Tag: drawing

Sam Medina – Day 8

| November 8, 2011 | 0 Comments

Katarina the Dragon Slayer

#7 – Nox

| November 8, 2011 | 0 Comments

 

To see Nox’s origin story and full listing information please visit my website: www.geekywhiteguy.com

#7 Hemply Shroom

| November 8, 2011 | 0 Comments

Hemply Shroom is left of liberal. He has a penchant for tie-dyes, crystals, veganism, free love, pot, shrooms, and LSD. His oneness with nature and anything that is ‘all-natural’ borders on psycho. Hemply loves flora and fauna so much that he wishes that humans would be wiped out once and for all so they’d stop killing all the plants and animals.  He’s so extreme that he believes tree  hugging is mere foreplay,  getting to first base if you will . If Hemply had it his way he’d be rounding third and sliding into home plate head first,  if you know what I mean.

Besides dry humping trees,  Hemply’s favorite  thing to do is to constantly push his extremist vegan views on others. His second favorite thing to do is organize drum circles.  His third favorite thing to do is play his guitar. Which he does very badly.

His aversion to both soap and shoes has earned him the title “Dirtiest Hippie of the Year” for the last six years running.

Hemply’s father a Colonel in the U.S. Army, considers his son to be “The biggest disappointment in my life.”

A Squeeb, from my Novel “Mentor”

| November 7, 2011 | 2 Comments

2011 Day 07 --A Squeeb, from my Novel, "Mentor"

The Squeeb are a large (about two feet long not counting the tail) rodent-type creature that proliferates in the UnderCity. They are intelligent, loyal and  best of all, tameable as pets and hunters.

Note: I might post more about these creatures later. I’ve run out of time for today. Sorry.

#4 Dona Mercury

| November 7, 2011 | 0 Comments

Dona Mercury. My 4th character. (muststopdrawingbadassgirls)

 

 

 

 

#3 Natalia Bel

| November 7, 2011 | 0 Comments


Natalia Bel, my 3rd character. She is a young Soviet spy in training.

 

 

 

 

Sam Medina – Day 7

| November 7, 2011 | 2 Comments

Huacal the Traitor

#6 Dr. Muahahahaha

| November 7, 2011 | 0 Comments

Dr. Hiram Muahahahaha is a mad scientist. One of the maddest as a matter of fact. He is somewhat scatterbrained, his practices are questionable, and he  frequently works for the bad guys, building semi-ridiculous super weapons.

What made him go mad you may ask? The systematic release of the Star Wars Prequels during Grad School made Hiram lose his mind completely.  In  1999 Hiram was one of the many fanboys drooling over the upcoming release of the Star Wars Prequels beginning with  the Phantom Menace written and directed by George Lucas. The utter disgust and complete disappointment totally devastated the young Hiram spiraling him into 1/3 complete madness. He continued his studies albeit somewhat jaded and twisted. Then in 2002 with the release of the disappointing Attack of the Clones Hiram again was  utterly devastated and sent careening into 2/3 complete madness. Finally with the release of The Revenge of the Sith in 2005 the sheer devastation of how horrible the films were,  finally destroyed Hiram’s mind sending him into total madness.

He may be mad, but Hiram does throw great parties!

Day 1: Gregory Gnome

| November 6, 2011 | 0 Comments

I decided to keep it light and go with a fun fantasy theme. Say hello to Gregory Gnome 🙂

Sam Medina – Day 6

| November 6, 2011 | 0 Comments

Saul E. Mander

#5 – Doctor Automaton

| November 5, 2011 | 0 Comments

 

To see the full information and origin story behind Dr. Automaton please see my website: www.geekywhiteguy.com

#4 – Grand Master Koshi Yoritomo

| November 5, 2011 | 0 Comments

 

To see the all the information about Grand Master Koshi Yoritomo, please see his full listing on www.geekywhiteguy.com

Day 4: “French Vanilla”

| November 5, 2011 | 0 Comments


“She stared up at the building with a trace of despair, a slip of paper in one hand and her purse in the other. The landlord had told her that it was a dreary building, but she was in no way prepared for the sight with which she was greeted. The paint was peeling from the window sills, the tiles were falling off the roof, and the numbers above the doors hung slightly askew.

