P.O.W.! Challenge 56 (A-B) Steampunk and Vision Quests

[donalfall]

THERE HAVE BEEN MAJOR CHANGES MADE, SO READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY!

All future POW! Challenges will roughly follow the format below, unless otherwise noted for a special event.

SPECIAL NOTE: For the next two challenges only, we are dropping the "C" challenge because of the two-month holiday period, which really makes things difficult for everybody. We'll go back to normal in January.

In all cases, you can interpret the art any way you wish, and the more creatively, the better. Any media. B&W or Color, unless we specifically point out otherwise.


Topic 56A: A Steampunk Love Story

Bring the Victoriana! Give us pages of Steampunk, gadgetry and monocles. Extra points for those who give that authentic woodcut look. The general theme is up to you, but make sure to get the love in. Whether it's man-woman, man-man, man or woman-steam gadgetry, whatever. It's a love story, give me the love.

Topic 56B: The Vision Quest

This isn't a World Mythology quest, but it's close. Make it psychedelic, make it metaphorical, make it meaningful. Lean into African and/or Australian themes. The nice one here is that it doesn't need to be linear or have a strict narrative, or even make strict sense, but bonus points come from putting in lots and lots and lots of colour.

Either or Both-Deadline: Sunday, January 15th, 2012, 11:59 pm anywhere in the world.

You can present your solution as a minimum of THREE to any practical maximum you wish which adhere to standard comic specs as below...and, yes, you can have the first or last (or both) as a splash page if you want--just don't get TOO extreme on page counts. REMEMBER: You don't have to have a complete comic to qualify for polling--if you realize you're running out of time, try to get at least THREE pages finished by the deadline. That's all you need to qualify for polling..

Standard Comic Book Size:

--Trim size: 6 5/8" x 10 1/4"
--Live art area: 6" x 9"
--Bleed size before trimming: 6 7/8" x 10 1/2" (1/8" in all directions)

.................................................. .............................


Good luck.

A little note here for all of you who have supported the P.O.W.! Challenges...thankyewthankyewthankyew...

Just a reminder--those of you who didn't get a chance to finish exactly the way you wanted to, or ran into deadline problems, remember there is a sticky section where you can post your stuff when you do get it up to speed.

[arttorney]

So, anyway, are Australia and Africa mandatory or merely suggestions?

[Codexier]

Oo! I'm in for Steampunk Romance.

I'll try starting off with a script this time. My comic is based on the ballet called Capellia, though I've changed the ending for a darker conclusion. I'm setting it in a steampunk Bangkok. I have 48 hours worth of airplane rides between now and the due date, so this will give me something to do. The dialog is crap...I know.

Page 1 - Doctor Coppelius creates the windup girl
- 3 Small Panels - Doctor Coppelius puts the final touches on the windup girl - Inserting gears, sewing parts, putting in an eyeball.
Narration spans all three panels: "Whether out of genius or vanity..."
- We see the final product sitting up on the table (beautiful Frankenstein) with the Dr. grinning
- She emerges into a courtyard and raises her face to the sun (the Dr stands in the doorway).
- Franz sees her from his balcony and wonders who she is. "Who is this beauty...this vision of perfection?"

Page 2 - Franz falls in love
- Close up of the Windup girl looking intently at a butterfly on her mechanical finger. Off stage: "Hello?"
- Franz running into the courtyard huffing... "Hello!"
- The windup girl regards him without emotion.
- Franz takes her hand and we have 3 panels of him dancing with her.
- We see Franz walking away completely smitten (comically...like hearts in the eyes or something silly).
- Swanhilde (his betrothed...which has forgotten about), sees him with the windup girl and is angry. "Humph! I'll show that lousy sap!"

Page 3 - Swanhilde masquerades as the Windup Girl
- Windup girl with Swanhilde's hand over her mouth
- Swanhilde pulling windup girl into dark..she is abducting her
- Swanhilde tying up windup girl
- We see windup girl in the background, bound and naked. Swanhilde is wearing her clothes and painting her face to look like her. She is considerably heavier than the windup girl.
- She is outside in the same courtyard, comically echoing the scene from page 1.

Page 4 - Franz finds out he is in love with a windup girl
- Calls on the doctor in his lab.
- Asks for the doctor's permission to wed the girl
- The doctor laughs and tells him she is just a doll, a plaything.
- Franz storms away embarrassed and vengeful

Page 5 - Franz breaks the windup girl
- Franz confronts the windup girl (which is really Swanhilde). "You...you...played me like a fool. We'll see who the plaything is now!"
- Silouette of violent scene
- Franz hits her in the back of the head with a large wrench.
- Franz is suprised to see blood and realizes what he's done.
- "I just wanted you to notice the fool you were being."
- Last panel - we see wrench in hand, gripped tight and the windup girl looking up at him expectantly.

