So I know it’s been a while since I uploaded some sketches from the sketchbook, the reason has to do with the scanner, I also wanted to wait a little as we got more story out. So right here from the sketchbook I’m presenting some sketches of the Tribe, who debuted in issue 22. For some backstory, I really had no real model for how each of these characters would look like except for the chief and the simple idea that his “second” would be a female. These faces were were mostly just drawn up and designed and fine tuned to fit the characters. I actually intend there to be about thirteen to fourteen members of the tribe, but just couldn’t design that many characters in the amount of time. So actually in chapter 22, there are a few shadowed characters in the background as blank slates for future designs.

The chief I wanted to have facial hair as a way to establish him as the leader. Since we had earlier done a western story arch, I was actually trying to get some facial features from that era worked into the chief given the the eventual background that will develop from these characters. The chief went through probably about four possible designs before finally settling on the current one. My model was actually John Hammond from the first Jurassic Park film as I felt he was the type of senior citizen who looked like he would be out and active in the world. From his open shirt to his bamboo hat, this was my idea of the type of senior citizen who would fit this story. Many of the chief’s final designs such as his potbelly and few other facial features actually were finalized on the spot of chapter 22, as you can see here the sketch looks a little lankier and thinner, although I did make notes to myself while designing it.

Carol the second in command of the tribe I wanted to be young and female. Those who follow my work should note that I mostly draw female characters as opposed to male and the reason is that I value strong female characters over male as I feel they are rarer to find in entertainment. Carol was supposed to look like a working girl, someone who was higher up and could instantly jump into the role of leader if need be. Her design was actually inspired by Sora from Digimon Adventure, and I even had pictures of Sora without her helmet out while I was drawing her. Unfortunately that ultimately resulted in her first design (girl on second image) looking far too young than what I intended. The second design (2nd female in third image) was much more along the lines of what I initially wanted.

I do think if I had to pick one, Mikeal was probably the character whose design I liked the most, and his final drawings in the actual chapter were breathtaking for me draw. He will defiantly be one of the more vital members of the tribe in future stories.