minds, hearts or motor function, often predetermining certain key events that led them to acquire the tattoo.

She is also inspired from renditions of the goddess Kan’on, of mercy and life. My take on how death is actually another beginning and a blessing, I hope, that everyone’s characters are little beginnings of awesome things.

I thought she would be significant to add to the lot as the 30th, instead of the 2nd as I initially hoped, and I will dedicate her to all of those struggling to finish their 30th, who have killed their 30th early on, and here’s to another Ghost Parade next year. It was an honour.

#29 Kuulam, The Sieve

| November 30, 2010 | 0 Comments

29 私

Kuulam • The Sieve

Despite his impressive apperance, Kuulam has only been to a few centuries’ worth of Parade, having shed sometime during a great plague in a village he was made custodian of. In shame, he disembowels himself, but in an act of treachery, his assistant leaves him without finishing the task. Kuulam was then briefly picked up by Hyomiyaku » whom he talks to on the way to the Parade preparation grounds. Because his death was in time for the Parade of that century, Kuulam was pleased to find the faces of the other dead villagers, although many decided to simply observe the parade from their plane of existence.

He is a flying torso, with four wings that keep him aloft. Highly skilled in apothecary, he works part-time in the drug department, mixing concoctions for souls who have difficulty shifting and moving in between World Layers.

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Based off Filipino mythological creature, The Wakwak » which is a flying torso. Where I suppose Buggy the Clown from One Piece is based off of!

#28 Suigamma, The Serenade

| November 30, 2010 | 0 Comments

28 へび

Suigamma • The Seranade

The serpent princess who creates everything that is not above ground. Sui is in fact an accomplished singer, sometimes accompanying the Daitenggu as he plays for the Parade, and sings for sailors over the seas. She is careful with how she dresses her hair, which is red as seaweed, often leaving behind her a rippling of red water. For this the Kappa duo have mde themselves her unofficial bodyguard, though Sui treats them more like reckless little cousins than anything.

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Inspired by ‘Zun.

She is also based off of the nureonna » which, I suppose, are quite like the mermaids and sirens of the west.

#27 Fengryuu, The Wind of the Beginning

| November 30, 2010 | 0 Comments

27 竜

Fengryuu • The Wind of The Beginning

Feng is the department’s mischievous dragon, and playmate of Makktanh ». He is one of the very few select who works directly for the Great Mother, in the Creation department. He was the air that bore all the god-seeds in the world, before land was created. In the Parade, he often enjoys heckling the serious organizers, often correlating anarchy with fun.

His breath is the breath of life, and is often invoked by mortals who are in creative crafts.

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Fengryuu’s design was based on the more snakelike Asian dragons, and the Japanese creationist myth.

#26 Emmangrazi, Clearance Department Head

| November 30, 2010 | 0 Comments

26 伯爵

Emmangrazi • Clearance Department Head

T’appai’s » direct head, Emmangrazi is an erudite, often politically correct character, and those he meets for personal consultation either enjoy the extended time together, or lament his seemingly endless tirade.

#25 Maorütte, the Time Eternal

| November 30, 2010 | 0 Comments

25 時

Maorütte • Time Eternal

He is twin to his sister, Haorütte » and he is personification of Time. He goes about in a dun-coloured, tattered traveling cloak which hides half of his face. When he announces to a being the exact time of certain things—being asked, for example, the exact time s/he believed in love—a large, bony, crablike appendage holds out a hanging hour-glass which show the person the sands of their life.

He speaks from a sharp-toothed mouth on his forehead, but only in Babylonian, which makes him and T’appai » good friends for it, the latter often having to translate. “Maru” keeps time for the Ghost Parade, and it is he who visits the First Department Chief » annually to formally pronounce the event. Haru however, is the one who opens the portal to the Ghost layer.

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#24 Haorütte, the Vine Eternal

| November 30, 2010 | 0 Comments

24 カロス

Haorütte • The Vine Eternal

Hider of Space, and twin to Maorütte » Hider of Time. She is present and invoked when things are ‘misplaced’, or hidden away; under her cloak of eternal void, she can keep about a hundred souls. She is integral in the Parade and often serves as a guide as well. Haorütte—”Haru”—does not speak per se. Sightless and mouthless, often a head or two will do the talking for her, popping up from within her cloak. This is disconcerting to those who have not met her yet, as it is like talking to a crowd in a closed space.

She is known as the Eternal Vine, as distance always ever expands, never contracts, despite teh anomaly of her small figure. When she is sighted, she is always bringing a paper lantern, symbolic of the ‘Light years’ needed to meet her.

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#23 Balaheebou, Of The Lost

| November 30, 2010 | 0 Comments

23 狸

Balaheebou • Of the Lost

Because he has been with the Parade for the longest time, and is one of the most respected Elder Tanuki of the autumn tribe, Balaheebou (“Bou” to most) kindly serves as one of the guides during the Parade proper. It can’t be helped that new souls who join the Ghost Parade wander off the processional path, given the new sensations that bombard them along the Paths; when that happens, Bou appears to steer them back.

Having teleportation abilities that allow him to move between World Layers easily like Vanyaa », Bou enjoys observing mortals in their fleshly cocoons, and often tries to show them “where they ought to go”; but because mortals only trust the five senses available to them in that state, the few that DO see Bou find themselves ‘lost’ instead, in a most logical sense. A lone traveler for instance, would be coaxed off the path to his logical destination towards a hidden settlement where a potential companion soul could be found; said traveler recognizes only that he is rapidly losing sight of the main road and treks back, cursing tanuki » deception.

