Character Designs - Ashley - Part Two

Ashley in Colour
Ashley's Expression Sheet
Ashley's Head Turn

Ashley's Turn Sheet

Here's the last of the character designs for Ashley. This is all finalized work from the rough - The turn sheet, the head turn, the expression sheet, and the colour. I did these on slightly bigger sketchbook paper - 9X12, save for the colour which I did in my regular sketchbook because the paper was better for colours. They're in non-photo blue with mechanical pencil for the lines, and the colour was done with gel pens, prismacolour markers, and prismacolour pencil crayons.

We'll start with the turn sheet. I do a different turn sheet for every outfit, depending on the variation. This one needed a full turn because it was completely different from the basic outfit I usually draw her in, but if the outfit changed by, say, she took off her hoodie and the only thing I needed to change was her shirt, same pants, I wouldn't do a full turn, just a half one of her waist up. Actually, this outfit does change a bit in the comic, with addition of a life-jacket, which I did just a rough sketchbook turn for. But I'll show that with the other extras. Most animation turns require a three quarter front and back as well, or in place of the full front and back. I prefer to do the fulls because I think they cover more, without any unecessary extras. Plus, drawing the full back is hard, and practice makes perfect. I start with a basic front sketch, then add in my horizontal lines when I'm sure it's the size and placement I want. I do the rest based on those lines, and make changes along the way until it's perfect. This is probably not a good system, as it involves a lot of eyeballing, but it works for me.

Next I do the head turn, which is pretty much the same. I start with my basic sketch, then do the horizontal lines, then follow them for the rest and make changes. With the head turn I do a three quarter shot instead of a full back or a three quarter back. I do this because I think three quarters for the face is especially important, since it's what you see so much, and because for a character like Ashley, the back of the head is very simple and doesn't really need a close-up. I got it pretty much down with the full body turn. If a character has something important or complicated on the back of their head, then I'd show it. I always have rougher sketches of stuff like that if I need them. I also have roughs of her right profile as well, because there's some difference with her bangs and earrings on that side - she has only two pieces to her bangs and two earrings - if the character was the same on both sides I wouldn't bother.

I must confess - this expression sheet is actually old. I did this about a year ago, for a portfolio, and used it because my style hasn't changed much and I was happy enough with what I'd done. Everything else is new. My only gripe is that the drawings are small. Anyways, for most expression sheets in animation they require at minimum five basic expressions - neutral, happy, angry, sad, and surprised. I've of course done millions of expressions for Ashley, but these basic ones for a finalized sheet are good for me. I like to do expressions as warm ups or when I can't think of anything else to draw, starting with these five and variating from there. I'll probably end up doing another sheet for Ashley in the future, I'm never happy with these for long.

And finally the colour. I'm not sure how necessary this was, but I like to have coloured models around just in case. She'll most likely appear in colour in the cover so it'll be usefull then. I just do a basic neutral standing pose and expression. This also helps to give me a solid idea of the texture and details of her outfit, things that might get missed in turn sheets, since they're mostly about shapes. This wonderfully highlights my constant struggle to find the perfect colours for jeans. I wanted these jeans to look old and faded, I think I did a solid job. I'm happy with them.

So that's it for Ashley. Next, the same things except for Daimon, the other main character. Thanks!

Production Art 1 - Character Design Roughs - Ashley

(Ashley Roughs)
(More Ashley Roughs)
(Ashley Costume Roughs)

Hi! The first thing I do after roughing out my comic is production art - character designs, location designs, object designs, and anything else that needs designing, as well as shade testing. I think most people do this before starting any comic stuff at all, but I prefer to wait until I have my pages roughed and script finished because that gives me a better idea of exactly what I'll need to be designing. Of course, you should always have a good idea (a finished, sketched idea) of what your main characters, locations, etc should look like before you start the comic.

I started with characters because I like character designing, and because I already had a lot of stuff already for these characters, all I really needed to do was costume design. I'll show you the base designs for this character next week, this week I'll just show my rough plans. I did these in my sketchbook, with minimal reference. Just enough for the clothes. I've been drawing this character for such a long time that I don't use much reference for her when I'm just doing basic stuff. For clothes and outfits, I like to use Polyvore.com It's good for really simple outfits like this one, but not very useful for more creative stuff, and any kind of mens clothing.

My characters have "default outfits" that I use for art and pin-ups, and when I run out of ideas. But I try not to have them wear the same clothes all the time. I think first of the environmental requirements when designing an outfit. For this one, we're going to be in a lake on a cloudy day. So it would probably be cold and damp. But not too cold, since it's not winter or fall, so no coats. So that leads me to a basic hoodie and pants. Ashley is a very basic character when it comes to outfits. She has personal touches, (like the belt) but is overall pretty usual, which makes finding reference for her easy, since all I have to do is go to the mall. She's the type who always wears jeans, so jeans were a must for the pants.

Finally I had to pick shoes. That's where you see the most variation on the sketches. Ashley usually wears converse shoes, (or at least they look like converse. I'm not a logo person.) but I thought they might be a little too thin for walking around damp forest. Also, they looked a little strange with the way her jeans flared out - the way they scoop back in makes her jean bottoms drag on the ground, which would get them wet and muddy, and I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about. UGH. So I also considered putting her in boots - I came up with a really basic boot design when I was doodling a winter outfit for Ashley. After some reference, I found the design I had looked a lot like UGGs... UGH. But, it fits well enough. I imagine these of course being a much better version, with good soles and warm fuzzy insides and you get the picture. And I stuck the tops of her jeans in her boots, like she would in winter. I ended up liking this a lot better, so it was the one I went with.

