Dann Saint Augustin's Comic Dreams

Think I'll update with some kewl pictures.

2010-02-13T11:05:00.000-08:00

This one doesn't require much commentary.

Left is Lien-da, right is Kragok.

He's comforting her..., and as anyone knows who has a twin, the stronger one will commonly draw close to the weaker one, much like a dominance struggle against that which hurt the other person.

I took a highlight value of -100 on my scanner, shadow value of -100, midtone value of +100, and a gamma value of 4.0. Then, I skewed it right between the cyan values and the magenta, in terms of color tint. Since the paper is black and the pencil was white, it took them very far.

The facial values of a picture are always highly important, because if you can't perfect the face while blocking in the general body forms and shapes, it's really not a very successful venture.

Since this is just the first picture, clearly it's going to be a work in progress.

The next one is this, a highly successful piece if I do say so. Of course, it's a family affair here, with Bernadette on the left, Jules in the middle, and Sonic on the right.

The pencil wasn't as strong here, so without allowing the light focus to detract from the linework, I had to pull the highlights back down to -100, the shadows up to +100, the midtones to -100, and the gamma stayed at 4.0.

Bernadette's face here bears a sort of motherly mirth---and if I were to guess by her name, I would say she's a Hebrew in terms of religious bent. She does resemble a quiet kallehniu, and of course in her youth she would've been quite a maidel indeed. As it is, she's still very pretty, and the apron gives her a dignified cut above the rest.

Jules is another matter, one I had to take into consideration before I drew. He's not organic, so I had to make him look properly metallic and stiff..., so I gave his head shape a completely spherical workup, which is about what he has in the older Archie Comics where he appears.

And of course, Sonic is the hallmark single child of a wartime veteran family. He's playful, he's full of winsome excitement, and the stretch of joy in his smile makes the whole picture very lighthearted and lovable.

I'm really happy with the way both of my works turned out, and I hope to see you guys back here for another example soon.

---Dann

Guess what I'm doing...?

2009-10-23T10:42:00.000-07:00

I am making comic-styled felt dolls today.

First on my list (the prototype body design) is Kragok.

You heard me right, ladies and gentlemen.

I'm making an adorable "killyoukillyoukillyou" doll of former Grandmaster Kragok of the House of Dimitri.

Naturally, these dolls will not be for sale. I do not sell copyrighted character art, stories or otherwise unless the characters are my own intellectual property.

So if you like my dolls, commission me for your own character in doll form.

And recolors are not fair, legal or morally right to the creators of the original concept.

DON'T COMMISSION ME FOR ONE. Anthropomorphic characters with copyrighted cartoon anatomy styles will not be sold by me.

Sorry, ladies and gentlemen. But before you think about selling your recolor of Sonic the Hedgehog, remember that Yuji Naka created Sonic, Sega owns the design, Archie Comics modernised the style, and they all would kick your everloving arse if they found out.

TL;DR?

I'm making a Kragok doll. I will post pictures when I'm done. It will be gut-twistingly cute and clearly psychotic and murderous.

-Waves heartily from his desk.-

2009-09-09T23:39:00.000-07:00

Name's Dann Saint Augustin, and this is my blog.

I'm an aspiring comic artist.

Soon to come will be samples, pictures and other things you might find interesting.

In case you're wondering, yes, these stories and pictures are based on a former comic series, a spinoff of Sonic the Hedgehog (the comic serial, 200+ issues, go Archie Comics!) ---

--- that was based on SEGA of Japan's (and later SEGA of America, and later SEGASammy, and now whichever they are now) first antihero, Knuckles the Echidna.

The comic, as you can probably guess, was named Knuckles the Echidna.

Why the name? I know you thought, if you've never heard of him, that he's a bulky bruiser with an ego the size of an ocean and a brain the size of a pebble.

Nah! He's coming up on adulthood...17 at the moment, I think...let's hope Archie Comics decides to give him a story for his 18th birthday, because that's when his "Contractual Obligation" as Guardian really begins. He's going to have to marry up with a girl (Julie-Su looks like our best bet right now, since she's the only one to get into the mire of his thoughts), and produce an heir apparent.

And natch, that's why the Knuckles series will not continue.

It's ALREADY dealt with:

Drugs
Murder
Attempted murder
Jail time
Interrogation
Espionage
Schisms
Betrayal
Attempted unlawful euthanasia
Death
Old age
Divorce
Remarriage
Family arguments
Attempted romance
Kissing (you 6-year-old boys probably said "EWWWWW!")
Sexuality (hidden, of course)
Illegal and otherwise criminal actions
Unethical practices
Surgery
The loss of a childhood friend
Cultures that differed greatly
Religion (Very, very much.)
Prophecies
Violence (And lots of it.)
Blood, dying
Mistaken identity
Amnesia
Did I say murder? Oh yes, lots of murder.
Terrorist factions
Treason
Destruction of nature
Nuclear weapons
Friends beating up friends
Firearm use (Much of it.)
Arson
Immigration
Racism
Discrimination
Military tactics
Animalistic predation of our favorite Echidna by a humanoid Mobian-murderer

and most of all:

POLITICAL UNREST.

And above all, the lead character was nude, muscular, fairly lean, and liked to fight with what were the equivalents of cleated gloves. His foil and best friend was a girl his age who wore nothing but a Kevlar top, gloves and boots. (No panties, pants or otherwise bottom cover.) This, my friends, was Knuckles the Echidna in a nutshell.

Now where could they possibly go from here?

Knuckles is almost an adult. Julie-Su is of unveiling age.

Ready? Spell it out with me!

S-E-X!

No kidding. This is just about the only thing that could advance the plot to be more gripping...it rushed into the teenage burgeon of life and held on with talons sharper than a razor blade. This, friends, is how teenage life IS. Knuckles the Echidna dealt with more teenage problems than Sonic the Hedgehog has even HINTED at.

Knuckles the Echidna serial: Ended at 32 issues in the late 20th century.
Sonic the Hedgehog serial: Began Archie's foray into Mobian territory, AND is still published, AND has had 200 regular issues, as well as 15 specials, at least 6 separate miniseries, and still hasn't progressed much further than the lead characters breaking up.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, I am certain you'll agree:

Knuckles series: Win with monster truck wheels.
Sonic series: Kinda needs to grow up.

Knuckles the Echidna needs to come back, Sonic the Hedgehog needs to mature.

And ironically, this isn't just speaking of the serial names. It's also speaking of the characters.

But a certain person upstairs rolled the eponymously-named Echidna downhill into a mud puddle.

And instead of getting up and saying, "I'm tired of being in the mud," Knuckles just excavated a burrow and kicked dirt in everyone's faces, like any angry feral animal would do.

For you TL;DR's out there, this is what's going to happen.

All my comic pages, comic stories, fictions, etc., are going to contain

Knuckles (and/or family ties)
Julie-Su (and/or family ties)
Archimedes (the little bug can't stay out of anyone's business anyway)

And/not additional characters.

Most of the pictures will concentrate on

Locke, Knuckles and Guardians in general. Mostly because they've all been forcefully blown to dead little bits, orphaned, or gone to the Twilight Zone in a handbasket.

Let me state this for the record, before you get any other ideas.

Knuckles is my comic hero, Knuckles the Echidna was the best comic serial out there. This is what the blog is about. Nothing else.

And if you're from Archie Comics, feel free to come by and look around. I encourage it heartily, and hope to pursue a job participating in the production of your fine comics.

Yours in eternal following of Truth, Justice and the Guardian Way,
Dann Saint Augustin.