Belated April Update

I'm sorry things have been quiet here recently.

I started a new day job that is devouring my free time and energy. But there is light at the end of the tunnel, and I'll be back making comics for you soon.

In the meantime, I thought it might be fun to show you some character designs from my sketchbook.

I like to tinker around with video game engines like Unity and Godot and come up with ideas for games. This is a character I've been developing for a Super Mario-style side scroller. His name started as Chester...

He started as a bald Wario-like anti-hero, and on the uglier side.

I like doing character designs on graph paper because it's easy to keep things symmetrical and measured. I also like using markers because it just forces me to make choices rather than getting too precious with a pencil.

I started to picture him as some sort of military general (and I basically jacked M. Bison's fit from Super Street Fighter II Turbo).

I continued to experiment. I started thinking maybe he should be more handsome, so I gave him hair and a more chiseled face.

I've put him down for a while, but I plan to experiment more to find the perfect look. One thing I'm sure of is that he has horns and a military outfit. I started to ask myself why...

That is when he shifted into Leroy Hellbent, a devil-like character with a mysterious origin...

I haven't quite decided if he should be an uggo or cute. Which direction do you like better?

I did come up with an enemy design I'm certain is solid. It's this game's version of a Goomba from Super Mario Brothers...

I knew I wanted it to be obviously inspired by a Goomba (a classic design I love) so I messed around with that basic shape until I hit paydirt...

That little guy I circled in green is Borgo. Well, it is a borgo. A borgo is a sort of hyper-intelligent pear. Well... intelligent for a fruit. They're still pretty dumb.

They grow on trees and have a collective intelligence while still having some individual personality quirks.

I think that little guy is the perfect combination of obvious reference and original design.

This was fun! I'll share more from my sketchbooks in the future.

In the meantime, I'll make up for the lack of updates later this month once I get back to working on my next story, Quarters.

See you soon!