This post is about a week later than originally intended... For the past week+ I've been playing everyone's favorite game of "Covid or Cold?" In the end I don't know and don't really care that much as I'd handle them about the same way. I'm all good, still a lingering cough. This past week was highly unproductive as drawing becomes an exercise in frustration and futility when you're coughing or dripping snot every 10 seconds. I at least tried to make some use of the time by reading art books and watching instructional videos. Now I can get back to the hands on aspects of creating!
If you've followed my last few posts on @liketu then you saw the black and white ink linework of my current iterations of character concept art for "I Thought It Would Be Zombies..." Here at last are the results of applying color to those pieces, and the addition of a very important fourth cast member.
From left to right we have Julie, Bonnie, Sarah, and Dave. I still have plenty to learn, but I'm finally hitting a point in my artistic proficiency that I feel ready to start learning "on the job" and really want to get into the full on day-to-day production of this comic, release it to the world and just try to get better with each passing page and issue.
It's shocking how time flies. I pulled up the first concepts as a sort of "How It Started - How It's Going" comparison and that 2016 date on it is jarring to say the least!
While the improvement isn't quite as jarring as I'd like it to be six years later, it is there... so I'll take a victory lap at that!
For the story of this comic I've always envisioned a more animated feel, and I really want to convey a sort of "beautiful apocalypse" as one of the themes. Colors and light will need to be harnessed greatly for that purpose and that's one area my learning has been focused on. I also want to keep pushing my character designs to be simpler, more expressive, and harness more "shape language."
Here's each of the three pieces individually if you'd like to take a closer look.
All of these main characters are based off of real life friends. From the older version to the newer I've moved away from trying to capture a strong likeness, but the spirit of the characters are very much the same. Sarah's probably stayed the closest in features and design to the original illustration.
Sadly the real life inspiration for Bonnie, our furry little three legged heroine, passed away. She remains a very important part of this story and I hope to do her proud and have enough success that I can find ways to honor her and contribute to the welfare of more animals like her.
Dave looks less like the Dave I know... but I think he better exudes his "Daveness" 😆
And Julie always gets the most reactions out of anyone I post. As I get more fans I think it'll become clear that she's a fan favorite!
I hope I awake tomorrow cough free and with sparkling clear sinuses! I kinda doubt it but I'm sure I'll at least be in good enough shape to get back to some good drawin'! I've got a bit more concept sketching in mind before I turn back to the actual comic book pages themselves.
I'm eager to get on the convention circuit a bit. In place of having a completed first issue which is still a ways off, I'm working on putting together a sketchbook preview that'll contain pieces like you see here and more! I'll be making digital copies freely available to anyone subscribed to my email list. If you'd be interested in receiving one and future major announcements regarding "I Thought It Would Be Zombies...", please head over to bryanimhoff.com and sign up at the bottom of the page!
Comments, questions, observations and musings? Leave them below! And thanks for coming along on this little journey into color with me...
-Bryan "the Imp" Imhoff
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