ARTWORK: Gregzilla's Art Topic of Art

[Gregzilla]

I think the more realistic my characters' proportions are, the harder it is to keep drawing them repeatedly. It's gonna be tough for me when I draw scenes in the good guys' kingdom, which is mainly populated by humans. In cases like that, I try and cartoon-ify them as much as possible in order to keep them from being a chore to draw.

Then there's details like clothes, which get tedious. And horns and other accessories/extrusions can be difficult to draw at certain angles.

I'm just glad most of my main characters are relatively simple (and fun) to draw, since this comic seems like it's gonna be even longer than I thought.

[Ferno]

II'm just glad most of my main characters are relatively simple (and fun) to draw, since this comic seems like it's gonna be even longer than I thought.

I know that feel bro. My developing webcomic for example; What started out as a small side-project to prepare me for my real Graphic Novel project has turned into a behemoth of it's own, development wise, and right now it's the most developed of all of my comic projects so far, including my main GN project that I started developing in 2009. It also currently has the largest cast out of all my comic projects, which is where alot of the extra baggage is coming from, but the setting kinda requires a somewhat large cast so I've gotta work with it. Just getting this thing off the ground and updated on a constant basis once started is gonna be a challenge, and I'm currently going back and looking at any opportunity I can to streamline and simplify things. Basically, I like what I have so far, but it's a question of "But can I actually make all this?"

Just another case of me getting over-excited with an idea I guess, but hopefully I can make this work.

Edited November 4, 2012 by Inferno

[Gregzilla]

I have a long history of getting ambitious and not finishing things. I've had Adobe Flash ever since I got Macromedia Flash MX as a kid, and I've never finished a single animation (not counting a 9 second asdfmovie short). I finished one graphic novel, but that was just a goofy Metroid parody with crap drawings. Lately I've been trying to only start things I intend to finish, otherwise I get a million projects stacked up on top of each other, never to be finished.

I hate having to make a choice like "okay, do I make this look good, or....do I finish it?" I'm hoping this time I can make a quality comic that actually sees the light of day. But this time I think I have the motivation to do it.

Let's hope we can both make our projects succeed!

[Gregzilla]

Zambir the Wizard. It’s hard to describe this guy without giving away a lot of the comic’s plot elements, so this picture will have to do.

I’m currently in the process of writing a revised plot outline for the graphic novel. Once that’s finished, I’m going to start actually making it. I was going to write a full-on script, but the more I think about it, I think that would drive me insane. An outline will suffice, and I’m dying to start drawing the final product.

The way it's going, I think I'll begin drawing the actual comic within the next week or two. Feedback is always appreciated!

FUN FACT: I was considering calling this guy Zambir for a long time, but I didn't solidify his name until just now. Like, RIGHT this minute. I was still pondering thinking of another name, but I couldn't think of anything to save my life. For the longest time I just referred to him as "the wizard."

Edited November 10, 2012 by Gregzilla

[Gregzilla]

I got a little sketch-happy.

Just finalizing some character designs. I got these two down pretty good, it's the more minor characters I still need to work on.

And with that, here's some fun facts about my comic and my drawings!

- Lissi (the fairy) had a slight design change in her hair (barely noticeable). This happened by accident; I drew her hair differently than usual by mistake, and ended up liking it better that way.

- Rebb (the imp guy) is pretty easy for me to draw on paper. However, his horns are incredibly annoying to draw on a tablet. I can never get them right on the first try.

- Rebb's bright red pants (when in color) were somewhat inspired by the monkeys from Ape Escape.

- I'm hoping for this IP to become a franchise in some way. It'll definitely start with this graphic novel, and I intend to make more works within this universe. I think it's versatile enough for big, epic stories as well as smaller ones, so I'll try a variety of things to do with these characters.

- The character design I'm having the most trouble with is the design for the electric bird minions. I'm trying to make them more unique and interesting, because at the moment they look a bit too much like Zapdos.

- The setting for the universe is a "fantasy" setting. I'm not giving it a specific time period, because I don't necessarily want to limit myself. It has mainly Medieval characteristics, with a few quirks not of that era (such as Derek's clothes and the modern speech the characters use).

- I designed the main characters with a wide audience in mind. I wanted to make them look as if guys could see them as badass while girls could find them cute (but still badass).

- This is usually the kind of music I have in the background when I'm drawing these characters.

I think it sets the mood perfectly, especially when I'm drawing them in more dramatic or action-heavy scenes. If Nightwish did the music for a Rebb movie, I'd die.

