Noran Grimm grew up in a world ruled by logic, strategy, and calculation. The planet Dethathoun was one of the first planets to be conquered by the Cyber Lords after their own “Great War”. For generations, the Dethathouns were shaped by the Cyber Lords to become their field generals. Their inherent skills in problem-solving and tactical thinking made them the perfect soldiers and leaders
Noran’s family was among the most decorated of these Generals. Leading armies of Foot Soldiers in campaigns to conquer worlds across the galaxies. Norans father Jurvan Grimm lead the campaign that conquered the entire Acarien System. Making him the first and only Grand General of the Cyber Lord Army. Noran rose through the ranks of the military very quickly, becoming the youngest Dethathoun to become a Field General. His strategies in warfare were unmatched by his piers. Noran armies conquered or devastated hundreds of planets in the name of the Cyber Lords.
The Cyber Lords’ greed for power once again pitted them against each other and began an interstellar war. They fight for solar system territories. Like the War that destroyed their home world, they were now destroying the cosmos. As a result of the interstellar war, their resources were being depleted too quickly. Noran Grimm was sent to a remote planet named Earth with a battalion of Foot Soldiers to secure the planet’s rich resources. The last communique received from Grimm was a warning that the planet had defenders. With the war devastating the Cyber Lords armies no attempt has been made to find General Grimm.
30 Characters Challenge Creative Notes: For this drawing, I was trying to make the character of General Grimm look stern. Like the commanding officer, he is. A man of tactician thinking. I think I was successful in the rendering. I’ve been starting off this series of drawing with blue lines and then tightening the pencils with a normal black lead. I’m enjoying the process, but feel like my drawing is coming out a little too stiff. I do feel like my inking is improving with every new drawing. – Shazam!
30 Characters Challenge 2010 – #2 Zarruk Xeon Last Survivor of Tanigor
Zarruk Xeon is the last survivor of the planet Tanigor. A world much like the earth in size and population. Tamigor was protected by a group of superheroes. Zarruk was among the most recognized and respected among them.
The planet was devastated by a Cyber Lord and his army of Foot Soldiers. Looking to expand his growing interstellar empire, this Cyber Lord invaded Tamigor. But this world was heavily populated with super beings who fought back. The battle rocked the entire planet. With heavy casualties on both sides. The planet’s heroes couldn’t withstand the Foot Soldier’s larger numbers, up to billions. The world was eventually completely destroyed, with all life extinguished.
All life except Zarruk Xeon. It wasn’t his super strength, durability, or flight that saved him. It was his ability to absorb energies. The energy staff of the Foot Soldiers actually made him stronger. But not strong enough to save his world, his wife, or his children. Zarruk Xeon is now stranded on a dead planet. Searching through the rubble for a way off it. His only driving force is to avenge all he has lost at the hands of the Cyber Lords.
30 Characters Challenge Creative Notes: Like my 1st 30 Character drawing of Foot Soldier of the Cyber Lords, I tried to use a new technique of starting my drawing with blue pencils. I then refined the drawing with normal pencils. This is the second time I tried this, I feel like the image came out a little too stiff. This is probably a result of me making most of the initial blue lines very tight instead of loose as I did in the last attempt. I am happy with my inking of this character design. I’ve been using a 102-nib pen when inking. It’s been a fun learning process. – Shazam
Last year in November I participated in an awesome challenge called 30 Characters which was found at 30characters.wordpress.com. The idea was to create 30 original characters in 30 days. The challenge was thought up by comic artist Tyler James. It wasn’t easy and there were days I would hit a creative block. But I’m proud to announce I completed the challenge of creating the 30 characters. I even received a cool digital award plaque. I meet a lot of other cool creative people interested in creating comic book artists like myself. There were even characters created in this challenge that I incorporated into my personal comic project.
Well a year has come and it’s time for the 30 Characters challenge again. This time it looks like there will be over 40 participants. As an alumnus of last year’s challenge, I’m ready to jump in and let my creative juice flow. I’m even more excited this year than I was last. I have a better idea of how to approach the challenge. The last time around I only submitted pencil-drawn character designs. I’m planning on inking them this time, and if I have time color them too. My style and ability have changed and improved since last year. So I’m excited to show everyone what I can do.
