Character-a-Day: 6.23.14

For today’s character, I decided to use the next character I’m developing for my upcoming story. This gentleman’s name is Val Anacori. After the initial concept of the character and his backstory, I obviously needed a face for him.

Scott McCloud and Marcos Mateu-Mastre, both authors and artists I have mentioned earlier in this blog (Making Comics and Framed Ink respectively), mention that your characters, if they will appear and reappear in the story, should have some unique characteristics. This way, the audience can recognize them whenever they appear.

I looked to Yu Darvish, ace pitcher for the Texas Rangers, and Zack Fair from Final Fantasy VII. A couple of piercings and I had a character whose look really matches the story I have developed for him. Some of the characters I create don’t come as easily, so it is quite a treat when everything falls into place!

Anyway, I hope that you all enjoy and look forward to meeting him!

Take care,

EG Claunch

Extended Vacation

Hey everyone,

I took a short trip back home to help my mother with her last fundraising event. For the past four years or so, she has single handedly turned a daycare center that was funded by a local hospital into a nonprofit daycare center. During these past few years, she has held a silent auction to raise money for this daycare center of hers. Long story short, lots of hard work, not a whole lot of praise, and a very humbling experience I’m sure! She’s an amazing lady.

That being said, I’ve been playing around with my storyline and searching for a style that I think will be appropriate for the new direction it is going in. I’m quite sick of changing everything around, and I believe that I am ready to start producing a tangible product.

In addition, I am including the piece of art that I had planned on submitting for my mother’s silent auction. However, due to technical difficulties, I was unable to get her a completed product. Regardless, the event was a huge success!

Hope everyone is doing well.

Take care,

EG Claunch

 

The Book of Valtres

 

It has been quite some time since my last post, and I have been ignoring my Character-a-Day to focus on this project. I originally started this blog to post quick pages to practice my SVS (Sequential Visual Storytelling). I was trying to spend only two hours a day on each page, and as I got a few posts in, I realized that I wasn’t satisfied with only spending a few hours on a story that I think has potential. Therefore, I scraped what I had done and started from scratch.

 

This 8 page short is going to serve as the beginning for the revamped story of D’emahs. I have a few things to fine tune in the first few pages, but for the most part, these are pretty final. Please take a quick moment to look over them and give me some feedback! It’s a quick read! Thank you all for your time! Hope all is well!

 

EG Claunch

 

Character-a-Day: The Thatcher

Thatching roofs is still the practice in the smaller villages of the Wind Messiah, as it is in some other parts of Asu. Thatching is a highly skilled art and is one that is not easily mimicked by amateurs. Therefore, those who have mastered the skill are usually sought after when a new home or communal dwelling is erected. Still, it is a modest living, but an honest one. The profession is predominately composed of men, but this does not mean that there aren’t women thatchers.

Character-a-Day: The Security Officer

The Lands of the Terra Messiah are full of people that like to celebrate, live lavishly and care free. Because of this, there is much crime, including theft, murder, rape, kidnapping, smuggling, counterfeiting, extortion, etc. However, the Lands of the Terra Messiah are also home to the best security forces in all Asu. Many of these officers are ex-military. However, there are also simple people of moral integrity. Then again, there are also officers who just want to bash some heads, and others that are corrupt. Essentially, it’s much like you and I understand the police forces of our day and age!

Character-a-Day: The Resurrectioner

It is illegal in all Asu to dissect a body, both alive, and dead. Once a soul is put to rest, whether burnt to ashes, or buried in this case, manipulating the remains in anyway is seen as disrespectful, unnatural, and evil. It is known that there are people who participate in this vile practice to gain a more thorough understanding of the human body. It is also whispered that there are Resurrectioners that aren’t human at all, but demons consorting in the arts of darker medicines,which are far beyond the comprehension of mortal men.

Character-a-Day: The Paver

Pavers, although native to the Lands of the Fire Messiah, are contracted throughout the world of Asu. These men are physically fit, as there job requires them to maneuver heavy slabs of stone. Their hours are long, and their work is hard, but at the end of the day, their work helps transportation within cities and villages much easier. During the story in D’emahs’s time, all four nations and the Calm Lands are working together to create four main roads. These main roads start at the capital of each nation, and they all end at the capital of the Calm Lands. Most road development has been put on hold, as this ambitious project has contracted every able paver in Asu.

Character-a-Day: The Osler

Oslers are commonly known as bird catchers. However, the definition of their job does not entirely suit their title. In the Land of the Wind Messiah, Oslers are highly respected amongst the people, as their totem is the owl. Oslers have an incredible ability to ‘communicate’ with wild birds. They are not so much ‘catchers’ as they are caretakers. Many oslers take up residence in the scattered temples around the Lands of the Wind Messiah, inhabiting these gorgeous architecture with beautiful birds. Some say that when one enters a temple of the Wind Messiah, the relaxing sound of the birds’ songs can bring peace to even the most troubled souls.

Character-a-Day: The Navigator

The Navigator. The Lands of the Terra Messiah are riddled with crevices and cliffs. It is a labyrinth of razor sharp rock and bottomless pits. If one is to brave the wild in this area, it is heavily advised that a navigator travels with you. These people make carve their living by transporting people from village to village in the Lands of the Terra Messiah. Many of the navigators have been born into the business. Some are ex-military, while others are simply adventure seekers. Like the rest of their culture, they too wear masks. However, their masks are of a more vicious nature. Not only does it display their rank as a warrior, but it also acts as an intimidation factor to any lurking predators in the wild. Only the most skilled navigators don the mask of their land’s totem, the lion.

Character-a-Day: The Medicinal Traveler

Within the Lands of the Water Messiah, there is a range of mountains that is inhabited by a spiritual tribe of people, known as the Sky Dwellers. These people honor the many ways of life of their oceanside brethren, in addition to their alliance with the Lunes. However, they are self sufficient, and lead a very unique lifestyle. There are many tales that travel throughout the lands of Asu, telling of the magical healing properties of these Sky Dwellers medicine. It is common for people of the Sky Dwellers to set off on a pilgrimage to help heal the inhabitants of the land, bringing with them the medicines that have been perfected by their people.