Sketchbook of 'Saw [Updated Nov 19, 2007]

[Jigsaw Forte]

As a way to shamelessly trick you into returning here more often celebrate the new forums, I'm going to start posting some of my sketches in this thread. Hopefully I'll find someplace a little more permanent to host all of them, but as far as drumming up activity goes, this'll do for now.

A few things worth noting:

• Most if not all of these sketches are done in ink; Pencils do not endure well in note-taking conditions, nor do they show up nicely on scanners. As a result, the sketches are not clean-looking pencil works, but fairly rough stuff. I'll do what I can to clean things up after the fact.
• I'll try to keep the file and image sizes down to reasonable levels so the page doesn't creak under its own weight.
• If you're nice, I may even explain a few of the sketches. Spoilers are possible, because at least a few of these images will likely end up in the comic pages, but anything too far off I don't mind explaining.

Today's Sketch: One of the Cyber Doll prototypes. I'm still messing with the principle, as I'm still not fully happy with the "Mech-Mates" that I trotted out in my recent convention pamphlets (I think I want to change the name, among other details); but part of that is coming up with a series of variations to flesh out the machine-species.

This is an example of how the bodies of the dolls vary based on the bodies of their owners; I was aiming to make this one for Cypress, hence the added tail-nubbin. The Fairy Wings in this one are more for effect than anything else (though in a colored version they'd have a fiberoptic glow to them).

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Mmmm. Fiber-optic glow. ;-]

[Sienna Maiu - M T]

I was actually discussing fiber-optics with a woman today while at a bead shop. We were discussing a few of the uses for it, and then having a laugh.

In slightly more related stuff, I think that this is very cool. The concept is very functional.

[Jigsaw Forte]

I was actually discussing fiber-optics with a woman today while at a bead shop. We were discussing a few of the uses for it, and then having a laugh.

In slightly more related stuff, I think that this is very cool. The concept is very functional.

In my original notes, the dolls themselves are a fairly new item by galactic standards (last 20 years or so) and function on several levels; they help watch the child in infancy, teach the kid how to take care of themselves (and the dolls) as the kid grows up, and eventually fits into a personal assistant's role in adulthood. The end result is a cross between a BJD, a Chobit, and Jiminy Cricket.

The downside, of course, is that it's still considered a "rich kid's toy", and so most people either can't afford one or don't like the stigma attached to carrying a doll around (or having one float behind you, as the case may be) The fiberoptics are two parts pretty, one part power indicator, and one part tracking mechanism since they leave a nice afterglow contrail for a few seconds if they fly through a particular area fairly fast.

... why, yes, I am taking courses in Computer Usability. What gave it away? 

[Jigsaw Forte]

Today's Sketch: Not as interesting as it could have been - mostly because I was trying to draw Jigsaw being Vampiric and I didn't like any of the sketches I produced. So here's Slick's head with a skeletal overlay ('cause it occured to me, mostly)

[Jigsaw Forte]

Today's Sketch: This one's digital, and not that interesting pose wise... but that Armor is a new prototype (dubbed 'Class Ring Armor' because of the joint covers). I might try to work on that more soon to get a further-rendered version completed, but at least I seem to like the silhouette of this stuff.

Think I overdid her breasts in this one though.

[Saist]

Female Ratchet!

* je.saist dives for cover

[lucas marcone]

Female Ratchet!

* je.saist dives for cover

honestly that's the first thing that came to mind as i started reading the comic.

[Jigsaw Forte]

Female Ratchet!

* je.saist dives for cover

honestly that's the first thing that came to mind as i started reading the comic.

I'll admit to being an Insomniac fangirl, but making it a fancomic when the only thing Ratchet & Clank has in common with Last Resort is a similar setting and technology level is kinda dumb.

After all, it's not like they have a trademark on big-eared tuft-tailed diminutive furries.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Jig is a rodent?

And here I thought Talmi were a variant of felines...

[Jigsaw Forte]

Jig is a rodent?

And here I thought Talmi were a variant of felines...

Minor slip-up, corrected for it.

FWIW, I do make reference a few times in the comic where 'rat'/'rodent' gets tossed around as an insult more than anything else, especially in terms to Talmi.

[Reese Tora]

Jig is a rodent?

And here I thought Talmi were a variant of felines...

I thought Jig was a kind of marsupial, what with the pouch and all.  That is a pouch, right?
(BTW, 100% approve of nakkie avy, Jig.  As you can see, I can't get past my shame to have a completely naked avatar.)

[Jigsaw Forte]

Jig is a rodent?

And here I thought Talmi were a variant of felines...

