Finally coming together

So I've got to finish the vehicle and do some environments and them I'm done with this project, so weird. I don't think I told you before but the white bro uses the arm from his suit after he does the whole symbolic prison break thing. Arm goes from white to black, to signify balance. I did some head dress design too. Thomas said to tell the story through the robes so the idea is when he gets punished, all of his robes are ripped away, and he is sent to look after the lowly prison. I also did a lot more shape play with the shadows, triangles and what not to give it a more stylized feel. I'm still working on it with white though. Oh yeah, the quest that black bro is on for the crystal things, his people had a peice of it and sealed it in his back so he would not die on his journey, but at the end of the story, he no longer needs it to keep him alive, and it's color shifts from black when it's inside him, to white. Yin yang illustration tells the story of the two sides to a person who has accepted themself, it's just a sketch right now but I'll ink it later, I'm tired. And I'm leading a retreat this week so wish me luck I guess. 

WHAT IF

So both of your guys' mutual interest in the Bengalsaurus has really got me thinking of a possible story.

I immediately thought of the movie " The Hunter" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgfB9kebFNI  and recalled how stirring and haunting it was watching a lone individual hike out in the vast wildness with the intent of killing the last remaining organism in a legendary species, almost one of myth.

This lead me to think about a story with a similar idea that begins with our main character as an accomplished and renowned big-game hunter who is part of a future where killing and brining home the rarest of creatures is seen as heroic. He is hired by a private firm to travel to the most striking and treacherous environment in search of the rarest of all the big game. Accepting the challenge, our seasoned hunter gathers his materials, including a specialized rifle and multi-purpose buggy, and completely alone, embarks on his mission.

One week in, disaster strikes and the hunter is left critically wounded and buggy-less in the foreign land. He slips from concieousness and reawakens to find himself in the care of a very strange group of people. Our main character is taken in by a native tribal group of Zulu-ish, Bushman-like people who have survived in the unknown territory since the beginning of mankind. They are primitive, but highly intuitive and peaceful people who wish only to live with the land and respect its inhabitants. The hunter is nursed to health, and after brief discourse with the natives, he continues on foot in search of the elusive beast.

Weeks pass and the hunter becomes progressively frustrated with his search and is on the verge of calling it quits. During his time, he continues to make contact with the native people and discovers a truly rich and ancient culture. One night, the remarkable happens. In a flurry of movement and sound, the hunter witnesses the ghostly creature strike down and drag away its prey. Without his rifle, he returns to the native people and tells them what he witnessed. In doing so, he divulges the true intent of his mission. The hunter soon comes to realize that the people who have cared for him have worshipped the mysterious beast for as long as they have lived. To the natives, the bengalsaurus is a god, symbolizing might and resilience as the only apex predator in the land. They are the sole protectors for the critically endangered species and will go to any length to prevent the murder of the creature. Our main character realizes the gravity of the situation and makes a break for it, only to meet resistance from the tribesmen. In a violent escape, the hunter mistakenly kills one the natives and heads for the hills.

He continues his mission in the next few days with a heightened sense of urgency and fear, desperately searching for the fabled beast before he is found by its protectors. His expedition comes to a peak when he discovers the tracks of the animal and follows them to a secluded precipice, high above the land. He waits for hours until he finally sees the regal animal. Pure adrenaline pumping, he raises the sniper rifle and tracks the bengalsaurus with the crosshairs, his finger 3/4 depressed on the trigger. Waiting for the perfect moment, he watchers the sauntering beast retrieve something peculiar from a rocky alcove. The tiger tenderly hoists a tiny, newborn cub from it's nest and begins grooming its precious offspring.

The hunter's breath is taken away and he is frozen. At that moment, everything he has heard and experienced both in the past few week and his whole life comes full circle and he recognizes his fatal error in his excessive and egotistical hunting. He realizes the sheer beauty of not only the life and exisitence of the creature, but the humble and miraculous duty of the native bushmen. In stark contrast to the fast-paced, digital, and detached existence of his home, he succumbs to the reality of nature which harbors both life and death, and discovers that he has no place in this order. The disconnect is lost and he is struck with the guilt and grief of a career of hunting and extinction.

The story comes to an end after our "hero" discards his rifle and trudges back to the good people of the land.

Sorry for the wall of text, I hope to condense it soon and pitch it on Facebook. What do you guys think?

I haven't done any drawings for this little story yet, so here's a mash of recent images to get a foothold.

bleeeaaaaaaargh

hey guys. sorry for disappearing, the past 2 months have been a rough time for me. I'm still trying to find direction.

some studies just to give an idea of what im doing. I finally have a story idea so I'll be fleshing that out in the next couple of weeks

Mixed bag

I've neglected this blog, so here's a mix of stuff that's been floating around in a few sketchbooks. A little bit of experimenting here and there. I messed around and did a few gouache studies which turned out to be loads of fun.

Prison direction and the quest

So I feel like I've decided on some sort of direction, that being the first one on the second page, it's this weird sort of Death Star type stuff just stuck to these rocks like a cancer. Either character doesn't really feel at home; the black character is imprisoned and the demoted priest guy is used to the extravagant architecture of the cult that they don't use in the prison. I had this idea that the black bro was from an ancient group of people from below the clouds where no one goes, and that his people were dying (from something, haven't figured that part out yet) so, there's this legend that above the clouds there are these rocks, floating ones that when you collect whatever's there (haven't figured out what that is either) from all these places, it will save his people, but when he leaves his home to go above the clouds, his blood bro powers start to kick in, but because he doesn't have the other bro, he goes blind, in his confusion he kills a lot of people with these powers he didn't know he had on his quest to save his people. He gets thrown in prison. Now when they break out of the prison together later they find that first of the thing in the floating rocks of the prison, and at least for the black guy, the journey begins, and I think at first the white guy comes along because he is hunted by his cult now and without the suit or his blood brother, he can't really walk and he lost his suit in the break out. I'm gonna do more character stuff this week and hopefully start putting them in cool dramatic shots, haha.