I also did a quick extra sketch of what Ashley would be wearing under her hoodie - not necessary but I like to know, just in case. The rest of the little details, like the stripes on her hood and the roundness of her belt buckle were just last minute things I added in to differentiate this outfit from her other ones.

Once I knew which outfit I wanted, I did a couple pages of rough Action Sketches to test her out. I did this to get a feel of how she moves in this outfit, and what she looks like in it, to see if it really suited her. It's like when you see something you love in a store that seems totally you, and then you put it on and its all wrong. Characters have that too! I stuck with fairly basic action poses, and tried to add some in from the thumbnail panels. I tried to get a variety as well - Action doesnt always literally mean... well, action. It basically means dynamic, interesting, with personality. Not Neutral Standing Poses. So I got some of her moving, but also sitting, and standing with attitude.

The outfit came out fitting like a charm. I could imagine exactly how she would move in it in my head, and the only thing I had doubts about - the boots, came out great. They reminded me of the boots all the characters had in How to Train Your Dragon, how huge and fuzzy they were and they just stomped in them. I really loved that.

Next, I moved on to finalizing my clean designs - my turn sheet, expression sheet, and head turn. But, I'll save that for next time! Thanks!

Ogopgo - Rough Pages 2

Here are the rest of the rough pages from the Ogopogo story. Hope you like them!

Here are the rough pages for the Ogopogo story.

After I finish a script the first thing I do is make rough pages. They are exactly what they sound like - rough, thumbnail versions of the final comic in it's entirety. I use them purely for planning everything out - what the panels look like, how they're arranged, what's in them, where word balloons go, everything. I also use them to decide what size word balloons need to be and what dialogue goes in them. They are SUPER simple, I use only quick gesture drawings, sometimes just stick figures, and do everything in pencil on cheap paper.

Once I finish with those I go back and edit them. Sometimes I redraw, erase and add in stuff. I add in little notes about panels for details I need to remember, but don't need to add into the thumbnail. Everything goes on the thumbnail before it goes on the final page. The scans I'm showing you now aren't even final, they still need to be edited again based on the production art.

Sorry about the images not being in order. I've been having some image problems with blogger, which apparently a lot of other people have been having too, and I had to switch to the old editor, which I'm still figuring out.

Thanks!

Announcement - The Book is Done!

((This was actually posted on my tumblr on Saturday. Sorry it took so long to get here.))

 

It’s done.

I just made the facebook post and now I’m posting here. I feel like screaming it from the rooftops, but its damn cold out and I dont know how to get to the roof anyway, so the internet will have to do.

I’ve finished my book.

Well, it still needs to be edited, and it’s only a first draft. But its a novel. It’s a whole book that people can read. It’d be really crappy if you read it right now but like, you could. It’s finally finished.

I posted about this a little awhile back, when I finished the third part, or maybe it was the second. I broke it up into four parts so that I could go piece by piece, and it made it easier to manage the story. I celebrated everytime I finished a part, usually by baking myself something like cupcakes or brownies. This time I’ve decided to get a cake. I cant bake because I have no oven but yeah. I dont know when Ill do that, maybe tomorrow but probably next weekend as I’ve got homework. For tonight I have a chocolate bar. Yes I love sweets and goddammit I deserve them because I wrote a fucking book.

Oh my god, it feels so good to say that. I’m saying it outloud as I type this. I wrote a book. Theres so much difference between that and “I’m writing a book,” or, “I’d like to write a book.” In my case, three years difference. I think it was three years. I cant remember how many times I started and stopped, then went back and rewrote. I cant remember how long it was between the first chapter and the next, and all the other little breaks in between. The first part was the longest. The second part also long. Third flew by like nothing. Fourth… a bit of both.

I first came up with the idea when I was in eighth grade. I wrote my first book in seventh grade. Well, it was really more of a novella. And it sucked. Lets just leave it at that. I had ideas for other books, but none of them were anything like this one. When I came up with it I didnt want it to be a book at all, I wanted it to be a comic. I still do. Thats actually what I have to do once the editing on this is done, make a comic script. I can do both of course come on. I made a little comic at the end of the year, and everyone loved it. And the idea never left.

People get ideas and they grow out of them. They come up with new stuff. Or maybe they dont. I didnt. And I hope I never do. Its changed so much since then. Oh jeeze, originally I wanted a horror-comedy series, kind of like a sitcom. hooboy. Now it’s an EPIC (thats right i said it. its epic.) fantasy adventure horror romance action series for teens. Um… I have a bit of trouble with genres. It’s changed because I’ve changed. I grew up with it. It kept me sane as a teenager and now it defines my life in so many ways.

I have other ideas for stories, which might be better than this one, who knows. But this is my first. It means more to me than anything. I cant describe truly… I hope I gave you a bit of an idea in the splooge above. And no doubt theres so many spelling and grammar mistakes youll wonder how im a writer at all.

The name of my series is My Guardian Demon. The first book is called Sympathy for the Devil.

