I was supposed to post this yesterday before i left for my trip… i obviously forgot, as i didn’t sleep at all the previous night and was effectively sleepwalking. Having now spent 12 hours trying to figure out how to use a god damned Macbook (after locking myself out of it all night, why the fuck has my mother just now after 30 years, decided to change her password for everything???) I can upload these.
My good friend, Andrew Collas, has founded Zenith Comics. He’s asked me to help design a few villains in the past, and now a hero. I was so happy to do this… i love comics. What he asked for was a stage magician, female, but to make her a little different than your run of the mill Zatana or whatever, and to use one of his friends as character reference.
Having looked through several photos of his friend, the only direction i could take was “adorable hipster magician”. I actually had to sell him on the concept a little, so i went as far as writing a short background story for her. He loved it and gave me the go ahead.
Here is my first take on the character. I was inspired so i didn’t go traditional full body shot with it. I’m very pleased with it nonetheless.
I tried to draw fishnet… not super happy with the result but it got my idea across hahaha! So having seen my first attempt, Andrew wrote back right away saying how happy it looked, with a few changes to include or change.
First was “no tummy top, put her in a full shirt or bodysuit”. No problem. “Add gloves and a monocle, maybe a top hat, and draw her full body so i can see shoes or boots”. No problem still. “Oh and get rid of the leopard print”. NO. Flat out no hahaha i argued with him almost 2 days until he let me put the damned print in. I don’t know why, to me it was integral to my concept. We compromised on the colour and the shape of the top hat, added a white streak in her hair and voila, the final result.
I’m really happy with it. It’s cute and original without being pretentious, and as far as i know comics in general have yet to include the new fashion trends of today,s youth.
What do you guys think? Also, feel free to look up Zenith Comics on Facebook and click “like”! Tell Andrew Sophie sent you. New local businesses need fans and encouragement to thrive!
