Hyeeeeeeenas!

The striped hyena, which you've probably never heard of (at least I hadn't), is extinct in the wild. However, in the days of Jeremiah and Lehi it was one of the largest and strongest predators in the Holy Land.

It plays an integral role in my comic book. Lehi will be a striped hyena, and so will several of his children.

Many of you have asked to see more sketches, so here they are! I used a Bic ballpoint pen on copy paper...I'm not sure if more inexpensive materials exist. Because of the larger size of paper (8x14, 11x17) I have to take pictures with my phone.

This is only a sampling of all the design work I am doing.

Milestone Reached!

After 100 pages of writing I have finished the prologue comic! Why does it take so much writing? Because it's a series, and I need to know where I'm going to end up in order to know how I'm going to start. The actual first comic itself is less than four pages of script. But, if I do say so myself, I think it's a pretty awesome four pages, and will leave you excited and hungry for more.

This is the first major milestone. The next will be producing this first comic and publishing it (for free!!!) on the web. I will begin with that July 1 and it will largely depend on freelance jobs that take away my attention, but I anticipate this initial comic taking two full months to produce, mostly because of the large amount of design work needed to produce it.

 Below is a chart explaining my progress. It is not necessarily to scale.

Nebuchadrezzar

Nebuchadrezzar, the Chaldean Lord, the King of Babylon. This man (or lizard...as the case may be) destroyed Jerusalem in 589BCE.

This was a quicky, just over an hour. Keep in mind this is concept art, not "real" art, so as soon as it gets the idea across I move on. I will likely have many more sketches of what this bad guy might look like.

Ishmael's Villa

I have 50 pages of written material. I wish I could divulge some of the awesome story that is being created, but alas! It would ruin it! But trust me when I say it will be the Book of Mormon like you've never seen before! However, I think everyone will be happily satisfied because it follows the plot of the Nephi's account precisely. I think where the real adventure begins is in getting to know this amazing person and his family!

It's been a busy week, and I wish I had more time to dedicate to this painting, but I must press forward! Some day I will come back and paint this for real!!!!!

I have many more Jerusalem paintings thumbnailed and whenever I have a couple hours free I will paint another and post it!

This is Ishmael's Villa deep in the heart of Jerusalem. It stands as a sentinel of righteousness against a wicked world. At this time in Jerusalem's history the Temple has been desecrated, so this villa is one of the few places left in the Holy City that God's Spirit can dwell. It is here that the believers congregate and hide for safety.

Another Preview

Here's another preview of what the comic will look like. I did this about six weeks ago during a stressful time at work just to relax.

Nephi and his brothers will likely be designed similar to this guy. He's based off a wildcat, a native to the Holy Land.

Here thar be dragons...maybe

I am trying to post twice a week, once during the weekdays and once on the weekends. Here's my early weekend post:

Me: Hey Jeremiah, did you know there are DRAGONS in the bible?

Jeremiah: What?!

 Me: What do you mean 'what'--you wrote about it yourself!

Jeremiah: No I didn't.

 Me: "and i will make jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons"

 Jeremiah:  ...well I didn't mean it literally!

 Jeremiah: ...you're not going to put dragons in your comic book...are you?

 Me: You want me to take them out...? But it's so boring already. No one would read it.

 Jeremiah: hey!

Me: Sorry...just sayin'. 

 Me: I just think dragons would spice it up a bit.
Jeremiah: Well, I don't think I would like it.

Me: Well, you don't have to like it--

 Me: --you just have to not get eaten by one.

 Jeremiah: Thanks a lot.

 Me: Woooooooo! And GIANTS too!

Me: I wonder if I can fit in the talking donkey!

 Me: Oh wait, that's already been done.

Me: Stupid Shrek!

Jeremiah

In between lots and lots of writing I try to doodle some of the characters and get a feel for what the project will look like, how I will work with environments, and how to manage things like color design.

Jeremiah is one of my most "honed" characters so far. I anticipate him being a major player in the first part of the comic, so if you were thinking this was just going to be another literal interpretation of the Book of Mormon--think again.

Below is a panel of the comic.

 Hopefully the real comic will be slightly less cheesy.

The above gestural drawings were done with a Sharpie marker (chisel tip) with some tone added post in Photoshop. I am trying to figure out the personality of the character in these, as well as play with subtle style variations.

"And my father dwelt in a tent."

I finally got to visualize one of my favorite scriptures. This is but one concept piece of what Lehi's camp might look like in the Valley of Lemuel.

It is inspired by the Emerald Pools of Zion National Park.