Ogopogo - An Afterword

  Alright, a few more things now that you've read everything. Actually, considering the way this blog is set up you're probably reading this first, in which case, scroll down and read the explanation and then the stories first.

Once again: Thank you! For reading, critiqueing, etc. You can get back to me here, through Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or by E-mail. Feel free to make a public or private message, I don't care. Please try and remember that even though I do have an ego and appreciate it being stroked, I'm not just fishing for compliments. I want a critique. If you don't wanna give one then that's fine, any feedback is better than none.

Ok, enough seriousness. If you want to know more about Ogopogo, here are the links I used for my research:

Ogopogo Monster

Stories of Ogopogo

Ogopogo Quest

Ogopogo, Real or Myth?

  You can also find some cool videos on Youtube if you just search for "Ogopogo." And by cool I mean videos of waves in a lake and people freaking out. It's pretty hilarious. This is of course just a small part of the research I did, but that other stuff is kind of boring. Of course if you want to know more about Lake Okanagan and Harpoon Guns, let me know!

      Hopefully soon I'll be posting my comic thumbnails, and then after that my production art. I'm kind of using this as a way to document my process, so I know what's worked and what hasnt for the future. Feel free to critique that as well. I apologize for the sketchy updates, but school is pretty brutal. Once again, thanks for reading!

And Ogopogo Was His Name - Script

Ogopogo

By: Leah Powell (2010)

[SETTING: Lake Okanagan, British Columbia, Canada. Midday. A grey day, looking like it should be raining but isn't. The sky is occasionally streaked with light but mostly clouded over. The lake stretches out, bordered by a fringe of trees. The lake is still and dark. In the distance there's a bridge that stretches across the lake. In the centre of this scene sits a boat. It's a small, cheap motorboat. Two figures sit in it, one of them looking out over the water.]

CAPTION: Lake Okanagan, Canada. The "Ogopogo" is a legend around here, the great snake in the lake. Everyone knows him even though he's never been seen. He's never attacked anyone... until now. That's why we're here.

[A teenage girl looks over the side of the little boat into the water, staring at her reflection. She's dressed casually with a lifejacket, with blonde hair and blue eyes, and a rounded figure. She looks bored.]

CAPTION: I'm Ashley Thorn.

[She turns back into the boat and looks to the other figure.]

ASHLEY: "Why do I have to wear a lifejacket but you don't?"

[The other figure is reading a large map that obscures his face.]

CAPTION: And this is Daimon.

[He lowers the map, revealing himself. He's a bit older than Ashley but still young. His skin and hair is pure white, and he wears black clothing. His hair is very messy and his eyes are huge and bright blue. On the right side of his head is a single black horn. He looks at her like the answer is obvious.]

CAPTION: My Guardian Demon.

DAIMON: "Because I am immortal, and you are not. And because you don't know how to swim."

[Daimon puts the map on the floor of the boat, getting down on his hands and knees with Ashley following.]

CAPTION: Yes, a demon, as in Hell and fire and evil. But also, a guardian, as in protecting and helping and well, kindness. Together, we solve the world's problems. Or at least we try to. Or we hope to. Someday. Right now we just handle the Supernatural problems.

[Daimon points to a spot on the map. We can see the markings of land next to it and the bridge not too far from it.]

DAIMON: "Right. Now, there's been some suspicious activity in this part of the lake." 

ASHLEY: "That's right next to the bridge. What kind of suspicious activity?"

DAIMON: [packing up the map.] "Annoyed nature spirits mostly. But!" [Raising a finger for emphasis] "Nature spirits don't get riled up for no reason!"

[Ashley looks at him doubtfully.]

CAPTION: Actually yes they do. They lose it when people litter near them, among other things.

[Daimon climbs up to the bow (front) of the boat and points enthusiastically over the side.]

DAIMON: "All right, so that should be over...this way!" [He looks back to her.] "Let's see what's there!"

[Ashley starts up the boat, still grumpy. They drive over to a little peninsula of trees and rocks, steering around it. They enter a circle shaped clearing of trees, rocks, mud, and the occasionally piece of wood. The boat slows down as they enter, everything is still and they take in the scenery.]

DAIMON: "What's that over there?" [Pointing]

[On a bank of rock there's what looks at first to be a pile of wood... but on closer inspection is actually a discarded boat, with wood panelling. It's a large, expensive yacht, freshly abandoned. It's crashed and broken but not deteriorated.]

ASHLEY: "It's a yacht. That's an expensive boat, who would just abandon it here?"

DAIMON: "Someone who wanted to get rid of it." [He smiles, excited.] "Someone with something to hide. Let's drop anchor and take a look."

[Ashley tries to lift the anchor but can't. Daimon steps in and kindly takes it from her, tossing it over the side. It splashes down and disappears into the dark water. Suddenly, the chain pulls taught roughly. Ashley and Daimon look curiously over the side. Bubbles pop up around the chain, first just a few, then more and more until the entire boat is surrounded, and the water is rough and choppy, rocking the boat back and forth.
    Ashley and Daimon hold onto each other to keep from falling, but it makes no difference as the boat is suddenly tossed up into the air, and they both go flying. They try to keep a hold of each other but get separated. Daimon reaches for Ashley but is stopped as something grabs onto him mid-air. Ashley lands on the yacht with a harsh thump, and the little boat crashes into the bigger one.
    Ashley pushes herself up to see what happened, and looks up in fear at a towering shadow of a great serpent - Ogopogo. Ogopogo does not look like the traditional sea-serpent; his body is hard like it's carved out of wood, with a cylindrical but still serpentine shape and a head like a tough helmet. It has two ram-like horns and spines on its back, and is covered in bright swirls and shapes like tattoos. Daimon hangs from one leg from its smiling mouth filled with sharp teeth.]