She stepped back to the cafe on the other side of the street and ordered a coffee. As she drank, she looked at the paper she had with her. It promised an apartment with cheap rent and a street view. She didn’t really care about the rent or the state of the apartment, she just needed somewhere with her name on the letterbox. She wanted to get away from the world, away from overly curious people who cared about her and her life. Tomorrow, she would rent out another place, on the other side of town, under a completely different name.

Many people thought they knew her, but they only knew what she let them see of her. Each person came to know a different version of her. She learned to become like this out of necessity from a very young age, trusting nobody and expecting those around her to show the same level of mistrust.

She plucked a toothpick out of the canister on the table and chewed on it absent-mindedly.

She supposed that one day she would make friends again. She couldn’t live her whole life without

people, but for now she would give it a good shot.

Glancing at the clock on the wall of the cafe, she saw that she had five more minutes before she had to walk through those doors and become yet another version of herself. Hopefully, she would not have to keep this one up for long. She did not have the energy to do this much longer.

Standing up, she left her coffee untouched on the table. Carefully, she smoothed her dark blonde hair back under her hat and left the cafe.

Crossing over once again to stand front of the building, she looked at it with a different perspective. Perhaps this was indeed the wrong thing to do. No matter what though, it was necessary.

She took a deep breath and steeled herself before stepping through the doors.”

 Words: Lana, Art: Julian (Tosche)

#4: Sliver

| November 5, 2011 | 0 Comments

# 4 : Sliver

A mysterious and dangerous hunter, the enigmatic mercenary called Sliver.

Sliver was once a man who lost his arm in an archaeological site digging out a Medieval armory. Though lacking an arm, he managed to procure a strange gauntlet. This gauntlet, unbeknownst to him ,was one piece of a complete suit of enchanted armor  of an ancient warlord that, legend has it, possessed a mind of its own.  This gauntlet possessed the man and overtook his will to become the Hunter known as Sliver,  whose only goal is to procure the remaining pieces of his Cursed Armor so that it can be whole again. He is currently in possession of at least two known components of the Cursed Armor, the Right Gauntlet and the Helm,  which was taken from the Smitsonian and the cloak from the Field Museum.

While the Armor thefts are a concern, its the fact that whenever Sliver comes to to collect or follow a lead on a Cursed Armor piece, he leaves behind a trail of bodies in his wake, which makes Sliver a Most Wanted Superhuman in all law enforcement and federal government agencies. Sliver is also wanted as a top assassin due to his relentless pursuit of becoming complete, neither any opposition or reasoning will stop Sliver from achieving his goals.

Abilities: The Cursed Arm possesses metamorphic properties that encases its host in a metallic coating that protects the user from almost any known weapon. The hand is capable of extending its fingers into impossible lengths and are capable of transforming into various weapons, such as swords, spears, and hooks, for use in combat and defense, as pieces of the armor are capable of projecting spikes out of its exposed plating. The Cursed Helm is another addition that essential suppresses the host’s identity and becomes its own entity, while providing the main means of speech and info in his search for his missing Armor.The Helmet also possesses the same metamorphic properties as the Arm. Sliver wears a kevlar woven bodysuit and the remnants of its previous wielders cloak.

Creation Notes: This character was inspired from me looking at a book on the Art of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy at a Barnes & Noble and saw a helmet from a list of concept sketches for Sauron, and this character stems from that one picture, while taking a nod from Witchblade regarding the weapon arm. The look and style changed throughout high school and I felt it was best to showcase this character. The pose is also based off a previous drawing of Sliver as that was my favorite pose for the character.

Tarou of Undercity from my Novel “Mentor”.

| November 4, 2011 | 1 Comment

2011 Day 04 -Tarou by Gibbi from my novel "Mentor"

 

A rock painting of the hunter, Tarou, attributed to Gibbi the Seer painted in her youth.

