Here you’ll find unofficial artwork, sketches, concepts and other design elements that went into the creation of these comics. I’ll update this periodically with newer (old) material, so check back if you are interested in the creation of my characters and their worlds!
The 3/11/2012 UPDATE
Hey-o, it’s been a while! I’ll share a couple of things with you today.
A sketch of Marie that I was not pleased with back in 2007. This would have been her cast art, but it didn’t look great at all to me.
An early cast art of Chris for the predecessor to Snow Dragon, 2002 I think? Chris has come a long way from his early days. His backpack is “open”, but I didn’t really understand how to make that look accurate, apparently. XD
An unfinished colored sketch of Bryan, done in 2001 I’d wager. He’s carrying a camera in his satchel. Man, I do color better than that now, at least.
An elongated sketch of Kristyn from 2000. Her basic style is about the same, but she’s proportioned properly now. XD
Long, long ago in 2001, I was talking with John Joseco of The Lounge fame to do some sort of collaborative project with my secret project. It fell through due to his commitments to his own work, but I did create a couple of concepts for him to follow, including Blade, which has some design notes and such. I think that’s a good place to stop for now.
The 10/7/2011 UPDATE
I discovered a sudden dearth of paper in my home, so here’s some scraps to make up for the loss of new material.
Let’s begin with some Black Blood concept work. This is Adam, Kryst’s ally in the Black Blood. He’ll appear in the official comic soon. I’d guess I did this in 2007…maybe?
This is Delton, whom I used to call Chadwick. I like his current design much more – it gives him the look of a nomad compared to this. Probably 2004.
Lastly, a dragon concept. This was in 2002 I think. Not too shabby for back then.
This is a very early concept of April. 2004 I’d guess. She’s a little more girly here than she is now.
Another of April, this was done in 2006. Profile and a back shot? Man, must have been brave that day. XD
Here’s the linework of Bridget I did in 2007 (the colored one is on her Snow Dragon cast page). This was one where she began clicking with her current design for me.
An experiment in sitting with Shi. 2005 or ’06, maybe? Sitting is another toughie for me to draw confidently. Practice!
A concept sketch of Marie for one of my secret projects. Yes, she can read minds in it. That’s all you’re getting. :p The picture is from my old college theater dock. Done in 2009.
And, since I’m giving bits away, here’s a 2001/02 sketch of Marie’s Psychic ability. It’s probably going to look different now. And no, she wouldn’t wear her tank top like that today. XD
Let’s wrap up this Scraps update with Marie as well, with her aborted Shi Kurai art. I don’t think she even made it into Shi Kurai, did she? Well, here’s proof she was being considered. I like her hair here, but her body’s too long. 2004 my signature tells me.
See you in a month or so!
The 8/27/2011 UPDATE
As part of this update, I’ve decided to open up the Scraps page a tad more to include Black Blood concept work as well – since I’ve merged all of my art projects into one day, may as well do the same here. Anyway, let’s begin with some Snow Dragon stuff.
A 2002 sketch of Corrie and Lindsay, looking sully as ever. Identical clothes, too. Perhaps I wasn’t feeling all that creative when I drew it. :p
This is a second attempt at drawing Mike and Claire together (the first is in February 2011′s update below). It’s rougher, but the joy of their relationship is still there. I prefer the first, though, to be honest. This was done in 2007.
This was Janelle’s Shi Kurai concept sketch, which I ultimately did not use and redid to the much cooler one on the Shi Kurai page. She’s not chunky at all here – I must not have made that decision yet when I drew this. 2004 sketch. Man, I’ve gotten much better at body types. :p
While on the topic of Shi Kurai for a bit, let’s take a look at some more characters from that comic. This is Bobby, my now-retired cat character, standing in the ocean (I don’t blame you if you can’t tell that). Pretty straightforward, I guess.
This is a really early sketch of Blade I manipulated for a multimedia class with Photoshop…2000 I think? Man, I’ve come a long way…
Speaking of coming a long way, this is a really early sketch of Yoshi-Li done in 2001 or so, and her head is thicker than her body! Man oh man. This barely looks like the Yoshi-Li I draw now.