ASHLEY: "Daimon!"

DAIMON: "Don't worry about me! Just get to safe-"

[Daimon is tossed suddenly into the air by the serpent, who bites down as he falls back, and Daimon disappears behind the teeth.]

ASHLEY: "No!" [She grabs a log and throws it at the monster. It bounces helplessly off and Ogopogo turns curiously towards her. She throws another and it hits him in the snout.] "Gimme back my Guardian!"

[The monster moves closer to her, and Ashley quickly jumps behind the yacht, scared. As it gets close, something suddenly explodes inside its mouth, smoke and fire erupting from between its teeth. The monster recoils and spits Daimon out, but he grabs onto its snout and jumps onto its head, digging his claw-tipped fingers into its stone-like head. Ogopogo thrashes its head around in protest.]

ASHLEY: [looking up cautiously over the side of the boat] "Hold on! I'll help you!"

[Ashley looks desperately around. She climbs on top of the yacht and looks inside the driver's cabin. Inside, the interior is trashed, with beer cans and random fishing equipment tossed everywhere. She spies something under the driver's seat, something that looks vaguely like a gun. Ashley adjusts herself and climbs feet first into the cabin, grabbing the gun and climbing out the opposite window again.
    It's a harpoon gun - a big giant gun that shoots big giant arrows with rope attached to them. She climbs on top of the yacht again and aims it.
    Ogopogo continues to toss its head around, trying to toss Daimon off. It finally succeeds, and Daimon goes flying head first. He crosses his arms in preparation as the serpent opens its mouth to bite again and Ashley aims the harpoon...
    Daimon pushes a huge cloud of fire at Ogopogo, and the gun goes off, sending Ashley flying backward. The spear pierces the monsters neck, and it recoils to both attacks, roaring in anger.
    Daimon falls harmlessly into the water just before Ogopogo hits the water with a huge splash, pushing Daimon back to shore. The monster is still. Daimon climbs up out of the water and back to Ashley, who is lying down on top of the yacht, groaning in pain.]

DAIMON: "Are you all right?"

ASHLEY: "Yeah. Are you?"

DAIMON: "Fine. Just another day in the life." [He holds out his hand Ashley takes it and he helps her sit up.]

ASHLEY: [looking down at Ogopogo] "Is it dead?"

DAIMON: "No, just injured. Ogopogo is an old monster, that wound will be patched up in a few days. What was that thing you hit it with?"

ASHLEY: [looking at the gun] "A harpoon gun. They use them for whaling, not for catching sturgeon. Not something you usually find in a lake like this."

DAIMON: [picking up the gun] "Hmm. I'm sure authorities would love to see this, and find out whoever owns this fancy boat."

ASHLEY: "Then our work here is done?"

DAIMON: "I think it is."

[They look off into the distance, as the sky clears up a bit and sunlight starts to streak through the clouds.]

ASHLEY: "How are we going to get back?" 
   

END

And Ogopogo Was His Name - Short Story

Ogopogo

By: Leah Powell (2010)   

   
    The water of Lake Okanagan was far too calm. A grey, rain filled sky hung above them, not raining yet but ready to, with huge full clouds and heavy, misty air. The sky was slashed here and there with purple, occasionally reflecting onto the dark water. Ashley Thorn looked over the edge of the boat into it, and couldn't see any farther beyond her reflection, looking bored and uncomfortable. She was also pretty sure this lifejacket made her look fat.
   
     They had been called out to British Columbia to handle reports of an attacking lake monster. Supposedly, a giant serpent had been lunging out of the lake grabbing cars passing over the bridge, and pulling them down. This was what the victim who had been pulled out of the lake had said, but of course when it ended up on the news it had been reported that the driver was drunk and simply drove off the bridge. It didn't feel like a professional snub, Ashley and her Guardian were pretty used to handling situations like this.
   
     Of course everyone in Okanagan valley already knew about the snake in the lake. He'd been there longer than any human, and he was just as, if not more famous now than he ever was. The legends had been there forever, but now there was pictures of it (or what they assumed it looked like) on t-shirts and coffee mugs. And every year a new group of people came up to try and find it, sometimes just to gawk at the river and act like every other cottage-country tourist, and sometimes they brought fancy equipment and boats and tried to look very serious indeed.
  
     Ashley Thorn and her Guardian were a little bit of both. They certainly didn't look like any of the others the people in Kelowna had ever seen. They didn't bring any fancy equipment, they didn't have a boat, they rented one, and really... they were just a couple of kids. Not nice kids either, a couple of weirdoes, to be exact. But the questions they asked about what had happened on the bridge were very serious indeed. They jotted down the answers at the boat rental place and the fish and tackle store, and they even went to the hospital to question the victim. Randy Horton - that was the victim, who was losing more of his friends trust every time he opened his mouth these days, insisted that they did. He didn't know how they were allowed in to see him, but he assured everybody they were very polite.
   
