Hipprospector

I've been mining for character ideas lately and this is the hippest I could come up with. What do you think, is it a golden nugget or am I way out west with this one?

Abigail the lesser mouse deer

Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to introduce Abigail, the Lesser Mouse Deer. Abigail is not the model of a distinguished lady that society might hope for, but I promise it is through no fault of her own. She has suffered much hardship and turmoil in her life that has shaped and molded her into the untrusting and embittered woman you see before you.

Abigail was an only child. Her mother, the wife of a cotton farmer, died during child birth leaving Abigail to be raised by her alcoholic father on the plains of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Resented by her father for both her mother's death, and not being a boy to teach his trade to, Abigail was neglected and often visited her aunt in Birmingham where she was exposed to a wealth of European literature and poetry. Eventually when she was fourteen her father remarried and raised a new family, sending Abigail to her aunt's for good, which was perfectly fine with her. She got a job as a waitress in a nightclub and occasionally experienced moments of what she thought might have been happiness, at least as it was described in the books she'd read.

One night things took a turn for the worse. During one of her late night shifts, Abigail received some unwanted attention from a well dressed man at the night club, whom she politely put him off and went on with her business. However, later that night as she left she found him lingering outside of the club, drunk, and waiting for her. Passes were made and refused and when voices escalated a struggle broke out. The man was quite inebriated and thus Abgail managed to thrust him on the ground and make a getaway back to her aunt's house. It wasn't until the next day that she found out the man was the Senator's son, and when he fell in the alley he was punctured by shards of metal debris and slowly bled to death. The whole town was looking for his killer, and the police had started questioning the workers of the nightclub. Panicked and afraid of being arrested for his murder Abigail pooled all her possessions and hopped the first train to New Orleans, and then a London bound ship where she would arrive weeks later, broke, tattered, and lost. Over time she learned what she needed to manage on the streets of England. She's taken to thieving and trickery to stay alive, but lives in fear of the ghosts of her past and quietly dreams of a better life.




Photoshop aided so much in the production of this final piece that I would be remiss if I did not include a copy of the drawing in it's original state. To be honest this was more of an experiment to see how these portraits would look on a larger scale and in charcoal. I'm still working out the kinks, but I'd like to keep doing these bigger. Charcoal is just a bit frustrating because I can't get the level of detail I'd like. I'm sure I'll figure something out though....

Step aside Timon

With their slender bodies and strong arms, Meerkats are natural competitive swimmers. Lookout, Animal Olympics!

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Call him Casey

Meet Casey "The Rhino" O'Malley. Born in 1849 to Irish immigrants, William and Margaret who ferried over during the potato famine in 1847, Casey was no stranger to bigotry and hatred on the streets of Boston. When he was 11 his father died of Typhoid, leaving him the sole breadwinner for his mother and baby sister. As a teen Casey made a name for himself, as well as a bit of scratch, on the streets of Boston in underground bare knuckle boxing rings, earning himself the nickname "The Rhino." When his ailing mother eventually succumbed to consumption in 1870 he and his sister moved to New Orleans to find work. Casey's reputation had preceded him and he soon became the bare knuckle boxing champion of New Orleans. This notoriety got him hired as muscle for the local crime boss where he gained enough experience to start his own "legitimate" gambling business. He currently is somewhat of a local celebrity and makes frequent appearances at the boxing fights that he orchestrates in and out of town. He is known for discovering and bringing in unusual talent from other cities to box and owns property by the docks. He is cunning, personable, and completely ruthless, but will turn deathly solemn at the mention of his estranged daughter Hannah.

A is for Arthur

Well it's finally happened. My computer has shut down on me and refuses to restart long enough for me to even retrieve my library cd that's still in the drive. While I work out schemes to get a new computer/fix my old one The Nimble Owl has graciously allowed me to use her computer for all my blogging and hulu watching needs.

I've been slacking a bit recently on the blogging, but only because I've been working on some more time intensive projects as well as dealing with my broken computer. Here's a sketch I whipped up that may turn into something more polished. I actually originally intended for poor Arthur's head to be in frame, if you can believe that. Now to enjoy the last bit of this ever fading sunlight. Brief but oh so wondrous.

Meet Gerald P. Tarsier

At a young age Gerald made a name for himself in the Phillipines by poaching the rare effervescent beetles of his local community and exporting them to Korea at inflated prices, where they are believed to be a powerful aphrodesiac (this has yet to be proven by modern science). He parlayed this into a small empire for himself through a variety of questionable business practices and overseas investments. At the height of his wealth, and to the chagrin of his enemies, Gerald moved his fortune to the new world where he quickly set up shop as the proprietor of a profitable overseas shipping company and earned himself the nickname "the Weed". He currently owns several specialty antique and jewelery stores, two high profile nightclubs on either side of town, and has an entourage of thugs at his disposal and city officials in his pocket. As undesirable a figure as he is, the community would crumble without him as he is the chief owner of the only freight line in town. Primarily a shut in due to his high profile, Mr. Tarsier can occasionally be seen at one of his nightclubs and never without his trademark pinstripe suit and his claws around a dry Manhattan (his drink of choice).

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