- I've noticed that a lot of pieces of entertainment these days really lack powerful endings. I keep this in mind constantly, so I intend to make the ending as kick-ass as possible.

- I'm trying to make the tone diverse as well. Funny in the downtime, a bit emotional when it needs to be, and epic in the action. Though comedy will probably be the most consistent factor, as I rarely try to take it TOO seriously. I just want the whole thing to be a fun read.

That's all for now. Maybe I'll add some more sketches later. Let me know what you think!

Edited November 20, 2012 by Gregzilla

[Gregzilla]

MORE SKETCHES

AND ALSO MORE FUN FACTS:

- Characters I haven't shown off yet include the minions' evil overlord, the king of the "good" kingdom, the princess, and Lissi's fairy relatives.

- I'm working on making the zombies' designs interesting and unique. While the other minion units have lots of individuals, the zombie archer unit only has these 4 zombies.

- I think I drew Derek's face a little too round here. Which makes for a good time to point this out: ANY RESEMBLANCE TO DANNY PHANTOM/COSMO IS COMPLETELY COINCIDENTAL.

- There are lots of aspects of the design of the comic that take inspiration from various games. Lissi's hair is inspired by Samus', the evil castle is inspired by those of Bowser and Ganon, Derek's strap for arrow quivers is inspired by Link, etc.

- The comic will have swears, but only when I think it fits the situation or enhances the dialogue somehow. I think swears can be used to make things seem more urgent, and in some cases they make dialogue funnier. But I know that abusing swear words can come off as lazy and obnoxious, so I'm keeping this in mind. You aren't going to see SHITs and FUCKs flying everywhere.

- Violence, on the other hand, I'm not going to limit myself too much. Don't get me wrong, the story isn't going to be non-stop action. But when there IS action, I want it to be awesome. Intense violence can make the action more extreme, and I intend to make the action scenes really cool and adrenaline-pumping.

Feedback is appreciated! I'll try and have some more substantial art next time.

Edited November 21, 2012 by Gregzilla

[Pixel Brain]

TURTLE THING IS ADORABLE. Can't WAIT to see what else ya make, Greggie!

[Gregzilla]

Oh boy. Backgrounds. Oh boy.

This was an attempt to get a basic design nailed down for one of the main locations in my graphic novel. This is where it starts out, so I figured I should get it figured out. I.....guess I succeeded? I'm not thrilled with how this looks, but the comic will probably be black and white, so I can work on making the outline details more interesting without worrying about coloring. I just wanted to dip my feet into these murky, background-y waters that I have yet to become thoroughly acquainted with.

And seeing as how the characters are mostly simple and cartoony, I think backgrounds like this will suffice. With some more effort and detail, of course. This particular picture was one I just wanted to speed through and get it over with so I could show it.

I'm probably not going to put many background pictures here, since they'll spoil some of the story's setting. Gotta save some stuff for when it actually gets done.

Feedback is appreciated! Especially on backgrounds. Critique is very much welcome here.

[Sly4Good]

I love the way the lava around flowing down from the volcano looks, it gives a contrasting feeling of bright, warm light against bleak-stone walls...

If there is anything I have to complain about, it's the Perspective.... With the way the...umm....I'm just going to call them stepping stones, look, it looks like the entire plain the castle on is at a tilt, or that the stepping stones themselves make up a ladder, and it looks like your climbing down it.

Here, this is what I did for my background in "Mindless Magma". I made the mountains in it taller and narrower to conflict against the foreground, which helps build the sense of perspective, allowing them to appear to be smaller than they actually are.

Still, I can't wait to see how this turns out.

[Gregzilla]

Thanks! Yeah, the perspective on this definitely needs work. I intended to make the staircase look steeper, but I made each consecutive stair too big, so it kinda messed up the viewpoint. And I might need to put more mountains. The ones that are there are actually very close to the castle and are just kinda small, but maybe I'll put some bigger ones farther back and push the volcano back.

I should also probably do some sketches of it from different angles to get a feel for the space. Thanks for the tip!

[Gregzilla]

Working on finalizing more character designs. This here is the evil overlord of the minions, Erog. Unlike most of the other characters, I might still wanna fiddle with this design a bit. I like the shape, but maybe I'll change the details a bit. Though he looks like an asshole right now, so I guess that's good, since that's the idea.

Feedback is appreciated!

FUN FACTS:

- This design is inspired by lots of villains/monsters from games, such as Bowser and the demons from Doom.

- I find battle axes to be some of the coolest weapons in action-based media. It's usually my go-to weapon for when I think "hmm, what would be awesome here?" Oversized war hammers are also a favorite.