[donalfall]

arttourney - only suggestions. I'm a laissez-faire topic setter.

Codexier - exciting! Looking forward to seeing it in the flesh, so to speak.

[clitherland82]

Totally want to do the steampunk one. I love the Victorian era, and steampunk's pretty damn cool. Looking forward to it and what everyone comes up with. Now I just need to get something going...

[GRLILLO-GROD!]

Ah, this sounds great! i'm a fan of victorian era finery from mouldering lacquered stripe hatboxes to outsized queen victoria's bloomers on auction. And special bonus happy treat for me - i fell in love earlier this year so i have lots of great fresh source material and a need to record. prolly i'ma push my piece a little more toward turn of the century edwardian / just before wwI / dieselpunk kind of aesthetic if that's okay.

gotta write write write for now! brainstorming > beats development > add to slag heap > outline > roughs

wasn't there talk of a collaborative project?

-dives into sketchbook... splash.

[donalfall]

GRLILLO-GROD! yup, but Ilaekae was out of town and hasn't all the balls lined up right this second. The team-up throwdown is coming soon!

[GRLILLO-GROD!]

okay i have been struggling with the cloud to discern something compelling, then a little while ago i remembered this little gem that i found online um... 4 years ago?

Okay maybe not so much love but still titilating and at least lovely.

ANON, LONDON - 11 APRIL
We met by the river, just in front of the Eye, and it was good to see him again. We didn't have much of a plan for the day so we wandered across the river and up to Oxford Street. After that we weren't really sure what to do. We were going to have some lunch and we were just thinking about where to eat when we came across Hyde Park. I saw the park and I knew what would happen if we lay down together there, and I wanted it; somehow I knew he wanted it too. It was warm and sunny, unseasonably so, and we stretched out side by side on the dappled grass.

We talked and talked, and I made a really long daisy chain, which he picked the daisies for. Whenever he handed me one, our fingers would sort of linger. What happened next felt like a dream, because it was so silent and serene. My hand was on his hand - we weren't holding hands then, just my fingers resting on his palm. Then, and it was completely quiet, neither of us said anything, we just stroked each others' hands and fingers; I ran my hand up and down his arm very gently; I could hardly breathe. I could feel his fingertips trace my palm, and I ran my hand up his arm and across his chest, and then back, slowly.

My head was right next to his and I touched his hair. I giggled a little, and then I kissed his cheek. He turned his head gently over and I kissed his lips. My first kiss, and it couldn't have been more special.

from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6290950.stm

[Angel Intheuk]

Ooooh the vision quest one sounds like fun , I love a good love story too but I dont' know if I'm up for drawing cogs and wheels on everything . Besides I have been reading about Peyote and Ayahuasca for a story cool.

[j.s. sabastian]

so i guess that's it....for now... i just gave up my wacom tablet. which was my only way too post my half ass art work here
but it was for a good cuase. my cousin seem's too think he knows about art becuase he took some graphic design classes and is still using a mouse too do his digital work most likely with vector graphics. he needs this tool.............................................. .besides i need to upgrade!!!!!!! so that will be my christmas present this year LE1600-1700's are dirt cheap finally i can afford one! yeah!

[NicoleWG]

I'm definitely doing the Steampunk one. I'm going to base it off an interview I heard on the radio. It's a married couple were the husband got aseptic meningitis and lost his memory of everything that happened before 1995 and his wife had to teach him how to talk, walk, read, eat, etc and she never divorced him or put him in a care home because of her marriage vows and she loved him. It was very beautiful and I almost cried on the way to work. To steam punk, I think I'll make the husband mostly cybernetic instead. I'll have a script shortly.

[ex-machina]

i'm aiming for the vision quest....hope i don't miss the topic too much
here's the first three panel inked, what so you think? is the (storyline-) gap between the second and the third to big? Well actually there isnt a story between, but maybe how he walks out of the door or down a stair or something like that...
it wouldn't be a problem but i want to keep it simple, otherwise i'll never ever get it done...:-(
Codexier: Sounds a lot like "Der Sandmann" by E.T.A. Hoffmann, a german writer, which is actually the base for the ballet (the story is a lot darker than the one of the ballet) and one of my favorite books! Looking forward to see a steamy Bangkok!

[donalfall]

ex-machina I think the transition is fine, it's a couple of panels that set the scene. If you're doing the Vision Quest story you can be as disjointed as you like any way. Vision/Dream logic doesn't have to be linear. I know this is probably the mundane scene for the set-up, but it can be cool to hint before the Vision part that things are already disjointing.

