Favor for a friend, 2 of 2

A redrawn style guide image of Donald, redressed as a hoopster going up for a dunk. This will be projected and painted on to a wall...but not by me. Yay!

Favor for a friend, 1 of 2

This is for someone I love, who doesn't seem to understand that being overloaded with work means, no, I don't have time for a 'quick sketch.' How artists out there have friends who think that because you're good at it, it's easy and fast to do anything?

I'm sure they'll be happy with it, but yeah, it's crappy. Lucky they're on my Favorites List!

Too. Damn. Busy.

I can not wait until 6/14, the first day in a two week vacation. I am getting my ass kicked by work right now! Three projects on my plate - but better to complain about work than complain about no work...but man. This kid is getting sleepy.

Here's another Theme Park Review (.com) t-shirt design I did, the first of a few I'm doing for their 2008 trips. They get a gang together and tour a region of roller coaster amusement sites all around the world, with the homebase up near Magic Mountain.

So far I've done a Midwest Tour, a Spain Tour, and a Japan Tour for 2007 - this is for a trip to Europe. Later this summer I 'll be doing one for an East Coast trip. Then another one after that!

This is actually new, but still not one of the three killer projects I have going...sleepy...

The Velvet Marauder

http://velvetmarauder.blogspot.com/

Read it.

It's a diary of an up and coming superhero, balancing his work life, personal life, and night time avenger life. It is fantastic.

Written by my sometimes work partner, Dave Campbell (currently writing for ABC's Live from LA) it is sadly no more, but there is about two years worth of posts, telling the story...which is not yet complete, so hopefully he'll come back to it sooner or later.

I whipped up this illustration for his site, in all his Velvety Glory!

Guardians07

And here's the last bit of the story, and a couple more images.

ACT III

Gearing themselves for a fight that might result in their deaths, they resolve their issues with their fallen comrade. The former Emperor admits he’s had a slight twinge a jealousy for the accolades the hero receives, and the demon had exploited that. Taunting him, manipulating him, the demon drove the seventh Guardian mad, turning him into a power hungry sorcerer, scattering the Guardian tokens to the four winds, destroying the kingdom he once fought to protect.

The hero says that they cannot defeat the demon without acting as a team, as one. The Guardians reunite as the original Seven, and begin their journey through the dark city, to infiltrate the demon’s lair, before it can summon power to restore evil throughout the land.

Along the way, they advance their technology and become stronger than they’d ever been before. After surviving the perils of the city, they reach the lair, and again battle the demon. Unable to win as separate entities against the demon, they join themselves, seven literally become one, represented as a giant mech warrior, magic and technology combined for a massive defender of light and freedom against the demon. A battle of epic proportions, it takes place underground, on the land, in the air, in the sea, it is a battle for the world, and the two fighters know it. The Guardians finally defeat the Demon, and evil again is vanquished. The Guardians return to their respective cities, acting again as protector of the people for as long as need be.

EPILOGUE

Years pass, as they always do, and the world again is prosperous and at peace. The hero approaches the boy, now a man, now the leader of his village, and entrusts him and his family with the tokens. For whenever evil appears the Guardians can again be called upon to protect those who cannot defend themselves…

The slapped together over filtered logo, and a marker of the central city.

Guardians06

So Pete is revealed as the seventh Guardian, the one who has fallen into the control of the Demon. This wasn't yet written at the time of the presentation, but here's a paraphrasing of the backstory.

This character was the youngest of the seven, and he fought the most ferociously, and he volunteered to be the first to serve as an earthbound protector. He lives a solitary life, watching over the kingdom as it grows into prosperity. A few Kings come and go, and then, near the end of his time on earth, the newest King has a daughter. She's super hot, like all princesses should be, and he falls in love. They have a secret love affair, but the demon in his weak and disembodied state, is all seeing and knows about the romance. He starts planting seeds of of rumor to the king, shadowed whispers, books open to stories of the Guardians, and eventually convinces the King his daughter has access a token of Power. So he sets up an ambush at a secret love retreat, it goes wrong in the attempt to capture the Guardian, and the princess is killed. Pete goes apeshit and destroys everyone, and consumed in hate, he takes the king's role and declares himself Emperor. The Demon's plans are finally set into motion, as Pete creates soldiers to enforce his rule, all the time being a puppet to the influences of the Demon.

Here's Pete in all his eviltude.

Guardians05

Here's some more bad art. The rush was on, I banged these out pretty fast, designing 'in illustration' - a no-no. I the ideas were written out, but not a lot of time for exploring, just got the idea out there. This is the manifestation of the Demon, and some of his little minions, which were intended to be fodder for the main characters to cut through.

ACT II

Having awoken the others, and discovered that the protector Guardian has become the evil Emperor who has taken over this world, the remaining six Guardians venture towards a showdown with their former comrade, who somehow has fallen from grace. The Guardians rid the outlying areas of the henchman, who now are enlisted to police the kingdom, the bodies bursting into a dark cloud as they are destroyed.

As the group ventures inward towards the Emperor’s stronghold, the Guardians are amazed at the worlds’ changes, gone was sorcery and magic, replaced by industry and technology, and eventually, decay. As they continue their journey, they apply new technologies to their more traditional weapons and armor, as the closer they get to the kingdom’s center, the henchman are more powerful, and more effort is needed to continue on.

They finally reach the gates of the inner kingdom, which has over the years become a great city of ruin. Standing before the gates is a massive army of henchmen, and atop the archways to the interior, stands a shadowy figure that can only be their lost friend. A massive battle ensues, the greatest the world has ever seen, and the Guardians again triumph. They are broken and exhausted, but they must still face the Emperor, who is more powerful than ever. They begin to battle, six against one, odds seemingly unfair, yet the Emperor holds his own. Finally, the will and strength of the combined six finally overcome, and the Emperor is defeated as his sword shatters.

A sinister, rumbling laughter emits from everywhere. A great voice booms, it is the demon, resurrected. The powers the Emperor used to create his henchmen where small elements of the defeated demon, the sorcery the Emperor utilized helped collect the various remnants into a cohesive embodiment; every time a henchman was destroyed, the matter that animated it was enchanted to return to a central rendezvous, the embodiment of the long ago defeated demon. The last remaining piece to this puzzle was the heart of the demon, trapped in the sword wielded by the Emperor. The sword now broken, the demon is once again whole, and more powerful than before. Casting aside the broken Emperor, his role fulfilled, the demon retreats to its lair deep beneath the city, to finish its plan for world domination.

Battle weary Guardians now face the greatest challenge in their lives. Can they defeat the demon in its full power, with only a fraction of what it took before?