Cast Pencils

Today I am featuring the pencil lines of the initial cast. These do not include any of the villains, just the “good guys.” These drawings were done for 2 reasons. The first being costume design of the principle cast. The second is that I would have full body images that could potentially be used for pin-up illustrations. These will be the only ones of this nature I will likely do for awhile. I won’t get to the rest of the cast until I complete the other design aspects of C.O.G. Chronicles, such as Gadgets, Weapons, Vehicles, & Environments. I also intend to feature a variety of different costumes and looks for each of the characters in C.O.G. Chronicles. Thus, if I did a completed drawing for each and every one of those looks, I would never get around to drawing the actual book! So, for the purpose of these pin-ups, they are simply for me to get the hang of the principle cast.

From left to right we have Dr. Cavendish, Delyth, Myles, Rosejack & Mrs. Applegarth.

Cast Pencils

On with the fashion show!

Dr. Cavendish is a dapper dresser and has all the ear marks of well to-do gentleman. He’s very much a capable sort (hence the gun) and is very charming, which essentially makes him an action oriented Mr. Darcy.

Next is Miss Delyth Gwynne. Far too pretty for her own good, Delyth’s wearing her Sunday Best. Most of her clothing is a lot simpler and plain that this one. She will likely be dressed more simply in maid attire though most of the initial story.

Now we have our Hero, Myles Ballantyne. He is dressed in his “Work Outfit,” meaning this is usually how he dresses when inventing in his workshop. He also wears his hair in a tail when he’s working to keep it out of his eyes. His arm apparatus helps him with his work and is a weapon when it’s required (which is often).

Rosejack does make a statement wherever she goes AND in whatever she wears. Then again she would likely look gorgeous in a burlap sack. She is currently being showcased in what I call her “Adventure Outfit.” Which means that when she’s not playing the stylish lady she wears this when she knows things are going to get to the nitty-gritty. Even so, she looks stunning!

Mrs. Applegarth is more reservedly dressed in one of her day dresses with light jacket. Nonetheless, it’s never a dull moment for the housekeeper of Myles Ballantyne, so she’s come prepared, pistol in hand!

 

Preliminary Character Designs 8 – Occult Villains

At last! We come to the final list of head shots. These are officially the first villains introduced in C.O.G. Chronicles. However, they most certainly won’t be the last. While the Hellfire Club’s hayday and it’s ilk is earlier than that of the Victorian Era, occult and psychic phenomenon was becoming more wide spreadly recognized. It was only natural that I play the sinister dark arcana card for this tale. Unlike the other sets of villains, I can assure you, that no one on this list is redeemable.

C.O.G. Chronicles - Occult Villains

 

Preliminary Character Designs 7 – Underworld Villains

This post features the Underworld Villains. These are the mercenary types, where coin is the only true agenda. So good or bad can be relative. Madam long, however, is the queen of the underworld and she’s all bad, all the time, lol. This groups came about by the huge opium trade going on at the time in England. I didn’t want to ignore such a rich possibility for villains and anti-heroes. In fact, I can promise you that there is one anti-hero listed here today!

C.O.G. Chronicles - Underworld Villains

 

Preliminary Character Designs 6 – Tech Villains

This one features the tech villains in the C.O.G. Chronicles. ALL of these characters will appear in some capacity or another in the story. Some are more evil than others, some having the potential for good in the future more than others, some more active than others, some there to make an appearance but will used more actively for another day. So “villain” is, potentially, a very loose term here.

It is in this set of Villains that you see more the “Thomas Edison” side of the story. I also add in a little of Moriarty & Bond Villains to the mix. When I started this project I made a list featuring all the things I thought were interesting and incredible about the Victorian era. After this was complete I began trying to put a little of each and every one of them into this story, lol. It is a Herculean feat thus far, but I feel well worth it.

C.O.G. Chronicles - Tech Villains

 

Preliminary Character Designs 5 – Child Supporting Cast

This is the children of Arthur & Jane Cavendish. They aren’t a huge part of the story but they needed to be designed. The Cavendish children take after their father in looks mostly, especially Timothy.

The initial concept for C.O.G. Chronicles started because I watched the movie “The Prestige” and became fascinated with Nicola Tesla and his war with Thomas Edison. I learned a great deal about their rivalry and about the tragic genius of Tesla. I had been interested in doing a Steampunk story for awhile, but just never had the hook I needed. Tesla was that hook. While I didn’t want to do a story about Tesla, I did like the idea of an “Invention War” and when I decided to add my character Myles to the mix, the world of C.O.G. Chronicles seemed to unfold almost all by itself.