Tarou: A young man of burning intensity. Wary, incredibly strong and yet still fast and agile in spite of his size and bulging muscles. Sometimes huge slabs of grey stone would fall from high above. Once, Tarou lifted one of these slabs to rescue the contents of the storage hut that had been crushed beneath it. He was very strong. The strongest in the tribe. But he was also smart. He could quickly size up any situation and then act upon his conclusions. Sometimes the conclusions were wrong, as where Marnal was concerned, but where danger threatened, or when new tactics were needed on a hunt, he was more often right. The packs that he led on hunts always returned, to a man or woman, not always whole or with all their limbs, but alive to hunt another day. And always returned with that for which they had gone out to hunt. And as he grew in stature and aged into his first manhood, there were fewer and fewer casualties. In this he had more and more of the awe and respect of the tribe.

Tarou was considered the best hunter the tribe had ever had and was therefore in line for the leadership. That was something he wasn’t sure he wanted. But the present leader was still young and had all his digits, so that decision could be put away for now. That being the case he couldn’t help being a little full of himself. A little arrogant, though always respectful to the elders. This showed mostly in his pursuit of the woman of his choice. Marnal. She was perfect for him. She matched him in every way and one day she would realise it and stop this silly holding him at bay, putting him off. Pretending that she had no interest in bedding with him. No matter. He was patience itself. Though he wasn’t adverse to pushing her a little. She always gave as good as she got. He’d love to experience that passion under the skins of their own hut someday.

He smiled inwardly at the thought. He rarely let others know his inner feelings, though his actions usually spoke louder than his expressions. Yes, he was pleased with the way things were going, with Marnal as his constant companion, even though she never sought him out. She sought the company of no man. Likely this was to reduce the jealousies that her kind could induce in a well balanced hunting team. He was aware that there was no other man in the tribe who could stand up to him in either appearance, strength, or wit. And Marnal. She was all business all the time. She was focused and quick witted and though not as strong as he (how could she be? She was a female!) But she used her wit to advantages that strength alone couldn’t match.

Then there was the rock painting that  little Gibbi had made of him. She had mixed ash and ichor and had stroked it deftly onto a piece of the black rock that lay under  every part of his world.  It was a special honour to be chosen as subject for one of her paintings. She had done something unusual with the eyes. Not unpleasant, but strange, that made the subject look both determined and intense. Was that how he looked to others? Still it pleased him like so many things did. He was pleased and yet there were stirrings of unease in him, as if a change were coming, bringing the unknown hurtling down upon them like a falling slab of grey rock.

#2 Skeleton Elle

| November 4, 2011 | 0 Comments

Skeleton Elle, my 2nd character.

 

#4 The Vortex Swimmer

| November 4, 2011 | 2 Comments

 

I don’t know anything about her. She arrived in and exited my doodle-book in exactly the way pictured here.

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.

Sam Medina – Day 4

| November 3, 2011 | 3 Comments

Flatiron, one badass beaver

Day Two: “Confederate Money”

| November 2, 2011 | 0 Comments

 She collapsed in a chair in the kitchen and looked down at her muddied feet in dismay. What was her Aunt going to say about this? She’d only been in town for about 6 months and already she had gotten into more scrapes than she had back home.

She sighed and brushed her auburn hair away from her face, trying to arrange it in some semblance of neatness before going past the room with her Aunt.

She rummaged through her purse for her cigarette case and lit one up.

Her aunt had been ill for nearly a year now, she had moved to New York from Louisiana to care for her. During the day, she cared for her Aunt, making sure that her every need was cared for. During the night and early hours of the day, however, she would be out gallivanting on the town or around the docks, trying to calm her cravings for adventure. These romps were helping her develop what she saw as a true New York accent. From everyone else’s perspective, she became a broad parody of her ideal.