The 30 Characters Challenge
Tyler James has set up an awesome new blog site (www.30characters.com) to showcase this year’s 30 characters in 30 days. He’s even supplying a cool PSD template to put the characters into for posting on the site. All are invited to “Join the Challenge“, the registration deadline is this Friday, October 29. And the characters will start going up on November 1st. Make sure to check it out!
Atomic Blast – Character Design for The REPLICANTS Project
The idea of Atomic Blast came from a challenge to create a superhero team based on an existing superhero team. The REPLICANTS Project was created by Dean Rivet. Atomic Blast was inspired by Sunfire of the X-Men.
Susan Rosen’s grandfather Jason Rosen worked on Trinity, the first atomic bomb nuclear weapons test in New Mexico. While working on the test site, Jason was exposed to high radiation levels. Due to a genetic anomaly, he was able to absorb the deadly energies. He found he could control this energy in the form of a green flame. He became a crime fighter known as the Green Flame.
As a child, Susan began to manifest the same power as her grandfather. She keeps it a secret not knowing she inherited the power from him. Susan’s parents died in a car accident when she was 17, leaving Jason as her only living relative. With no one else to take care of Susan, she moved in with him. She discovered he had the same powers as she did. Jason trained Susan in the control of her powers. She decided to follow in his footsteps and become a crime fighter. With his help, she has taken the name Atomic Blast and uses her powers to fight evil.
Here are the different steps I took when creating this character design. First I did my pencil drawing, I use a .5 HB Mechanical pencil. I then scanned and turned the pencils into blue lines. I went ahead and printed the blue lines and inked them. I used a nib pen 102. I then colored it in photoshop. I had fun with this illustration. I tried a few different techniques in the inking and coloring. I am very pleased with the results!
Lionsoul – Character Design for The REPLICANTS Project
The Character Design idea of Lionsoul came from a challenge to create a superhero team based on an existing team. The REPLICANTS Project was created by Dean Rivet. Lionsoul is inspired by Thunderbird of the X-Men. Mikhail Selimovict aka Lionsoul is a survivor of the Bosnian Genocide during the 1990s. During the Srebrenica massacre, Mikhail’s family was separated. Mikhail with his father and younger brother Jacob were taken to be executed. It was at this moment that his powers manifested. He found that he had accelerated senses, speed, and strength. He was able to save himself and his brother by fighting off the Bosnian Serb forces. Although they were able to survive, Mikhail and Jacob were now alone in the world. They have spent their time looking for their mother and sisters. Mikhail has taken the name Lionsoul and helps people when they are in need with his powers.
Here are the different steps I used when drawing the character design for Lionsoul. I first did the pencils. I didn’t want his look to be too superhero. He’s more of a guy who fights when he needs to, he doesn’t want to stand out in a crowd. Next, I scanned my pencils and tuned them into blue lines in photoshop. I then printed them out and inked them. I do this so I can keep my original pencils. I then color those inks in photoshop. I’m pleased with his look. I had fun designing his lion tattoo too.
Aurora Light – Character Design for The REPLICANTS Project
The idea of Aurora Light came from a challenge to create a superhero team based on an existing team. The REPLICANTS Project was created by Dean Rivet. The inspiration for Aurora Light came from Wonder Woman. What I did was look at what makes Wonder Woman a cool character. She has a rich history centered around Greek mythology. She’s an amazon warrior for peace. She’s also in this world, but not of this world. I took these core elements in the creation of Aurora Light and Sylvia Knightley. She is from another world, a world of monsters and angels. but she is on earth as a protector of humanity. Instead of looking at mythology, I centered her world around folklore. She is Lilith’s daughter, also known as Adam’s first wife. Like an amazon, Sylvia comes from a world of warrior women. She chooses to protect humanity from the dark evils that wish to harm it.