I thought Jig was a kind of marsupial, what with the pouch and all.  That is a pouch, right?
(BTW, 100% approve of nakkie avy, Jig.  As you can see, I can't get past my shame to have a completely naked avatar.)

Yes it is a pouch, and yes, they're marsupials. However, they also resemble felines on top of that as opposed to any other predatorial basis, retractable claws and all.

This leads to an interestingly lucrative market in maternity wear for "mommy mats" so clawing, climbing little kittens don't draw blood when trying to go for milk. Them and gummy rings.

(and hey, nekkid av's were part of the meme when I jumped on it)

[Fuyudenki]

to be fair, Jig's "Talmi" race does seem to have a lot in common(appearance-wise) with the "Lombax" race of R&C.

Speaking of which:  Tools of Destruction: could it save the PS3, or will the PS3's failure doom a perfectly good game?(sorry.  Hope this doesn't become a discussion.)

[edit]
Gah, Jigsaw, I was posting!

The pouch is kinda cool.  The dancing avvie is hypnotic, but not nearly as much as the one Goatmon found and stuck in his sig.  I could watch that thing for hours....

which is probably not a good thing.
[/edit]

[Jigsaw Forte]

As far as the whole Talmi vs. Lombax thing goes:

Yes, they are similar. This is because of the big dark secret: Jigsaw (in her first iteration) was a Lombax OC in one of my fanfics.

When I started drawing Last Resort, Jigsaw was adjusted appropriately to be more original, hence losing the lombax-specific traits (which really only amounted to the big-toed feet and odd ears), giving her a more elven stature as opposed to the squat, dwarfish stance of a Lombax, rounding her ears off, sitting her ears a 'little' higher on her head, and giving her marsupial traits like a pouch (in addition to some decent leaping abilities to keep with the marsupial vein, but they've not come into play in the comic yet and are a minor detail at best).

In addition, I've also made a conscious effort to model other Talmi off of different color schemes in order to further distance them from the Lombax; of the ten Talmi we've seen in the storyline so far, only three of them (Jigsaw, Cypher, and Sudoku) have similar stripe patterns, and all but four (Slick, Slick's Dad, Molly, and Candycane) are still yellow-gold-orange-ish.

So while Jigsaw and Ratchet look similar, Talmi in general do not look like Lombax in general, and I feel I've made enough adjustments to Jigsaw to make her a distinct enough character (since all they really have in common at this point is less-than-average height (Lombax are shorter than Talmi by about a foot), having some sort of striping on yellowish fur even though the stripe patterns and colors are different, and the large ears/ poofy tails thing, which as I said before is a fairly common furry trait to begin with). Call it homage or inspiration or whatever else you want to dub it, but they are different enough from each other that I feel comfortable using Jigsaw and the Talmi as they are.

[Fuyudenki]

I like to call it blatant theft when I do it, but I'm always the first to admit, so it's OK.  Getting a look like that into the past of the character is always interesting.

[Jigsaw Forte]

I like to call it blatant theft when I do it, but I'm always the first to admit, so it's OK.  Getting a look like that into the past of the character is always interesting.

As the saying goes, "Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal", or something like that...

Anyway... back to the topic... Me of course. 

An in progress shot of Jigsaw wearing Ring Armor. I started down here because, well... the tail needed doing first. *cough* Working from the nearest item to the reader is always a good sign.

You'll notice a few details into my inking style: Everything is worked in the thin lines, and then outlined as I go to help unify various sections. The sketch lines are a good guideline, but imprecise enough that I need to look at the lines without the sketch overlay to make sure that everything is still good.

Usually I work in a 2/2 brush (two point width + two point variance based on the pressure) with the standard 3 point brush for outlines, but for this one it's a 1/1 brush, and the 2/2 has been relegated to outline thickening. Still debating if I'm going to touch the 3 point for outlining the silhouette, because I need to see more of the piece first before deciding that.

I'm still not sure if the new brush sizes are going to be just for this piece or become part of my MO. The main reason for uncertainty is because of the working size (I want to make a poster, dammit... but using the artboard constraints means a tiny 'Saw to start), but the results are coming in nicely on this one, and either way the earliest any of you would notice 1/1 getting used in my pages if I do decide to go that route is page 56, which would be... the end of January. 

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

would be... the end of January. 

Awww. I've always been fond of the 17th of January, for some reason...

[Jigsaw Forte]

... and finally I have some unrelated comic work I can show again. This one is... a little different. Due to some driver issues I'm having with my tablet, I decided to try a few works I'd been meaning to do... namely cast pictures, and I'd toyed with the idea of doing pixel art for these so they wouldn't age as fast. Here's what I've done for Jason's pic so far, which is basically just a loose illustrator sketch with the start of some pixel work on top.