Tonight had been one such adventurous night. She had dressed for the occasion as well, wearing her favourite shoes and a beautiful dress. She would have to replace both those, and goodness knows what had happened to her shoes. She stubbed out what was left of her cigarette, and pulled herself out of the chair.

She left muddy footprints on the carpet as she crept past her Aunt’s open bedroom door.

Words: Lana, art: Julian (Tosche).

#2 Cousin Julio

| November 2, 2011 | 0 Comments

A few miles East of East L.A. in the city of La Puente there’s this guy I have to tell you about named Julio Cesar Tapado. At least that’s what his expired driver’s license says. But no one ever calls him that.  For you see this Tapado, is known to all as Cousin Julio. Everyone calls him that. Even people who aren’t related to him.  That’s just one of the many things about Cousin Julio that make absolutely no sense.

They say ignorance is bliss. That makes Cousin Julio the happiest guy in the world. He once asked me what the little creatures in the movie Gremlins were called. If he were any more stupid, he would have to be watered twice a week.

You see at first glance you would figure he’s a lazy dumb ass slacker. You would be right. He spends his days drinking beer, smoking weed, playing video games, and Photoshopping fake celebrity nudes and posting them online.

His greatest skill is being able to roll a joint while driving.  His proudest achievement in life  was his televised high speed chase and take down.

It’s on  YouTube. Check it out. Julio got skills

Cousin Julio’s lifelong dream is to someday do bong rips with his idols Cheech and Chong.

#1: Blazer the Raptor

| November 2, 2011 | 0 Comments

Everyone remembers their first moment. That also includes characters. Blazer the Raptor was my first character that I drew as a child based on several unrelated sources. The first is my love of dinosaurs and the second was Sonic the Hedgehog.  Later on, he took on aspects of Goku and even later, Naruto.  Blazer is a character that always pops out now matter what I draw, I always fall back and revisit him, changing his look from time to time based on whatever interests me at the time. The image demonstrates his evolution from his earliest depiction up to his most recent and current incarnation. From the very first, Early Blazer version, to Goku- Haired Blazer, to Extremely Dark Blazer, and finally, his more current and by far, my favorite version, simply called Blazer.

Now for character bio: Blazer is a Velociraptor from the Fire Valley Clan in Patagenea. He was a regular child until his Animus  (chakra, ki, spirit energy) activated, for which any saurian demonstrating Animus is automatically drafted into the military of their respective Clan as a special class, dubbed Servitors.  As a Servitor, Blazer is trained in utilizing armed and unarmed combat while being taught the Anima Techniques from his master, Tenken. Blazer’s main antagonist is the dreaded Rexon Tyrannus, a machinist overlord who uses an entire mechanized army to seize control and subjugate all the Clan lands, for which Blazer is on a mission to  forge a alliances with all the Clans to defeat this encroaching threat and for Blazer, he desires to destroy Tyrannus for a more personal reason; for , Tyrannus was responsible for the death of Blazer’s father and Blazer would like to see justice enacted, by his own hands.

During his travels, Blazer will encounter obstacles that will will challenge him both his physical and mental abilities while exploring the vast and diverse lands of each of the Clans. Blazer will also encounter other Servitors like him, each with their own repertoire of amazing abilities.

Blazer’s abilities focus on using Fire Elemental and Inner Energy Anima Techniques which range from projectile attacks like the Fire Rocket, to enhancements, such as Afterburner, a speed boost technique. Blazer is capable of wielding a Raptor Class Sickle Sword, forged in Star Metal, which can be channeled with Animus energy to superheat the blade for increased cutting power or to deliver a charged attack. Blazer is also capable of fighting with claw daggers and throwing hooks. His fighting style has a heavy emphasis on speed based attacks, while using the momentum to deliver hard strikes when they count. But, Blazer’s biggest assset is his brain, for he does not engage battles head on and utilizes strategy over brute force in defeating his opponents.

This concludes the introduction of my character. I hope you like it.

