Character of the Week

I've been reading ConceptArt.org for...God, like six years now. I'm on my third username, which is my actual name, because I got tired of having a silly nickname and I figured the last thing I wanted to do was to make it harder for people on the Internet to connect me to my art.

Anyway, I haven't had much luck with CA's weekly challenges. I consider it a victory if I can garner a single vote, and that's in comparatively sparsely-contested sections like Industrial Design and Environment of the week. I haven't ever submitted a final image to Character of the Week.

Until now.

The challenge this week is Aladdin, the thievin, genie-finding street-rat. I knew vaguely of the character and story apart from the Disney movie, but the first thing that popped into my head was "Future parkour-hacker Aladdin", partly because of this awesome image from my reference folder that I've been itching to use, and partly because Disney Aladdin is the OG parkour master.

I posted this sketch and got the go-ahead for the future setting....



And then I went to work. Here's my work-in-progress image that CA had me make...



And here's the final...



I'm really excited about this contest, and I think that this piece is one of the strongest I've ever made.

His Majesties Nineteenth Werewolf Regiment, pt. 2

I spent some time working on the clothes that the werewolves wear, and I came up with a jacket design that I'm a lot more pleased with:



I also made an image of the Russian Vampires that the Nineteenth will be facing off against:



I should probably finish writing the thing now...

His Majesties Nineteenth Werewolf Regiment

I had a dream around a year ago about werewolves, but the only thing I could remember when I woke up was one single line: His Majesties Nineteenth Werewolf Regiment. Maybe it's because I was reading the Termeraire series at the time, which is the Napoleonic Wars with Dragons, but something about old-timey warfare with the added element of Werewolves definitely stuck with me.

Here's the first paragraph I wrote about the Nineteenth:

Word on the boat was that the Russians had brought in a pair of vampire regiments along with the fresh cossacks, hoping to negate the Nineteenth's advantage during the cold nights on the Avoz Front. The full moon was only a few nights away, bringing with it increasing strength and ferocity for the werewolves of His Majesties Nineteenth, but also decreasing cognition and rationality. The bombardment of Taganrog had been going on for more than six hours. In small bunches, out of the way of the sailors of the dropships, the wolf-men discussed the coming battle in quick, barked snatches, their dull ocher coats hanging baggy and un-belted in preparation for nightfall, and the changes it would bring to each each man's body.

You'll have to be a real history nerd to know what war this takes place in without resorting to the Google or the Wikipedia.

Here's the first illustration I did of a member of the Nineteenth:




I think I need to re-do the jacket. It's looking a little too carnival ringleader right now, and less mid-19th century British army. I am however pretty pleased with the head and hands of the wolf-man.

I'll probably do some Russian vampires next.