Here is another batch of tertiary character designs for my new project, Sea Dogs of Mars. The left is a concept I have for a female version of the Martian Merchant Marines, a paramilitary law enforcement agency charged with enforcing trade laws over the sea and sky of Mars. Every adventure story needs to have a menacing law element right?
I woke up this morning feeling groggy, as if my brain was rattling around in a big jar, my body moving around all sluggish and slow. I told my wife it felt like I was a hermit crab with a shell that was too big, she said I should draw that for my daily illustration, so I did.
For today's daily illustration, some concept art/process for my current project Sea Dogs of Mars. 
Problem: The main characters will be traveling the high seas of Mars, but what do martian ships look like? I want to maintain an aesthetic of used/futuristic while also conveying a spirit of swashbuckling adventure. So here is some of my process in trying to develop a design for the Jade Lotus, the simple but trusty scow that Adrianne and Gorkin adventure in.
This is a sketch portrait of Gorkin Courbear, the side-kick adventurer of Adrianne Mc Cowan. He's helping Adrianne search for her treasure and a bit of intrigue by searching for the origins of his people. He's also got a secret he's keeping from Adrianne that could destroy their friendship, or bring them fantastic fortune and glory.
This is a sketch portrait of the main character of my next project Sea Dogs of Mars. Her name is Adrianne Mc Cowan; a plucky swashbuckler, she is hunting for the buried treasure of her father lost many years ago.
First a song by Dio, than a cover by Killswitch Engage, Holy Diver mesmerized my wife and I when we first heard it. So I did a little research on the term, and found that the Holy Diver was supposedly a man accused of being a witch and sentenced to be drowned. A couple of days after his execution (they tied a bag of rocks to his feet and bound his arms, and dunked him in the sea), he was seen walking through town, and it was determined that he was protected by God for how else could he have survived?
This is my second daily illustration to make up for the first, which I felt was a bit of a cop out.
The curse of every comic illustrator, concept artist, or character designer is the appearance of cheesecake art in their portfolio. We've all created it, male or female, it doesn't matter. Its part of our imagination, part of our drive to create imagery that is pleasant to look at. Whenever that particular muse strikes me, I try to tilt it into another direction so as to not completely be taken over by it. For this daily illustration, Im going to call it what it is, The Cheese Cake Fairy.
For me, being artistic is like floating on an island through space; it can be full of adventure and excitement. But sometimes it can feel like black desolation, like floating through a void when I can't think of anything to draw or when my ideas just flop. Every once in a while though, an idea will spring up, like a wily dragon, begging me to grab on and take it for a ride.
My pet tortoise Winston's heat lamp stopped working the other day, and he started acting like it was time to hibernate without it. When Deb and I got him another one, with infrared, he perked up and started eating lettuce like crazy. Sometimes I imagine what he would be like if he were huge, big enough to put a town on top of his shell. So I decided to draw that.
I was in a weird mood today, and decided to do another illustration. Ever since my last trip to Scotland I've been intrigued by ancient stones, the runes inscribed on them, and the people who carved them long ago. So, here is an illustration of the day to celebrate that.
Here is my next daily illustration. A new project I have in development is about flying ships and futuristic cities on Mars, so I thought I'd take a tangent, and create a standalone illustration.