Character 1 Day 1

| November 1, 2011 | 1 Comment

#1 Riley Hayes

| November 1, 2011 | 0 Comments

#1 Gorillanaut

| November 1, 2011 | 8 Comments

Gorillanaut Champion of the Cosmos!

This is the story of the first Gorilla launched into outer space in the American space program.

He was born on June 17th, 1956  in  Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. He was captured by animal trappers and sent to a sideshow in Coney Island New York.  Three years later he was purchased by the United States Air Force and brought to the   Holloman Air Force Base Aeronautical Research Facility or H.A.F.B.A.R.F  in Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Researchers started with a group of 29 chimps and 1 Gorilla as primate flight candidates at H.A.F.B.A.R.F After a series of intensive tests the gorilla beat out the chimps and began training for his space mission.

Beginning in July 1959, the three-year-old Gorilla was trained at  H.A.F.B.A.R.F to do  timed tasks in response to electric lights. In his pre-flight training, Gorillanaut was taught to push a button within two seconds of seeing a flashing red light; failure to do so would result in  punishment in the form of a mild electric shock to his testicles. A correct response earned him a chocolate covered frozen banana from a hi-tech dispenser.

On January 31, 1961, Gorillanaut secured a position in Project Mercury Mission X-2 and was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on a  flight beyond the Van Ellen Belt to test radiation levels. The capsule was bombarded with massive doses of gamma rays and suffered a partial loss of the life support system and a fried  communication panel during the flight. Luckily Gorillanaut’s space suit prevented him from suffering any harm.

The gamma rays broke the banana dispenser causing the entire stock of now gamma radiated frozen bananas to fall out.  Sadly, Gorillanaut was so busy gobbling up six cases of bananas that he didn’t  notice the flashing red light and missed his cue to push the control button.  The space capsule bounced off the Earth’s atmosphere upon attempting re-entry and was hurled off into space.

Gorillanaut passed out after gorging himself with bananas. The damaged life support system put him into a state of suspended animation and for the next 50 years he drifted through deep space until his capsule finally orbited back to Earth in 2011 and crashed into the Kardashian’s house killing everyone inside.

As a result of eating gamma radiated frozen bananas Gorillanaut woke up with super intelligence and the ability to speak. He was hailed a hero and has since returned to adventuring in space as….

Gorillanaut Champion of the Cosmos!

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: 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.

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.

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. ;`)

Day# 28 Sonata (with writer James S. Allen)

| November 28, 2010 | 0 Comments
#28 Sonata, from the novel Alien Artifacts by James S. Allen, by Jande Rowe

#28 Sonata, from the novel Alien Artifacts by James S. Allen, by Jande Rowe

#28 Sonata, from the novel Alien Artifacts by James S. Allen

Note: As promised, here is another, and I must say–very important– character from the novel Alien Artifacts, by James S. Allen. Since at this time I don’t have the time to colour it in a way that would do it justice, I’ve presented it in black and white for your pleasure. The coloured version will come along later. Once again, James has given me a most generous excerpt form Alien Artifacts, featuring the debut of Sonata, little alien woodland creature. And smart? Ooh! Sure is!

But since I’ve been privileged to read the whole novel, I must be careful. I don’t want to hand out any spoilers. There is so much depth and fun in this novel, I wouldn’t want you to miss any of it.

