Wednesday Sketches

[atristain]

I have a few questions about May-09 sketches:

1. Does this Zoe was sketched before or after Trudy went to visit Gwynn? She look pretty different than in the strip.
2. What's that sketch that you put on the Newsbox? It looks awesome, dude! * Plays air guitar *

[jtdarlington]

1. Does this Zoe was sketched before or after Trudy went to visit Gwynn? She look pretty different than in the strip.

As stated in the text, the sketch in question was drawn at Genericon XV in January of 2002. Trudy visits Gwynn in Year Five's "Relativity" which started in January 2003. So the sketch came before. Zoe looks different mostly because she's drawn in more my style than Pete's, and in the later story I tried harder to emulate Pete's style for his characters.

(For posterity's sake, the sketch in question originally ran on August 5, 2002, and after Friday will only be accessible via a PREMIUM account.)

2. What's that sketch that you put on the Newsbox?

That sketch is the one for June 12, 2006 (PREMIUM-exclusive link). She's some sort of elven fighter-mage I never finished (although I did take more time to clean up the sketch for the Newsbox than what ended up in the Sketchbook). If any non-PREMEES out there think you may have seen her before, then you're probably right. I used the exact same sketch in the Sketchbook Newsbox that ran back on May 15, 2006. (And one of these days, when I catch the Newsbox Archive back up, I'll put a link to it.)

[atristain]

I really enjoyed May-16 sketch.

It looks to me that Jason is fighting a younger version of the Empress. (lees wrinkles and her body looks less baggy)

I'm really looking forward for this to appear in a strip soon!... what about...err ... a year?

[jtdarlington]

I really enjoyed May-16 sketch.

Permanent link for PREMIUM folks.

It looks to me that Jason is fighting a younger version of the Empress. (lees wrinkles and her body looks less baggy)

First off, it's Todd, not Jason (aka Fooker). (Lots of people get Fooker/Justin/Agent #18 confused, but I've never seen Todd in that mix.)

Secondly, just how old the Empress looked varied a lot in the early designs for her. I often made her look the same except for the stripes in her hair. My wife (correctly) insisted that she appear much older, which is where her final design comes from. PREMIUM folks can check out this sketch, where I talk about this topic (and see what is probably the first ever sketch of Todd).

Thirdly, those who happen to have the fourth book may recognize this as the same sketch from the back cover. Many Surreptitious Machinations concept sketches got reused in that book as filler material.

I'm really looking forward for this to appear in a strip soon!... what about...err ... a year?

This sketch was originally a concept sketch for Surreptitious Machinations II, which I think is what the Rumor Mill blurb was about. (Man, that page hasn't been updated in ages....) Unfortunately, SM2 is still on indefinite hold while getting the main comic back to its regular update frequency has top priority. Oddly enough, I don't think this actual scene appears anywhere in SM2, at least as it appears here. It did work its way into the story slightly modified, though (and observant Faulties have already made a good guess as to (at least one place) where the main time line and the SM2 time line intersect).

[atristain]

It looks to me that Jason is fighting a younger version of the Empress. (lees wrinkles and her body looks less baggy)

First off, it's Todd, not Jason (aka Fooker). (Lots of people get Fooker/Justin/Agent #18 confused, but I've never seen Todd in that mix.)

Looks like I shouldn't have read this particular article of Wikipedia before posting that.

[atristain]

Wow! Those DOP sketches are great! They're so close to Pete's art!

[atristain]

The Gamester smiling... Scaaaaaary! (Yes, Limax, there you have 6 "a"s in that word...)

[Conina]

My first impression was that the Gamester looked insane and that Mischief looked ready to kick someone's butt.

[Limax]

That one is now in my 'permanent' collection.

[atristain]

My first impression was that the Gamester looked insane and that Mischief looked ready to kick someone's butt.

I think she looked 'mischievious', but that would be redundant... Isn't it?

[Limax]

My first impression was that the Gamester looked insane and that Mischief looked ready to kick someone's butt.

I think she looked 'mischievious', but that would be redundant... Isn't it?

