more sketches...

Sometimes story ideas come to me when I draw the characters in funny ways, such as adding a hat, putting them in a different costume, etc. An example is strip #106 where I drew Marc with long hair, and the picture was very funny to me and sort of spawned this strip. Above is an example of a couple of ways I recently tried drawing Marc, first in a hoodie, and secondly as a secret agent of some kind. The second was also a chance to see what he'd look like with longer sideburns. He certainly looks...different. I'm not sure if I like them longer. Anybody got any other costumes or "looks" they'd like to see on Marc?

It's a little sketchy...

I've been thinking for a while that SCOM needs a technological nemesis. The gnome was a pretty good nemesis, but being magical puts him in a sort of different world than SCOM. A technological nemesis seems to present more options for SCOM to bust out his CIA training (recall that he was programmed by the CIA), and so an evil copier seemed the natural option. Here are my first and second attempts at an evil copier (Second attempt is beneath the body of the message.) Notice that they're similar, but I took the first design and improved the evilness for the second.

In other news, I have so much going on in the next 3-4 weeks that the strip will be irregular at best. It's possible that my brother, Chris, a recent graduate from Savannah College of Art and Design, may do a guest strip or two. Chris is not a librarian, although he's spent time studying in libraries, so that could be interesting. I may have time to squeeze 1 or 2 strips into my schedule before mid-July, but we'll just have to see. Anybody got any crazy copier stories?

- eli

More sketches...

Back a while ago, April of 2007 actually, I introduced the character of Marc's Library Director, seen here. At that time I wasn't really happy with the design or look of her character, so she has never shown up again. I've recently had some ideas for strips involving her, so I decided I needed to update her design. Here is one example that I'm considering. You'll notice that her facial features are similar to the original drawing, but her hair and mode of dress are different. This character is still evolving.

- Eli

Head sketches...

In a lot of ways I like Marc's swoopey hair because it makes him visually distinctive, even in silhouette, but it does present some weird challenges when drawing him from certain angles...particularly from the side. I also have trouble giving him good expressions from the side 'cause the arm of his glasses seems like it always covers up his eyes. I decided that I really did need to figure some of those angles out though, so I did a few little head sketches in preparation for the most recent strip, which I am presenting for your enjoyment today. I'm not sure that any of them really work all that well...this is sort of an ongoing challenge I'm working on solving.

- eli

Sketches...

Well, due to my extended absence, I'm trying to drum up more interest in our blog here by adding content with more frequency, so I'm going to be posting some sketches that I did to sort of get me back into the mood to draw this strip. To start with, it had been a LONG time since I'd drawn Elsie, our stacks manager, so I had to go look at past strips and then I did this sketch. I think it turned out pretty nice, but I didn't go for too much detail, such as her hands. The toughest thing to get right on my characters here are the faces, so when I'm warming up I draw the face first, and then if I'm feeling particularly good I'll draw a body as well.

Ok, that's it for today, but check back tomorrow for a new sketch!!!

Search and Research #123

Hey! We're back online here at the Search and Research Corporate Headquarters, and coming at you with a brand new strip! Thanks for putting up with my extended absence...I felt like I was moving for about 2 straight weeks, and in fact, I was. Phew...I'm glad it's over. It's weird how 3-4 weeks without drawing sort of gets me out of practice, but when I was inking this I just felt like I was swerving all over the place. The word balloons aren't crisp, Marc looks sort of weird, my gray tones aren't as well placed as I'd like...but I don't want to redraw it. :0)

Tell your friends, spread the word, and enjoy!