C.O.G. Chronicles - Child Supporting Cast

 

Preliminary Character Designs 4 – Supporting Male Cast

More color Studies! This is one features the male supporting cast members. Of this list, Lord Westercroft will not likely make it into the initial graphic novel. However, everyone else will be there with bells on!

My style has the distinct look of being too “western” for manga and too manga for “western” comics. It was an issue I debated on changing for a long time. Ultimately, I chose to draw my way, allowing it to develop in whichever way it chose and I preferred. I like both manga and western comics and I don’t see a reason to pigeon hole myself into one particular look. After all, it is the melting pot of the west that makes it so exciting and I would love my art to reflect that mix. My own family is a combination of two continents and it shows in my international casts in my stories. C.O.G. Chronicles in particular showcases that. While the story will take place in Edinburgh, the characters come from all over: Scotland, England, Ireland, Unites States, France, Spain, China, the Caribbean, etc.

C.O.G. Chronicles - Male Supporting Cast

 

Preliminary Character Designs 3 – Supporting Female Cast

More Color Studies of the cast! Here are the primary female supporting characters.

Now, what do I mean by color study? Simply put, in my process I generally start with the characters and the world. The plot eventually makes itself known somewhere within this stage. For the characters, I come up with a name and a rough idea of who and what they are. This can change, of course, at any point in the development of the story (sometimes up to the last minute). Usually the “Leading” or “Main” character is the first of the cast to be developed in this way. In C.O.G. Chronicles, that character was Myles (he didn’t have a surname for a long time). He was actually an old character that I had rolling around in the back of my head for what seemed like an age. However, I really didn’t have a world or story to put him in. When I started thinking Steampunk, he instantly popped to mind. Though even at this point, he was still more of a concept, and have never been drawn. The only elements of his physical look that I knew was the he had longish dark red hair and glasses. The way characters look will have a lot to do with how I go about the story. Steampunk in itself has a rich visual iconography and I knew that it would influence and change my world accordingly.

So, I start simply: I draw a good head. I will generally draw rough versions of all the characters I have initially developed. Drawing will often create new ones or delete others as I grasp the first steps of the visuals of my concept. Like before, the leading character sets the tone and is done first. However, I am more likely to go back and redraw that character after I have completed everyone else (which I did here). More often than not, after I finish my first pencil sketches I will go on to do a larger medium shot or full body drawing of the cast. I didn’t do that in this case because unlike other “comic book” stories, these characters will have a variety of different costumes and looks throughout the tale. I chose to do costume designs separately. Since I wanted this graphic novel to be in color (I usually do black & white), I instead inked up the head sketches and did a very basic channel coloring in Photoshop. This helped me get a better grasp of the over all look I was going for, what palette I wanted to lean towards, and initiate any additional changes I wanted to do for the design (for instance Myles hair color lighten considerably from what I originally intended).

As for the ladies seen in this post’s image, Althea will likely no make it into the graphic novel despite being one of the first characters created. Conversely, Clara & Marie were literally added to the cast very recently and almost at the last minute. As for Rosejack, I promise you that you will be seeing LOTS of her in the future, lol!

C.O.G. Chronicles - Female Supporting Cast

 

Preliminary Character Designs 2 – Myles’s Sisters

Here are some more “color study” designs for C.O.G. Chronicles. Today the Chronicler, i.e. myself, would like to show you the designs for all of Myles Ballantyne’s older sisters. Not all the sisters will be feature in the initial graphic novel story. I hope that should the tale continue on a grander scale you all will be introduced in each in turn. Right now the most important are the eldest of the group, Jane Cavendish, wife to Dr. Arthur Cavendish, and the youngest, Daphne Ballantyne, who is yet unmarried.

C.O.G. Chronicles - Myles's Sisters

 

Preliminary Character Designs 1 – Main Cast

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Welcome back to C.O.G. Chronicles! Today we begin to display the initial designs for our Sequential Serial (or more mundanely known as a comic book graphic novel). Today the Chronicler would like to share her preliminary designs for the main cast of this tale. She calls these “color studies” and will be used as an initial guide for their designs. These are subject to change, as it’s early days yet; but it will give you an idea on initial look and names of the main cast.

C.O.G. Chronicles - Main Cast