- For some reason, I find it really fun to draw cartoon monsters with tiny upper arms and huge forearms. Kinda Popeye-ish.

- Erog here is where the majority of the video game cliche satire is going to become apparent. I have some very interesting things planned for him.

[Sly4Good]

Awww....with the helmet on he looks kind of cute....

[Gregzilla]

I had fun finally getting the design for these guys nailed down. They were the ones I was having the most trouble with, because at first I made them look too much like Zapdos. The resemblance is still there, but I was able to make them look unique enough to avoid looking like a design thief. It was a wise choice to make them a color besides yellow.

And yes, I'm aware Shockatoo is a lame name. They don't like it either.

But with that, most of the major character designs are now finalized! I just have to work on some of the minor characters and backgrounds now. Things are coming along nicely, and I should be ready to start drawing the comic soon!

FUN FACTS:

- The design may look like Zapdos, but that was not really intentional. The hair on their head was actually more inspired by a certain hedgehog you may or may not be familiar with.

- This was the first time I really made an effort to draw good-looking bird wings. I still kept them kinda simple, since I would go crazy trying to draw them repeatedly otherwise.

- Even though I finally figured out an official design for these guys, they are still some of my least favorite to draw out of the bunch. Idunno, I guess I never took a big liking to drawing birds. But I think I made them likable enough so that drawing them isn't a chore.

- This comic was originally gonna look a lot simpler than my normal style. The characters were going to look much more geometric and they would mostly stay on-model. But eventually as I started drawing the characters more, they began to take on my usual style of energetic drawings with crazy expressions. I think this is a good thing, as it feels much more natural for me and it will make the comic much more fun to look at.

Feedback is appreciated!

Edited November 28, 2012 by Gregzilla

[Gregzilla]

Haven't put stuff here in a while.  Mainly cuz I haven't done a whole lot of art worth putting here, and I've been really busy with school shit.  But I wanted to at least put something new up, so here ya go.

 

 

 

FUN FACTS:

 

- I've been having some trouble drawing the fairies, including Lissi.  The main problem is their body proportions.  It's hard to keep Lissi's body consistent when her head is so damn big.  I have to consciously keep her body size consistent, while also keeping her whole design size consistent in relation to the other characters.  It's a challenge, and I'm not gonna start drawing the comic until I'm comfortable with consistency in all aspects.

- I made Derek's irises much smaller.  They fit in with my style better, and I think they make him look less like Cosmo/Danny Phantom.  Thank goodness.

- The comic will be hand-lettered.  The dialogue won't use fonts.  I feel like my handwriting adds to the cartoon style.

- I feel like I easily get distracted, because I'm already thinking of characters and plotlines that would come in later installments.  I'm hoping to get a burst of motivation to work on this first comic once I have more free time.  

- I have a few weeks off school for the holidays.  No guarantees, but I hope I will at least have started drawing the final product some time in that period.

- When I finish it, I will probably upload a small section of the beginning to the interwebs to be read for free.  Then the rest could be bought as a full product somehow.  This is just a possible outcome, I don't know if this will end up being a funded thing.  I'm hoping.

- Little anecdote:  I showed an action-y doodle of Rebb to a male friend, who said "Dude, that is badass."  I then showed some doodles to a female friend, who said "Your characters are so adorable!"  This made me pretty happy, as it's EXACTLY what I was going for: badass and cute.  Something guys and gals can enjoy.  I hope other people agree!

- Erog the overlord, the princess of the good kingdom, and Rebb's friend (withholding that name, it's the turtle-ish guy) are the characters I need to flesh out the most.  Once their personalities and character arcs are solidified, that'll pretty much be the last story hurdle to get over before I start making it.

- I may scale back the number of minions that I originally planned.  I want to give all of them personality without any of them looking the same, and that would be nigh-impossible if I made them too numerous.  A handful of each minion faction will probably be fine.

 

 

As always, feedback is appreciated!  If you have any thoughts, tips, or questions about dis lil' project, I'd love to hear 'em!

[Gregzilla]

 

BA-DUM, FISSSHHHHHH

[Gregzilla]

Remember that castle drawing I did last page?  The one when I was trying to work on my background drawings?

 

Well, I hate it, and it sucks.  Here's a better one.

 

[Sly4Good]

Oh wow, it's a lot more menacing looking now, especially from the perspective the castle's been shown from.

 

Told you backgrounds can be fun if you give them a shot :3

[Gregzilla]

 

More doodles.  I've improved the designs of Erog and the zombies, I think.  I still need to work on Derek (the top hat guy) a little bit.