Let’s begin our Black Blood coverage with someone you’ve seen (a little) – this is a concept piece for Krodor done in 2002 or so. I like the intensity of the sketch, but I’m not too happy with his look. I’ll need to revise it pretty heavily for his debut in the new comic.
See you in a little while!
The 7/15/2011 UPDATE
Hey hey, it’s been close to two months, but there’s a few new things for me to share with you. Well, not new…more like old and not hosted. :p
Alexia is a skater, and these are some attempts at showcasing her doing the act. Need to practice that a bit more. Anyway, the first is from 2004, and the second is 2003. I like the second more. Despite being much more static (and barely looking like she’s actually skating save her shirt), I like her face – looks more like her in my imagination.
An attempt at drawing someone asleep at their desk…poorly done, may I add? This is Collin looking like a human chub-blob. XD Sorry, man. Let’s see if I can showcase one a little better of ya…
Yeah, that’s a bit better. This was in 2009 I think? Arms are a little long, but it’s a good sketch of Collin.
An older sketch of Bryan, and I can’t make out my signature due to the puny size, so I’m going to have to guess 2002 or 2003. Not bad for the time. I need to work on him some more, though, to make him stand out more.
See you soon!
The 5/20/2011 UPDATE
Today’s update will be smaller than last month’s, but don’t hold that against it. Let’s begin!
Janelle and Yoshi-Li, not usually paired together, are sulking in this 2002 sketch. Both have come a long way…
We’ll spend the rest of this update on my aborted characters. This is Ashley, done in 2001 or so, I’d guess. Sort of a hot mess now. :p I used to do navel piercings the wrong way and drew them on the sides of the bellybutton, before Grace pointed that error out to me. Guess I hadn’t paid a lot of attention to the ones I had seen. XD
This is a 2003 sketch of Crystal. Still irks me that I kept her as part of my cast well after I should have removed her. No need to keep agony onboard, artist! XD
A sketch of Lia, probably done in 2001 or ’02. She’s wearing a different shirt here than I used to usually draw her in, which throws me off a little. XD Nice to not see her crying for once.
The last sketch I did of Miwa (before I drew her last week, anyway). Not a bad bikini modeling job for 2004.
Here’s Sam, looking sort of moody and surly, from 2001 or so. He just looks too much like a grumpy Ben. XD
Lastly we have Shannon, which is a pretty good sketch for 2001/2002. Her hair was a bit like Marie’s, but now I think it looks too much like Tamara’s. Such is life, I guess.
Thanks for looking, and we’ll see you in June with more!
The 4/22/2011 UPDATE
This is Bridget, from a comic I seemingly lost. She was singing a song about urbanization, if my memory is correct. 2005 or ’06, I’d wage.
This is the other half of the Yoshi-Li scrap I posted in the first set of updates, with Shi all excited and swooning over joining Hadagi. Her hair was long, then…this was 2006 or ’07.
A sketch of Desiree I used as cast art in 2006. Her ladybug tattoo has moved to her left arm. Her new sketch seems a bit more punkish, but she’ll continue to wear stuff like this, too.
This is Takara, pre-2001, utilizing her Space talents from my secret project. I need to redo this one (minus the rings). One of my early faves.
This is Mike, done probably around the same time as that Shi below in 3/25/2011′s update. It’s bigger than this, if you want to really examine my linework. XD Quite satisfied with this one.
Another oldie, probably 2000 or so, with Alexia giving Chad flowers. This MAY be the first time I drew them in a potential coupling, but it’s not the last.
…as I revisited the idea a year or two later. Both are cute, but perhaps this is another one I need to update.
Let’s continue on these two for a bit more. Here’s a sketch in pen of my top secret project (*note to self – at the rate you’re uploading art of it, it’s not gonna be that secret soon!) with Chad and Alexia chatting about magic. Alexia’s blushing face is pretty adorable. It’s like I reversed their roles from above. Her right breast is a little wonky, though. XD This was done in 2008 or so, I’d wage. It’s larger than this, so, again, if you’d like to really scope this out, feel free.
