Commission design

With the success of the Comix initiative, I was introduced to a group of fellow animators through the recommendation of John Mcrea, who arranged a meeting with us. These guys turned out to be looking to launch a new web comic series, based predominantly in Leicester, with the use of 'animatic' style animation in the comics, with the predominant use of the Abobe Flash program. These guys appeared to have written a basic outline for short stories and their own fantasy mythology, revolving around a predominantly Tolkien-esque themed comic medieval fantasy titled 'The Green Man'.

Initially, I came onboard as a storyboard artist once again, and began work on one of the initial stories revolving around their proposed Vampire-hunter called 'Halthorn'. Below were some of the original passes and beat boards I made of the introductory scenes of him showcased as a man of the wild.

Ultimately these became rejected, and after much renewed discussion this story was put on hold. In the mean time I started to offer my drawing abilities to much more of their work, ultimately leading me to enter into character designing.

From here we selected to design a major character in their story, the alleged 'Green Man' himself. I drew inspiration from the pagan folklore god of the same name, whom this character was inspired, albeit with now comic book style powers. My initial designs focused on a character more grounded in reality, looking gruff and weathered in years, as any common man who may find himself living in the wild.

After another review and feedback, suggestions were made to pull the character back to a more fantastical approach. This time I decided to really draw on the pagan roots, even adding druidic runes into the cut of his now larger beard.

A further (And ultimately rejected design) was me designing the character into more of a humanoid creature, offering another allusion to the name 'Green Man'. I drew inspiration from reptilian features and continued the druidic patterns, this time as bodily 'scars'.

Lastly, the capital city of the inhabited fantasy world of 'Ea'- as the guys call it- called 'Te Rah' was described much akin to a sprawling shanty town with many levels and tiers. Also functioning largely as a gigantic market, this city is a melting pot for all races. Below are the first few designs to come.

Currently this commission and work placement with these guys is still ongoing, and so further design work is still pending and therefore in no fit state to present so far, despite this module's deadline!