     So they had taken a cheap but sturdy little motor boat and driven out into the lake. A small crowd from the fish and tackle shop watched them. Apparently the girl - that was Ashley - had gotten her boating license online. She appeared to be afraid of the motor and couldn’t remember which buttons did what. The small crowd looked worriedly at each other and wished them good luck catching the great snake.
    And so the sun came out a little bit as Ashley Thorn and her Guardian reached a good spot in the lake, far from shore but still within sight of the bridge, and killed the motor. They dropped anchor and tried to figure out the next part of their plan.
   

****

   
        Ashley dipped her finger into the lake, feeling how cold it was and watching the ripples it created. She pushed herself back up into the boat and looked to her Guardian.
    "Why do I have to wear a lifejacket but you don't?"
   
         He was sitting on the other end of the boat, closer to the motor, reading a map. He put the map down on the floor of the boat and looked at her like the answer was obvious, which it was.
    "Because I am immortal, and you are not. And you don't know how to swim." He appeared to be about 19 years old, but it changed depending on how you looked at him. He was very tall and thin, and even now the little boat seemed too small for him, he was all legs and arms, trying to figure out which way to hold the map. His skin was white like paper, and so was his hair, which was perpetually messy. The only bit of colour on him at all was his eyes, which were bright blue, and so big and vivid they were a bit of shock to anyone first meeting him. But this was not his strangest feature, not by far. No, his strangest feature stuck out even worse, on top of his head, just beyond his hair line, was a single black horn. His name was Daimon, and he was a demon. Yes, a demon as in Hell and Satan and fire. But he was also a Guardian, as in protection and safety and well, kindness.
   
          He was Ashley Thorn's Guardian Demon, and he was also her best friend. Ashley didn't believe she was particularly remarkable, and sitting next to Daimon who could blame her? She was sixteen, and in many ways the total opposite of him. She was short and a little podgy, which was why she was constantly fretting about the lifejacket. She had long blonde hair, and where Daimon insisted on contrasting his white skin with black clothing, she wore pure colour. Blue jeans, a green hoodie, brown boots, and now a garish orange lifejacket. The only thing they had in common was that they both had blue eyes, except Ashley's were a dark, midnight blue.
   
           Together, they solved the world’s problems. Or at least they tried to. Or at least they hoped they would. One day. Right now, they were stuck trying to help the world out with its purely Supernatural problems, and it was almost always the small, boring, menial ones that the world's Actual Guardians didn't trouble themselves with. You see, demons, being evil and having the tendency to not obey the rules, were the only ones who had the ability to help with many of the problems that plagued the Supernatural and the Natural world. Rules and regulations designed to keep order held the True Protectors back. Problem was, demons, being evil, rarely wanted to help anyone. It wasn't really their job.
Quite the opposite in fact.
   
            And that's why the Guardian Demons existed. Yes, Daimon wasn't the only demon who happened to be utterly insane. Right now, no one was helping the people of Lake Okanagan because no one actually believed that the Ogopogo - the great snake in the lake - existed at all, and even if it did it wouldn’t be suddenly hostile for no reason.
   
        "Right. Now, there's been some suspicious activity in this part of the lake." Daimon lowered to the bottom of the boat and spread out the map. On it, he had drawn a wave like pattern in what Ashley presumed was the area in question - she had trouble reading maps. She could however, clearly see the markings of the bridge next to it.
    "That's right next to the bridge." She said. "What kind of suspicious activity?"
    "Annoyed nature spirits mostly. But!" Daimon raised a finger for emphasis. "Nature spirits don't get riled up for no reason!"
   
      Ashley frowned. She didn't want to rain on his parade but the truth was that when nature spirits got riled up, it could have been because someone had dropped some litter or said something rude near a tree. They were a sensitive bunch, and there were quite a lot of them in Canada. But, it was the only lead they had, and it was better than just hanging by the bridge and waiting for something to happen.
    "All right, so that should be over... this way." Daimon moved down to her end of the boat and pointed off the bow toward a small indentation in the land beside the bridge. There was a small lining of trees on either side, one of them pointing out at the opening like a little peninsula. "Let's see what’s there." He said, meaning he wanted Ashley to man the motor again.
   
       She groaned a bit and started it up. She hated how loud and smelly and annoying it was, but she was the only one who had managed to pass the online test and get a boating license. She manoeuvred them over in a sort of zig zag fashion, still a little rusty with the steering, but managed to get them past the little peninsula. She was surprised at how big it actually was up close, and how tall the trees were. There didn't look like any decent place to dock, it was all sloping hillside apparently untouched by humans.
   
                Daimon sat at the bow and looked out, stretching his neck up and peering at the shore, like a dangerous hood ornament. "What's that over there?" He shouted over the engine, pointing to a particular hill. Ashley had thought it was just a bunch of wood, maybe a beaver dam or something, but on closer inspection it looked more like a boat... a broken, crashed boat with wood paneling. A boat that had once been very fancy, but was abandoned... and newly abandoned as well. The wood still had a bit of shine to it, and the top of it was dirty and broken in many places but not deteriorated. They got closer and she downed the motor.
    "It's a yacht. That's an expensive boat, who would just abandon it here?"
    "Someone who wanted to get rid of it." Daimon looked at her and smiled. "Someone with something to hide. Let's drop anchor and take a look."
    Ashley nodded and pulled the anchor out, trying to lift it. Daimon smiled at her and took the chain. He lifted it easily and dropped it over the side, watching it sploosh and fall down out of sight into the still black waters.
   