Art Process: Here are the different steps I took to create my character design illustration of Aurora Light. First I penciled out the original drawing. I used a .05 HB mechanical pencil. Then I scanned the pencils and turned them into blue lines in photoshop. I printed the blue line version on card stock paper. I used a nib pen and a Kohinoor Rapidograph Technical Pen .50mm to ink it. I did most of the inking with the nib pen though. Once I finished the inking I then scanned it again and sharpened the contrast in Adobe Photoshop. Then I created flats in photoshop and used them to help in digitally coloring the illustration. It was a fun challenge.
Character Biography: Before Aurora Light became the heroine of humanity she was taught to despise the children of Eve. Aurora Light’s given name is Sylvia, the warrior daughter of Lilith. Sylvia’s mother Lilith was Adam’s first wife before Eve. Lilith declared that she was Adam’s equal and would not be his subordinate. She flew away from the garden of Eden to find her own destiny in the world. But God sent three angels Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangelof to take her back. When she refused they declared that she must permit one hundred of her children to die every day. Lilith’s sons were creatures of darkness and her daughters were born of perfect beauty. Lilith allowed her sons to die and raised her daughters as cunning warriors. Teaching them that the world was rightfully theirs and not the children of Eves’
Through the many centuries, Lilith slowly created an army of her daughters that she planned to take back the world. The strongest of these daughters was Sylvia. Sylvia was a natural warrior. Besting her sisters in training battles and tactical exercises. She was her mother’s most devoted follower, believing that mankind needed to be eliminated. These feelings changed though when she encountered Sansenoy, one of the angels initially charged with taking her mother back to Eden. On one of Sylvia’s daily running exercises, she discovers Sansenoy, and she is taken aback by his angelic beauty. Sansenoy and Sylvia began a secret romantic relationship. Meeting every day during her runs. Sansenoy had a true love for humanity and shows Sylvia the great potential and wonders that mankind could achieve. She slowly sees that humanity is not the great evil her mother has taught her. She starts seeing them as brothers and sisters. She keeps her new insights private for fear of her mother’s wraith.
Her relationship is interrupted when Sansenoy has to leave to prepare for a great battle. She soon learns that the great battle is with her mother and sisters. Lilith was mounting an attack on humanity. Sylvia is given the lead of the army, but she is torn between her loyalty to family and her new love for humanity. On the day of the battle, thousands of her brothers and sisters fight as many angels. Both sides take heavy losses, but Lilith’s army begins to take ground and the battle looks to be swaying in her favor. It’s at this moment Sylvia sees Sansenoy battling her sister Rachael. Rachael overpowers Sansenoy and Sylvia sees him take his last breath. Sylvia decides at that moment she cannot allow her lover to die in vain. She turns on her sisters and fights with the angels to stop her mother’s dark army. The surprise is enough to turn the tide and give the angel’s army the battle.
Sylvia leaves to earth and swearers to protect humanity from all evils, especially her mother. She moves to San Diego as Sylvia Knightley and takes the name Aurora Light when she fights evil. She choose the name Aurora Light in remembrance of the northern lights, where she and Sansenoy would spend time together.
I’ve been participating in a fun collaboration with some great comic artists in The REPLICANTS Project.
What we are doing is creating our own characters based on existing characters. Similar to how Marvel Comics Squadron Supreme was based on DC Comics Justice League, and how the Watchmen characters were based on the Charlton characters. We’ve mashed up half the 70s X-men and half the Justice League into a Heroes and Villains team.
The idea came from Dean Rivet who set up a blog on Posterous. The blog’s name is The REPLICANTS Project. We create the character inspired by that week’s chosen character. We design original costumes, character names, and back story. We then email the post to a Posterous email and PazoOoW it appears on the blog.
I’ll be posting the process I’m using to create my characters; from pencil drawing and inking to the final coloring in upcoming blog posts. Here’s a list of the characters that we are using as inspirations for The REPLICANTS Project.