 

I'm currently awaiting the arrival of Manga Studio 5 in the mail.  Once it gets here, I'll get ready to start making the comic.  I can't wait to finally get started on it.

[Gregzilla]

 

 

Finalizing the colors for the characters.  It's necessary for me to know the colors as a reference, even though the comic will be in black and white.  (The relative character sizes here don't represent the actual comic).

 

I'm currently awaiting my delivery of Manga Studio 5 Debut.  Once that arrives, I think I'll be ready to start making the comic.  In the meantime I've been improving the character designs and other aspects of the story.  I'm feeling happier with how it's coming along.

 

FUN FACTS:

- Even though I'm only on the first story, I'm already thinking of lots of ideas for what I plan to make a trilogy.  There are a few characters I'm saving for the later stories that I can't wait to share.  But I'm gonna focus on book one for now.

- Some people (mainly girls) at my school have been telling me that my characters (particularly the turtle-ish guy) are really adorable and that they want plushes of them.  I'm happy about this, since I designed a lot of these characters with marketability in mind.  Though I hope I don't lose the male readers by making them too cutesy.  I think it's balanced out with writing that anyone can enjoy.  Plus violence.

- I've been watching a lot of Tarantino movies lately, and those movies just....get a lot of things that other movies are missing.  One thing I love is the sense of satisfaction when an antagonist gets beaten.  In fun action stories, I think a proper sense of comeuppance is important to maximize the cool factor.  I keep stuff like that in mind when drawing/writing.

Edited January 14, 2013 by Gregzilla

[Gregzilla]

AND

 

HERE 

 

IT

 

COMES

 

 

Holy crap this took forever.  I don't think the other pages will take this long.

 

I'm not sure how I'll do the whole comic once it's finished - giving it a website, giving it a Kickstarter to get published, etc - but I'll probably upload a few pages here and there to build interest in it.

 

It feels kinda surreal to actually be working on this after doing so much preliminary sketches, story outlines, and school notebook doodles.  It's like a big step.

 

I'm really excited to finally start sharing the actual comic with you guys.  Feedback is appreciated!

[Gregzilla]

I decided to post a few more pages since I'm looking for feedback.

 

 

I know I always say feedback is appreciated, but in this case it is....like, REALLY appreciated.  This is currently what I'm making the comic look like, and it represents the final product.  I want to see what people think now, since I've only done 3 pages.  I don't want to get to page 273 and find out I've been wasting my time.

 

Basically it boils down to this: could you guys picture this in a bookstore?  Or at least see people buying it?  Or at the very least, enjoying it?  Feedback is very much appreciated.

[---]

The background art and character design is sick, awesome. However, I can't tell if the tophat guy is supposed to be serious or not, if so then you're gonna have to get rid of that derpy cross eyed thing going on on his face. Also, it shows him pulling his hat down, yet it looks like the slightest of breezes will send it over yonder in the next part of the panel. Keep on sprucing it up, more detail wouldn't hurt unless it's a deliberately simplistic look, other than that it's coming out good. Keep up the great work.

 

EDIT: Also, -slightly- bring that mouth up toward the left, I see what you're going for but it's a biiit too far down.

 

EDIT OF EDIT: (Unless the mouth thing is also apart of your style.)

Edited February 18, 2013 by /_JXJ_\

[Gregzilla]

The cross-eye thing is just kinda my style.  I guess I could tinker with it.

 

The hat thing is a helpful tip though.  The way it looks in the second panel is more on-model, so I guess I should redo the first panel.  I'm trying to get better at consistency.  Thanks for the tips!

[Ferno]

I think it looks fine man. I don't see anything wrong with the eyes. It's a bit exaggerated, (which is fine,) but having the eyes like that on a character is an easy way to depict them looking at something straight ahead of them. Also as for the mouth, depending on it's shape and position, you can do a whole lot with it expression wise. Doesn't have to be centered 100% of the time imo. It all depends on what you're going for with the shot and the character(s) in said shot, which is why I think the mouth in it's current position is fine too.

Edited February 18, 2013 by Inferno

[---]

Oops! I didn't fully read the post without jumping to the art critique, my bad   

 

Yes I could see this in a bookstore, yes I could see people buying it, yes I could see people enjoying it. The style is very unique and you have a wonderful trove of character design ideas, as well as imagination, it's ALL about utilization and doing what you can with what you have to the fullest. And like I've said before, what's more important than getting sales is the ability to say you finished something that you are passionate about to the end. Money is fleeting, a great impact on others is not.

Edited February 18, 2013 by /_JXJ_\