Another (and I think the last) of my Wildcat University concepts, this has Trent (left) and Bryan (bottom right), as well as am aborted OC named Sam. That’s some lyrics of Incubus’ Drive Sam’s listening to. I think the next update will be a special on my dropped OC’s, with some explanations as to why they’re gone.
Lastly, a quick marker sketch I did of Tamara in 2006. I still draw her in that shirt!
See you sometime in May!
The 3/25/2011 UPDATE
Since I’ve been slacking some on the new art front, let’s focus a bit more on the old.
This is a sketch of Shi I did in 2010. I like this one a lot – I’ll have to remember how I did her hair.
This is a sketch of Marie from 2002 I guess? Not a bad shot of someone from the back, which I am terrible at. XD
An Alexia sketch I colored in around the same time I’d wage. Wish I dated all of these. I don’t tend to draw Alexia with overshirts like I used to these days. Or imagine her in green pants. :p
These two sketches of Claire were done around the time Shi Kurai was starting up, when Claire still had Illusion magic. It looks like my little signature says ’04, but it’s hard to tell. It’s sort of rare for me to draw Claire’s right eye, since it’s usually covered up with her long bangs.
This was the first sketch I did of Song-Li and Ben together as a possible couple, which I really liked the thought of. May be the first time I did Song-Li’s “Woot Japan” shirt. It also yanked Ben out of pervert territory alongside Drew and made him a radically different character. Amazing what one simple doodle can do, eh? I’d guess this is 2003 or so.
I’m stunned at how often I’m cropping the dates off of these concept pieces. XD Anyway, predating Snow Dragon was another comic, Wildcat University (I REALLY like wildcats, so what can I say? I’m cooling it off these days :p ), where I did a bunch of concept work for my overly large cast. These characters are mostly still on the roster, though – that’s Drew, Shawna, Janelle, Heather and Mike in counter clockwise order. Heather is an oldie from my ancient designs, but she just didn’t really stick once Snow Dragon rolled around. Mike without glasses in this early phase looks so much like Chad it’s ridiculous. XD
Here’s another from the same period (I’d gauge 2003 or so on both of these), with Liz, Lindsay and Chris. That may be the best I’ve ever drawn Liz (save her volleyball pic). Chris’ design is so different these days it’s like I’m drawing another person.
Lastly, a nice Snow Dragon sketch I distinctly recall drawing in a drama class, likely in 2002 or 2003. That’s Janelle, Chad, Mike and Jose there. Pretty much the core it has today, save Claire. Mike has his trademark “LOUD” shirt here – I wonder when I came up with that…
See you in a month!
The 2/18/2011 UPDATE
Today I’d like to focus a bit on Kryst, who has grown a LOT from her inception. I’ll share three sketches of her, and then two of some other SD stuff.
This is Kryst on a log in the woods, basically a camp setting. She had a skintight bodysuit that had a tear above her navel where she was attacked by her sister’s killer. Her eyes are without pupils, which is how I handle characters from this universe, so it must be a little more recent than the one below. Not sure on the year of this, though. I could do this better now, but it’s not too shabby.
This is when she repairs her bodysuit, I’d guess…her hair is still stained with blood, but no tear. Plus you can see her colors, which are no longer that simplistic. XD She has pupils here, making it older than the other two.
And here’s the last, a more action-y shot. I can see bits of traces of her current design here. Kryst has come quite a ways, that she has.
All right, let’s dive into some other stuff.
This is some early, early concept work for Wildcat University, the comic precursor to Snow Dragon. There’s three familiar faces on there – Dave (top left), Jose (dead center at the top) and Jay (bottom right). The girls were all friends of mine (and I’ll exclude their names for now, because I don’t draw any of them anymore – not because we’re not friends, but because I don’t feel compelled to keep them as part of my universe…if that makes any sense) save the cheerleader, who was an OC named Shannon that no longer exists. This was 2001-2002, I’d guess.
This was one of the first sketches where Mike and Claire were a couple – done in 2006. Grace and I had been together for three years, and the two of us came to a consensus that Claire ought to be with Mike, and thus so it was. I like this sketch a lot – it reminds me of where I’m at now artistically, and how I’d like to redo this to see if I can draw it better. 
The 1/27/2011 UPDATE
A little over one month – much better!