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#22 Vanyaa, Master of Ceremonies

| November 30, 2010 | 0 Comments

22 猫又

Vanyaa • Master of Ceremonies

Vanyaa is a department all his own, which suits him very well since he prefers doing things his own way. A quick eye for treasure, he is careful to note which Paraders have not contributed something for the annual ceremonies; what they do not surrender in the dress rehearsal check, Vanyaa filches during the ceremony itself. He is one of the few who know the whereabouts of Daitenggu » and how to contact him.

The bag around his neck is a ticket collection bag. While Vanyaa may have an eye for the shiny, he is also fair. When a Parader approaches apologetically seeking to ‘exchange’ a “treasure”—a mortal love they are unable to let go of completely, a vow of revenge too heavy to drag around—he appropriates the proper change to it, similar to a clerk breaking bills.

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#30 The Master AI

| November 30, 2010 | 0 Comments


The Master AI is the leader of the droids. This is its form as it would appear to other droid intelligence on the droid network. No one, not even the droids, know its true physical form.

Day# 29 – Myrll (with writer, James S. Allen)

| November 30, 2010 | 0 Comments
#29 Myrll, a Fincali female, from the novel Alien Artifacts by James S. Allen

#29 Myrll, a Fincali female, from the novel Alien Artifacts by James S. Allen

Myrll is another Character from the novel Alien Artifacts by James S. Allen. This concept sketcb took me two days to pull together this far. She is an exeptionally intelligent ‘avianoid” of the Fincali race. As you can see from the art, the Fincali evolved from bird-like creatures. In Fincali mythology it is said that upon a time, the race actually had the power of flight using their own wings.

Here is a brief excert from the author describing Stephen and Rowen, young Xenoarchaeologists, first encountering Myrll:

~~~~~

It was a Fincali.

Inside one of the glass fronted shops was an adult Fincali, pounding with both hands on the glass wall and shouting at them.  Well, not exactly shouting.  Fincali were not particularly equipped for shouting.  It was really more like wild trilling and screeching.  But for a Fincali, it was the equivalent of shouting.

As they drew near, they saw that the Fincali was wearing an envirosuit.  One of the sleeves of the suit bore the emblem of Universalis University.  The Fincali she as they were now able to distinguish by the distinctive crest of plumage that very conveniently differentiated male and female Fincali to other races – flapped her arms about wildly as they approached and then slumped against the wall and slid to the floor.

Great Goatha’s Infinite Orifices!” Stephen exclaimed.  “I hope she’s not dead.  Quick! Let’s get her out of there.”

~~~~~

Afternote: This one was really, really hard for me to draw. Large bird legs in perspective, how to get her looking natural, poised and balanced. Really tough!  In the end I simply ran out of time. Oh, and that thing in her hand is not an alien cosmetic bag its a kind of ray emitting weapon, and she’s an expert shot.

I hope you enjoy this in spite of its flaws. ;`)

#29 The Android

| November 29, 2010 | 0 Comments

In the Valkyrie universe, seeing an android is a lot like seeing a coelacanth or a dodo bird.  Put simply, it shouldn’t exist. Humans themselves ceased production of androids nearly a century earlier and the droids themselves have no interest in perpetuating machines that look like their enemies. Since the droids have begun to manufacture themselves, android bodies were broken down to supply making other types of droids, and their consciousness downloaded to other models.

But this…well…thing was spotted recently in deep space and the humans don’t know what the hell to make of him.

#28 Tarantula

| November 29, 2010 | 0 Comments


Ah, high octane nightmare fuel. Here we go.

To call this thing a droid is somewhat of a misnomer because it’s not necessarily a discrete inorganic organism so much as a fortress with legs. Standing at about 30 feet tall, seeing one of these on the field is enough to make any Valkyrie or Odin weak in the knees. It’s nigh invulnerable to traditional weapons, has enough turrets on its sides to rival any battleship, has anti-air defense missles and can house a number of droids inside, such as Spiders, Scorpions, or even a few Dragonflies.

Really, only heavy duty bombs are the main course of neutralizing this thing.

#25 Scorpion Droid

| November 29, 2010 | 0 Comments


When the droids redesigned themselves into new bodies during the droid wars, human psychology played a significant role in the resulting form. The machines didn’t want a form that just functioned, they wanted a form that would be intimidating, decimating their human enemies emotionally before anyone ever pulled a trigger.

A 14-foot long metal scorpion does that quite nicely.

Beyond the form, though, the Scorpio is a combat droid that is equipped with shield generators and a mean set of claws. It has no projectile payload simply because the machines felt the maneuverability, efficient stabbing weaponry, and sheer fear factor made it an effective enough ground combat droid.

The machines don’t like to waste resources, like extra guns, if they don’t have to.

#24 Mosquito Droid

| November 29, 2010 | 0 Comments


The mosquito is a surveillance droid. It only measures about 1 ft tall, but these little guys are capable of sensing many different kinds of radio waves, light waves, infrared, ultra violet light, and even EMF imaging.

#25 Liliana

| November 29, 2010 | 0 Comments

#20 Jeoucuré, The Seamstress

| November 29, 2010 | 2 Comments

20 繰女

Jeoucuré • The Seamstress

More than anything she is known for, Jeoucuré is perfect at stitching together things. It can’t be helped that, while shedding, certain souls tend to ‘tear’ integral parts of their Selves, so that while their mortal layers are off, important self-awareness memories and sensations are distorted. Given the Parade’s strict ‘dress code’, some participants need to see Jeoucuré for stitching.

She has sewn together identities, broken names, old memories and space-time anomalies, and has made pincushions out of excess sentiments. The red eye that-sees-all can thread any needle, and has several times taken roll call for all the angels that dance on its end. Her ‘hair’ is what she uses to stitch all things together, though she needs to pick the proper locks for certain jobs, as they can get quite finicky.

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