Well, let's look at her first appearance, shall we?

[sillyname99]

My gosh, has that much time really passed? It seems like just yesterday.

[atristain]

Soooo, you sketched a guy wearing a trenchcoat and sunglasses while surrounded by Sluggites?

Did you check your notes?

I like this sketch: It's great.

BTW I forgot to comment about the last week's sketch. One of the creatures looks a lot like Sauron (Not the one from LOTR) and the girl looks suspiciously too much like Rogue.

How much do you like X-Men?

Is this project one of the things that's taking your time away from the comic?

I hope this brings you into the spotlight and out of poverty.

[kmd]

This week's sketch of Todd is just iconic to me. So I had it made into a maquette from N'Toonz for Jeff for some gift-giving holiday. It's always been rather fragile, and when we moved to WV, parts of it just shattered. So, I had it made for him again. The newest one is holding up much better.

Linkyto see the original one. We haven't taken any pictures of the newest one, but it looks pretty much like that one too.

[jtdarlington]

BTW I forgot to comment about the last week's sketch. One of the creatures looks a lot like Sauron (Not the one from LOTR) and the girl looks suspiciously too much like Rogue.

How much do you like X-Men?

Mildly enough that I'm able to discuss it competently in front of anyone but the hardest of hard core fans. Admittedly, most of my X-Men knowledge comes from the various TV shows and films, supplemented by the occasional comic book read here and there and the far more vast knowledge of a couple of friends.

As for any X-Men influences on the "top secret fantasy project", none were intentional. Except maybe the female elf's white stripe in her hair. That little feature actually plays an important role in the story down the road.

Is this project one of the things that's taking your time away from the comic?

Not really. The actual time I have available to work on the comic is slim and I try to make the best use of it as I can. The primary time sink there is a certain little 13-month-old boy who bears a striking resemblance to the guy in the mirror. However, I have been known to sneak in time to work on the writing aspects of said fantasy project when it's physically impossible to work on GPF (i.e. I'm nowhere near the art desk or I'm somewhere that working on the comic could get me fired ).

[atristain]

.

Is this project one of the things that's taking your time away from the comic?

The primary time sink there is a certain little 13-month-old boy who bears a striking resemblance to the guy in the mirror.

I know what you mean, since bringing something to eat to the table, taking care of a 2 1/2 year girl, a teen boy and a wife with several health issues don't leave too much room to do things one enjoy.

[sillyname99]

That sketch of Todd reached out and grabbed me, and I reached out and saved it. Was that rude of me?

[fossil]

Rude? I don't think so. Didn't the Gamester and Mischief reach out and save him, too?



Seriously, I seem to remember that Jeff has said that personal use of GPF "clippings" is okay with him, although I can't find where he said it. He asks that for online purposes (forum posts, websites), people should link to his comics rather than copying them; details in the Gentle Reminder of Forum Rules.

Powerful picture, I agree. Even without words, you can almost hear Todd swearing vengeance against the Empress.

I had been sort of hoping Todd would arrive in the throne room before Nick left, for a "Hi, Dad" moment, but I understand why that time belonged to Trudy (or, as it turned out, NegaTrudy ).

And I suppose there's no point asking whether they ever will meet up as father and son....

[jtdarlington]

I have no problems with anyone saving private copies of strips or GPF images for their own personal use. Any use online is expressly forbidden without written permission, as is any print distribution. As for references to strips as fossil mentions, I actually state in the forum rules that you should link to the page where the strip is, not the strip image itself (so the owner of the site, whether it's me or anyone else, can get any ad revenue). All this is stated pretty plainly in the forum rules thread fossil linked to, as well as the GPF copyright page and the GPF FAQ.

And yes, that's one of my favorite sketches too.

[fossil]

Oops! Sorry about the misquote concerning linking (shouldn't post when I'm that tired *sigh*).

[atristain]

And I suppose there's no point asking whether they ever will meet up as father and son....

Like when Nick ask him to join him to rule the galaxy?

[atristain]

Dang! Now I want to see Young Otto Wellington adventures!

Is that sketch prior the genius gene became active?