So here is the excerpt, and my thanks to James for allowing me the privilege of drawing his characters.

~~~~~

In the gray, early hour before dawn, Stephen was jolted awake, this time by a cry from much closer at hand.  He’d heard Rowan scream, he was sure of it! But like the cry in middle of the night, hers too was suddenly cut off.  A surge of adrenaline shot through him as fear clenched at his gut.  He leapt to his feet, staggering slightly with dizziness at the suddenness of his rising.  Where was Rowan?

As a matter of fact, she was standing in the basket just in front of him, facing its forward end.

“Rho!”  he exclaimed.  “Are you all right?  I heard you cry out.”

She held a finger to her lips and then whispered, “I’m fine.  Sorry to alarm you.  I’m afraid I’ve frightened it as well.”

It?”  he replied in a whisper, looking around. He noted that Myrll was sitting quietly in the rear of the gondola, head tilted in puzzlement.  “What ‘it’ have you frightened? And why are we speaking in whispers?”

“So we don’t frighten it anymore.”  she said.  “It was just so startling to find it there when I awoke that I let out a scream before I could stop myself.  Now I feel badly.”

Stephen looked at Rowan wonderingly.  “Uh, find what where?  Rho, by Goatha’s Lolling Tongue, what are you talking about?”

“Shhh!” she admonished, and inclined her head towards the front of the gondola.  “That.”

A small furry head with large, liquid golden eyes, popped up from the edge of the basket.  “Purdeeep…purdeeep?” it chittered.  It looked over the occupants of the basket, head darting from side to side.  When no one moved it apparently reached a decision, and leapt nimbly from the side of the basket to one of the ropes that held the gondola suspended.  “Purdeeep?”  It called again questioningly.

It was roughly the size of a large earthly squirrel, and similar in shape, with a luxuriantly furred body and a large bushy tail.  Instead of four limbs, however, it had six.  The hind legs were powerful and well-muscled, made for jumping and climbing.  The four front limbs were like two sets of arms, each ending in a tiny articulated hand with three fingers and a thumb for grasping.  Its fur was a glossy black, with splotches of gold and orange.  On its face was a tiny white bandit’s mask, and just above each of it hands, there was a band of white fur that encircled its arms.

“It’s absolutely gorgeous.”  Rowan breathed raptly, “And so cute!  I wonder what it might like to eat?”

Stephen had to agree.  It was both.  Still, it was also a wild creature on an alien world.  Caution would doubtless be the wisest course of action.

“Rho,” he whispered diffidently, “do you really think it’s wise to get involved with an unknown wild creature, stranded here as we are, amongst aliens of uncertain intent?”

Rowan considered briefly, and shook her head from side to side slightly.  “No.  Almost certainly not.”

The creature, who had been looking from one human to the other as they spoke, shook its head from side to side.

“No… neither do I.”  Stephen whispered back.

“So,” Rowan repeated.  “I wonder what it might like to eat?”

“I suggest some of the nuts we brought from the island.”  Stephen offered hopefully.  “It looks a bit like a squirrel, and they certainly like nuts.”

~~~~~

Afternote: I’m toying with the idea of Having Rowan and Stephen as my last two characters, but they  may be too complex for me to create in a way that will satisfy the writer.  I’m going to give it a try anyway and see what happens.  If they don’t turn out, I’ll do something else. I’d really like to have an awesome finale piece (but I’m afraid I won’t be able to top this one. lol)

Enjoy!

Day# 27 A Pair of Gorths (with writer James S. Allen)

| November 28, 2010 | 0 Comments
#27 A Pair of Gorths, from the novel Alien Artifacts by James S. Allen

#27 A Pair of Gorths, from the novel Alien Artifacts by James S. Allen

#27 A Pair of Gorths, from the novel Alien Artifacts by James S. Allen

(#25)Rok’sla has an excerpt that introduces the Gorths in James S. Allen’s novel Alien Artifacts. Here is another small excerpt from Alien Artifacts featuring the Gorths:

~~~~~

“Behind them, the tortured entry door finally yielded, a large mass of it slumping away to one side.  Two Gorth pirates leapt through the opening, sailed over the still molten metal, and landed in a crouch, prepared to deal instant death with the blasters they waved about with disturbing eagerness.  Enragingly, however, the quarry they had pursued so relentlessly to this place refused to reveal themselves and be properly blasted.  In unconscious tribute to the forces of natural selection that had shaped them from ferociously thoughtless killers to thoughtfully ferocious killers, they refrained from blasting one another.  It was a near thing.”

~~~~~

Afternote: This was supposed to be #26, but I had a power failure and lost my work so I had to start over again. Also the reason the Gorths are uncoloured as yet. No biggie, though. I hope to have a third character from Alien Artifacts ready for tomorrow.