            The chain pulled taught and yanked harshly on the boat, causing the two of them to momentarily lose their footing. Daimon grabbed onto Ashley's shoulder to keep her from falling. A few surly bubbles plopped up around the chain. They looked curiously at each other, then over the side. Another set of bubbles came up, then another, until an eruption surrounded the anchor chain, growing larger and forming a pool that threatened to swallow the boat. The boat began to rock violently back and forth. As it dipped suddenly forward, Daimon reached his arms out to keep Ashley from tipping over the side, and as it pulled back in the opposite direction, he scrambled to grab her again and keep her from going over the other side. He finally pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her as the boat began to vibrate and rise from the water.
   
           They were tossed into the air, the little boat lost behind them, and it was impossible to keep a hold of each other. They careened head first for the yacht, and Daimon stretched out his arms to catch his Guarded - but something caught him, pain crushing into his ankle as he was suddenly pulled back.
    Ashley landed hard on her back, knocking the wind out of her. She landed on the bow of the yacht, just missing the jagged broken wood paneling. She slid along the surface and turned over, trying to get her footing again. Water sprayed into the air and their little boat crashed into the yacht, pushed by the wake. Ashley held on as the yacht rocked and water splashed over her, and she pushed herself up to try and see what had caused the massive wave, and the shadow slowly towering over her...
   
            A massive serpent the size of a building towered over her, Daimon hanging by the foot from its jaws. It had sharp ridges on its back, and its body had no scales - it was hard, like it was carved out of wood. It was mostly greyish brown, but it was marked all over in bright, primary colours, long swirls and shapes like tattoos. It had no fins, and its head was rectangular like a helmet, with two swirled ram-like horns. It didn’t look anything like the little statue in Kelowna... it looked a lot scarier. And Ogopogo was its name.
    "Daimon!" Ashley cried out as her Guardian struggled to right himself.
    "Don't worry about me!" He called back. "Just get to safe-" He was cut off as the monster tossed him suddenly into the air, flinging him like a toy. As he fell back down the creature snapped its jaws and caught him, and he disappeared behind the many teeth.
    "No!" Ashley screamed, getting to her feet and grabbing a chunk of broken wood. She threw it and it bounced helplessly off the snake's hard skin. It at least managed to catch its attention, as Ogopogo turned its ugly head towards her, regarding her. She threw another chunk, this time hitting it on the nose. "Gimme back my Guardian!"
   
            The beast began to advance and Ashley felt her courage leave her, she dove back behind the boat, onto the rocks it had crashed into. But Ogopogo had barely gotten near her when something exploded inside its mouth. It shocked the creature into opening its jaws a little bit, and smoke and a wave of blue fire erupted from between them. It roared in pain and began to shake its head, tossing Daimon out.
    He was scratched up and covered in seaweed and monster spit, but very much alive. As it spit him out he grabbed onto its top lip and used the momentum of its shaking head to spin himself around, grabbing its nose and landing on top of it. Ogopogo roared and thrashed, and Daimon held on, digging his claws into its stone snout.
   
            Ashley dared to peek up from behind the boat, relieved to see Daimon okay, but knowing he was still in danger. Of course, she was in just as much danger really, but when there are two people involved the other person tends to forget that. Ashley especially, had the tendency to forget this. "Hold on!" She called to him. "I'll help you!"
    She looked desperately around her, but saw only wood and rocks. She climbed back onto the boat, looking hurriedly around, glancing back up to make sure Daimon was still holding on. Now he was trying to scratch at the monsters nose, but it didn’t seem to be working, its skull was too hard. Sparks flew up whenever he hit it, and it was flailing too much. Ashley returned her attention to the boat, sitting on top of the highest cabin now.
   
          She pushed herself to the side and hung her head upside down, looking inside the main cabin, where the drivers seat was. It was trashed and empty inside, the once nice and fancy interior now dirty and ripped and stained, possibly from the crash and probably from partying. There were beer bottles and cans all over the ground, and random fishing equipment tossed everywhere, like someone had kicked a giant tackle box over. Ashley spied something big and metal and heavy-looking under the captain’s seat. She looked quickly back over her shoulder at the continuing fight and decided she had no time to waste. She turned herself right and swung inside through the broken window, feet first, not paying attention to the broken glass surrounding her.
   
            Glass and little fishing hooks crunched under her boots as she landed, diving for the heavy metal thing. She pushed the broken captain’s chair aside and... She had no idea what it was. But it was big. And metal. And heavy-looking. And it had something very sharp at the end of it. And it looked a heck of a lot like a gun, a gun that fired that big sharp thing at the end of it. Ashley grabbed it, heaving it with both hands and climbed out the opposite window, pushing the gun first and then herself out onto the rocks. She heaved the gun onto the top of the boat and followed it.
   
           Ogopogo was now tossing its head back and forth in the opposite direction, and Daimon was struggling to hold on. He dug his claws and boots in but every time it threw its head forward he moved a little, closer and closer to careening off its snout and right into its mouth again. On the boat, Ashley did her best to figure out the gun and aim it.
    Ogopogo tossed its head violently forward, and Daimon completely lost it. He flew forward off its nose, headfirst through the air; he brought his arms together and concentrated on giving it one more final blast before he lost the battle completely.
    Ashley just barely finished aiming it when she must have hit it too hard, and it went off in her hands. The spear blasted out of its tip and Ashley flew backwards, right off the boat, a rope trailing behind the spear as it flew.
   