Creating Cool New Characters for The REPLICANTS Project
The Heroes
Wonder Woman, Thunderbird, Sunfire, Storm, Nightcrawler, Green Lantern, Flash, Batman
The Villains
Wolverine, Superman, Martian Manhunter, Hawkman, Cyclops, Colossus, Banshee, Atom
The Hunter – Character Design – From Sketches to Final Ink – Part 3
A few months ago I was looking through some of my old drawings. Ones I did while I was a kid up to when I was in college. I found my original sketches for a character named “The Hunter”. I had redesigned his history and biography a few years ago, so I decide to redesign his look too.
For the past year, I’ve been digitally inking my pencils. I usually use Adobe Illustrator using vector points. I like using the pen tool to create crisp sharp/smooth lines. But for this inking, I wanted to go old school and use a real brush and pen. A process I do not use very often. I had a real blast inking it by hand!I didn’t want to lose my pencils so I scanned the original and reprinted them on card stock. I used Adobe Photoshop to replace the original black lines with blue lines. This way it would be easier for me to ink them.
Here are my final inks of “The Hunter” I had a real blast with this piece. I started with very rough sketches to tight pencils and finally to a finished inked piece. In my next blog post (that’s right I have one more to go) I’ll show you what I did to vectorize my final inks so I can print them at any size without losing the quality of the inks. – Shazam!
The Hunter – Character Design – From Sketches to Final Ink – Part 2
While looking through some of my drawings from ten years ago I found a character design I did for “The Hunter”. From that original sketch, I redesigned his look and biography. The newer design sketches were a little rough, but they were intentionally quick to get my thoughts down on paper.
Once I had the look for The Hunter down, then I could start having fun. I decided to draw him in an action pose, jumping at a target with his gun and sword ready for battle. I tried playing with shadows, perspective, and highlights. I’ve been refining these elements in my drawings. They have been helpful in me finding my own comic book art style.
The Hunter Blue Pencils by Ralph Contreras
Now that I’ve got an awesome action pose drawing I was ready to ink it. I’ve been digitally inking my pencils for the past year. For this drawing, I wanted to go old school and ink with real ink, but I didn’t want to lose my original pencils. So I scanned the drawing and turned the pencil lines blue in Adobe Photoshop (being the crafty graphic designer I am). I then printed the pencils on card stock paper and was ready to ink traditionally.
Right on! My next post will show the cool inking of this Pin-up. So keep an eye out. -Shazam!
The Hunter – Character Design – From Sketches to Final Ink – Part 1
I was going through some of my old sketches the other day. I have a personal treasury of character designs and comic book drawings. Back in the day, I would love to come up with new characters. It seems I don’t draw as much now as I did back then (and I draw a lot now). I’d draw and come up with a new character every day.
On one of my inspirational days, I can up with a character named Nemcromn. You can check out some redesign sketches I’ve done of him in a previous post, Nemcromn Character Design Sketches On that day I came up with both Nemcromn and his main adversary “The Hunter”. Here are the initial drawings of “The Hunter”. I had just seen the movie Blade and was really into Brom art at the time. I think his design is very much inspired by both.
The original design of The Hunter was done sometime between 1998-1999. Ten years later in 2009 I found my sketch and decided to change it up a bit. I redesigned Nemcromn and wrote a new extensive biography for him and gave him a new adversary “The Radiant Guardian”. I decided to change “The Hunter” too. He was now an assassin/hunter who now works for Nemcromn. The Hunter and a new character I came up with, named the Grimm Creeper would now be Nemcromn’s most deadly assassins always trying to outdo each other in his favor. You can check out Grimm Creeper’s original and resign on a previous post Grimm Creeper, Hand Scythe Weapons
With the redesign, I made him a little bulkier. These are quick sketches to get the feel and general look of The Hunter. My drawing style has changed in 10 years when drawing a quick idea sketch I want to get his look down. These drawings look a little rough, what I’m trying to do is get my ideas down on paper before I lose them. I’m not as concerned about making them look perfect on these initial drawings, that will come later when I draw him in a pinup of some sequential pages.
In my next post I’ll be showing a Pin-Up drawing I did of “The Hunter”. This will be a more defined drawing. So keep an eye out.