A sketch of Bobby done in 2004. I have to say, while I loved the cat this character was based on, I don’t necessarily miss drawing him. Sometimes it’s nice to drop characters.
Janelle and Shi commonly have a flaming skull on their clothes – it’s based on Skullfire, who you can see above. This is fairly old – I’d guess 2003 or prior. But, now you know where that comes from. That’s Blade that you can barely see in the lower right corner.
Now this is an oldie. This was likely done in 2001 or a bit earlier, and was colored by a nice chap at the SRK boards (alas, I forgot who). You can see Collin (who’s stewing on the far left), Jer (the guy in green) and Chad (laughing on the floor) in their earlier forms, as well as a long-gone OC named Shelly. Chad’s laughing face turned out pretty well – I’ll need to remember that. Anyway, the colorist did not grasp that Shelly tore Collin’s shirt, so the irritation doesn’t quite make sense. It almost seems like Shelly sneezed and covered him in snot or something. O_O
Marie and Claire with SWORDS? What, you say? Well, back in 2001 or so (again), they were in a project using such things. Claire’s outfit in the 1/28/11 comic is almost identical to this one, oddly enough. Marie’s armband wasn’t solidified back then, I see…and I doubt she’d wear maroon pants now. Sorry! And Claire’s bangs are longer on the left side here…madness! I wonder when I switched them to the right…
Lastly, Kristyn and Jay bumping heads while rushing about school. This may be where I got the idea to couple them together. This was done in ’03, and is a pretty good sketch for that time.
See you soon!
The 12-18-2010 UPDATE
Ack – three months have slipped by and I’ve neglected this archive! Well, let me fix that. The first four can be enlarged with a click.
This is Miniboss, a now-rejected design that I was considering to use for Shi Kurai, but he never made it in (although he is mentioned in Lindsay’s comic). He was meant to be a parody design by this point, and he just is a waste of my imagination now. :p
This was going to be the comic following the last Shi Kurai, with Mike and Janelle wondering what was happening to Claire and confronting Blade. Never was used, though. Janelle has a bit of a babyface here. :p
For my five year anniversary of Wildcat Online, I made this special picture in celebration of the occasion. Fitting, as I was in the midst of Shi Kurai’s peak. I see some massive problems with its color scheme – there’s some blotchy parts in the background that my old monitor missed. :p
This is art from another aborted Snow Dragon comic done around the same time as Drew and Anthony’s was below. This one was going to introduce Shi into Snow Dragon’s world, but she never got her chance. She has made an appearance in So…this webcomic (a lot), so that’s no longer a concern. 
Lastly, take a look at an old sketch of Lindsay done with red marker and a little Photoshop. Done in 2006, but it was done for my top secret project, so I can’t reveal any more about it now. :p I’ll try to update this sooner than late March next time. XD
The 9-30-10 UPDATE
This is part of a Snow Dragon comic that never saw the light of day. Anthony is on the left, and Drew is on the right. I did this in April 2007, if my file notes aren’t lying to me. Click it to see its full size.
Anthony had had some Shos Juice, and has embodied the wrath of a certain Street Fighter named Akuma. “Shos”, or at the very least, some Japanese phrase that sounds distinctly similar to that, is one of Akuma’s sayings, and Anthony and I played around with a Shos Juice concept in high school. I never forgot it, so I decided to run with the idea for SD, but it was too late. At least now you can see part of the concept in action.
Another pic that can be made larger. This is Blade’s initial Shi Kurai cast art, but I wanted to redo some of them to make them more action-packed, so I threw this out for the one you can see on the Shi Kurai page. Blade has a small crescent blade that he can sling out like a boomerang, but it’s attached with a magic tentacle. It’s nasty (in a brutal sense, not a hentai sense :p ).
Here’s what Anthony used to look like back in the day.
Since I like spiting Drew, here’s his Shi Kurai cast art that was buried within his Journal. I colored it lazily. :p
This is a very old sketch of Liz underneath a tree. Her eyes are closed, but I didn’t grasp the concept of eyelids at the time, so it looks like she has no pupils. XD Beyond that, not a bad sketch for the period.