         Daimon pushed his arms out and a blast of blue fire followed them, hitting Ogopogo straight in the face. The monster recoiled to that first, then was hit hard by the spear in its neck. The monster had just enough time to roar in anger before the tip of the harpoon exploded, and that was the last it took. Ogopogo roared and went down, hitting the water with a tidal splash.
   
       Daimon had fallen into the water just before it with a much less noticeable or important splash, and swam to get out of the way, allowing himself to be carried on the wake of the giant impact.
    The gun was pulled harshly from Ashley's hands as she hit the rocks butt-first, groaning as pain seared up her spine. She fell onto her back and allowed the pain to peter out as cold water sprinkled over her.
   
        The waves carried Daimon to shore, and he tripped a bit trying to get his land-legs back. He scrambled up the side of the rocky hill, climbing to the top and crawling to his Guarded. "Are you all right?"
    "Yeah." Ashley groaned out, eyes squeezed shut. She opened them tentatively and looked up at him. "Are you?"
    "Fine. Just another day in the life." He smiled. He held out his hand. Ashley took it and he helped her sit up, and they both slid forward to the top of the yacht to look out at the downed sea monster.
    "Is it dead?" Ashley asked.
    "No, just injured. Ogopogo is an old monster, that wound will be patched up in a few days. What was that thing you hit it with?" He looked at the discarded gun.
    "A harpoon gun. They use it for whaling, not for catching sturgeon. Not something you usually find in a lake like this."
    "Hmm." Daimon picked up the empty gun. "I'm sure authorities would love to see this, and find out who owns this fancy boat."
    "Yacht."
    "It's a fancy boat." Daimon rolled his eyes. "Isn't Ogopogo protected under the Fisheries Act?"
    Ashley nodded. "Yes he is."
   
       Daimon smiled and looked out onto the lake. "Then our work here is done." The sun was setting and the clouds were finally beginning to depart, painting the sky bright red and fiery orange, streaking crimson and lilac on the lake. The water was still not rough, but no longer still, small waves breaking the surface against the rocks and sand around them. And it was finally clear, and they could see schools of fish already surrounding the monster and kissing at it, trying to wake it up.
    Ashley rested her head on her Guardian Demon's shoulder and breathed in the warm lake air, and asked; "How are we going to get back?"

END

Ogopogo - An Explanation

  First, a little explanation. When pitching a series, you always have to show examples. But a lot of the time you can't just start from the beginning, the first issue, book, whatever. That's because the first issue often doesn't give a good idea of what you're story is actually like, it introduces the characters, leaves out others, and generally spends more time helping you get to know whats going on rather than giving you an idea of whats going to happening most often. It's hard to explain so I hope that made sense.

  So for my pitch, I wrote a little short story that was kind of a "this is what you'll usually be getting" sort of thing. It gives a good idea of what my story involves without getting into the muck of the actual STORY, the background, what's happening, etc. It's a bit like a filler episode in a T.V. series, something that takes place in the universe but isn't actually part of the story. So, for MGD, it's basically our two main characters; Ashley and her Guardian Demon, Daimon, fighting monsters. Obviously in the actual books there's a lot more characters, background and things are a bit more complicated than that, but take away all that intellectual stuff and that's generally what you get. Ashley and Daimon fighting monsters and doing a pretty good job.

  So besides that there isn't much you need to know going into this. But what I require from YOU is this: (Now Pay Attention) First of all, is it any good? Did you like it? Where can I improve in my writing, whatever? General stuff like that. Secondly, did you understand it? What else requires explanation, what else did you need to know? You're not supposed to be left wondering what's going on, who are these people, etc. Most of you who are reading this are lucky enough to know me personally so some of this is not completely foreign to you, but whoever will be seeing this, it will be. And that's pretty much it.

  One more thing: I've done both a short story and a script. This isn't a required thing, really all you need is a script. But I found it useful to write it as a story as well. Feel free to critique both, or either one.

  And of course, thank you to anyone who took the time to read this and especially thank you to those who give me feedback. You really have no idea how much I appreciate it, even if you're telling me it's crap. You can reply to me on here if you can, but also on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or even by E-mail, however you can get a hold of me. Thanks again. And enjoy!

Preview Art Number Two

The second preview pic for My Guardian Demon: Sympathy for the Devil

 

 

Here's the second piece of preview art for my first book; "My Guardian Demon: Sympathy for the Devil." I thought that since this is the first book, the preview art should be a little special. So instead of doing just one and trying to pick which character I wanted it to feature, I did two and used both of them.

What's Happening in October

      So, first off, apologies for the quiet September, but it was quite necessary. I've been getting used to my new classes in school and working really hard. But, I think I'm well settled in now, and though the work isn't letting up, (not that I thought it would), I think I'm ready to start working on MGD again. So, here's whats going on in October:

    More Pinups. There's been a few uncontrollable delays in getting the pinups...up. So I'll be finishing them off this month. But hey, they ARE more interesting to look at than....

    Production Art: All the work that goes into making a comic before a comic. Designs galore, for characters, locations, etc, as well as all my planning for the artworks you see, and possibly the occasional panel roughs and thumbnails.

     What's really going on behind the scenes is that I'm working on scripts right now, but of course that isnt really a showable thing, so I'll be filling up the weeks with descriptions and notes for pretty much everything. In other words, ACTUALLY EXPLAINING WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT. Besides that, I'm kindof flying by the seat of my pants with this thing, but I've got a few ideas. Maybe some research and inspiration posts? Showing you a bit of my method? If anybody has any suggestions I'm all ears.
     But, I can promise you one thing for next week: The final Preview Artwork! See you then!

More Stuff from the First October Post

    Some more pinups, to make up for the weeks I've been away.

Sickness

Dark

The Last of the Daimons

  And that may be it for pinups for now. I've had a bit of a crisis with my markers, a few of them (important ones, of course) are running out, and I am unexpectedly far away from a place where I can buy more. But, I'm going to be going home soon so I'll be able to get more. But look on the bright side, that means more pinups in October, so you'll get a bit of colour in with the massive amounts of black and white coming your way.

Break's Over! It's a New Month

     September has finally come and gone, which means no more spending my non-school hours sitting on my butt. Oh but how I love sitting on my butt... More details on that later. First, art! I'm still going through the process of uploading the stuff I have on my Deviantart onto here, so this is partly stuff that's already there and partly new stuff. But feel happy, you get to see it first! 

Daimon

Azazel

Lilith

 

Ashley, doing what she does best: looking afraid.

 

 

 

Preview Art Number One

The Ashley Preview

    For every book I do a big special Preview/Teaser/Whatever you want to call it Artwork before it's released. Since this is a kind of special book, being the First one, I did two Preview Arts instead of just one. This is the first one, the Ashley one. I'm not sure when exactly I'll be posting the other one, maybe this month maybe next month. I was hoping to post one in August and one in September but I got held back by computer problems, so I think I might have to bump my months.
    But anyways, I'm proud of this picture because I struggled with it a lot. My original idea for the Ashley picture was completely different, and I was so for the original idea but when I actually tried to draw it... it just wouldn't work. So, I ditched it and started this one as just a random new idea one night and it ended up working perfectly. Yay! Hope you guys enjoy it.

Another Art Dump!

   I added the exclamation mark to make it interesting. Just thought I would dump some more pinups, then a full artwork.

Ashley TUDE' POSIN'

Daimon, showin off his fancy demon powers

Roland

New Characters! Michelle, a medium

Dark, another Guarded

And Sickness, his Guardian Demon

     Alright, on to the Preview Art!

Other Places You Can Find Me on the Tubes

   And to finish off the night, here are some links.

DeviantArt  - Like I said in the last post, this is my first site where I post my art so if you have an account, follow me here and you'll probably get updates first. It's also the place to go for the complete descriptions of the last pieces I've posted, as well as more art that may or may not be posted here in the future.

Tumblr  - Tumblr is a site that likes to pretend its a blog but is usually just pictures that the user finds cool. I do post art and other important stuff here though, and I try to have most of the pictures I reblog have something to do with my comic, as well as some neat demonology/mythology stuff.

Facebook  - I usually just use this for personal stuff, but since it's candid you probably get a lot comic news in disguise.

Twitter   - A lot like Facebook and the others, except in less than 142 characters.

  So, that's all of them. Lets be internet friends!

More Art

   Ok, here's the second half of that art dump. I'm not sure how many pics this site can take so pardon my trepidation.

Iblis, one of our villains

Lilith, Azazel's wife/Guarded

Roland, another villain

And another of Ashley and Daimon together

    Alright, I think that's all for now. I'll post some links to my other internet places next, and tomorrow or some time later I will be back with some more art. Next will be bigger, better, more arty arts I guess, instead of just comic pinups. And after that I'll have a complete description of my comic and its characters, etc, so you all actually have an idea of what I'm posting. Hope you like it!

Alright, Time for Some Art!

     So, I have a DeviantArt account that, originally I was going to use to post all my art, and then use sites like this and etc to advertise that art, instead of posting it in a million places at once. I post the occasional piece on the other sites, but the DA is my main art place. But, DA has been giving me a lot of problems lately. They come and go, and usually I'm able to work through them, but you know, a buggy site is a buggy site. So, I think I'd like to use this blog as a back up for my art, just in case.

     Now, I have a bit of art on there already of course, and I'm not gonna post it all at once. Maybe I will later. But, I will be posting a link in my next post so if you want to see more, just hop on over there. So here's a small selection of what's already been posted.

Azazel, with his trusty pitchfork

Daimon, one of our main characters

And finally Ashley, our other main character.

  I dont want to clutter up these posts, so I'm gonna make another with more art next. For complete descriptions, please visit the DA. I'd of course love to provide you with more info, but for now I really can't be arsed to do it and would rather just get some pretty pictures for you to look at.

Just testing to see how the image thing works. This art is by Sylvia Ji.

Hellooo!

Hi! My name is Leah Powell. I'm a writer, artist, animation student and part-time demonologist. Right now, I'm making a comic book series, writing a novelization of that series, going to Algonquin college for animation, and desperately trying to juggle these social network things. I'd like to mainly use this blog to post about my comic, titled "My Guardian Demon." so expect to see lots of art. But you'll probably see lots of other stuff too.

Hope you like it!