[ex-machina]

Wooooooooohooooooo Folks!
Never had that much fun to draw before! I think i have some extra nitro boost of all those sugary christmas-cookies!
So here's Page 2 inked. I may put some backgrounds on it, espcially the last panel cries for one...
Idea for the teamcontest: we make teams of two eventually three people, then there is one topic. 1. step: get the story together 2. step: one draws (and inkes) the comic 3. step the other does the coloring or inking etc...
It's not a big wow-idea, but it just came to mind and i thought to share it with you...
oh i will edit my previous post tomorrow so you can see the last panel of page 1...but now its def. to late....

[NicoleWG]

I finished the script, and I'm working on drawing it. I also have some concepts for the wife, but I like them all for different reasons, but I'll scrap the one on the top left probably. I'll figure it out at some point. There's no page limit is there? Mine's kind of long and I can't get rid of anything because it's all important.

[donalfall]

NicoleWG "a minimum of THREE to any practical maximum" don't worry about your page count if its all impirtant. Make sure to post at least 3 if you're dropping behind so that it gets into the poll. Your progress is looking good.

[Scarbo]

Hello.

I signed up at conceptart.org a couple of years ago specifically to take part in the Panels of the Week challenges, but never got around to it ("You last visited: October 25th, 2009 at 05:07 PM" Sorry I'm late, what did I miss?).

Count me in this time.

[ex-machina]

Well, this is just a little new year greeting of my character, a bit early i konw, but i'll be away for new year, so - Happy new year!

NicoleWG: nice sketches so far! looking forward to see more!
Scarbo: Welcome back! It's never too late! :-D

[Scarbo]

Trying to attach a quick sketch; mainly to work out what the characters look like. Now I just need to figure out how to make the story work on four or five pages.

[j.s. sabastian]

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S TOO ALL YOU CRAZY P.O.W! PARTICAPANTS!!!!!! i might uploade some steampunk material soon! tomorrow i move back to the city i just moved from thirty day's ago.. and i am soooooooo sssssooooooo grateful!!!!!!!!! peace- moving blow's

[ex-machina]

some colors...
Scarbo, good sketches, keep them coming!
cheerio!

[Scarbo]

All right, trying to work a bit more on the style for this comic (also getting used to drawing the characters).

I'm also thinking about whether to try hand lettering in Painter; the scribbles in these pictures are done freehand without any guides or planning, so if this is legible it should be possible for me to do the lettering completely digitally. I'll probably switch to pencilling the drawings first, though (as soon as I get back to my scanner).

[Scarbo]

I tried posting some sketches last night but they haven't shown up since I'm a "new user". It worked fine with just one image the other day, but not with two, so I'll try to post one image again. If that doesn't work I'll just have to post text until someone has time to approve my posts.

A badly reproduced image from my sketchbook this time (no scanner until the weekend); just trying to get my ideas going. I'm starting to have the basic outlines of a script as well.

[Scarbo]

I got stuck on character design instead. Still not quite there, but going in the right direction.

[Scarbo]

I'm re-posting one of the sketches that got held up by the spam filter the other day; if I wait any longer I'll just start redesigning the characters again...

[Scarbo]

And here's the other one. The second character here is an old design (from the distant past of the day before yesterday), but I still like the stats.

Now on to actual pages (or at least thumbnails).

[donalfall]

Good going Scarbo! I was busy with visitors over the last few days, just finishing off a few pages for a Steampunk Love Story.

HAPPY NEW YEAR POW'ers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kjesta]

First off, happy new year everyone

I've started so many challenges in my sketches and never once finished anything, I really want to try it this time around and maybe even take a day off to do so. I'm going with A, even though I have no idea yet how I'll manage all that funky mechanics stuff, I really suck at drawing technical stuff.

Usually I write epic-length novels of at least 200k words, so I'm double proud of having managed to find a plot that takes place on 6 pages, haha. It's a bit of a twisted love triangle thing, including self-love of some sort, and well... Dunno. It's weird and I have only written a general script for each page but I'll work it out in more detail tomorrow. This was written quickly in the last hour:

page 1:
- young heroine (F) is shown working on an automaton girl in her workshop when her admirer and only friend (M) comes in with a box of spare parts that he sets down on the ground and says: "I suppose you'll be too busy again to go out for dinner with me tonight...?"
- look at F's face from the insides of the doll's mechanics: "I'm sorry, but..."
- next panel cuts to dolls half-assembled face, F: "...I'm just reaching a critical stage here."
- M looks frustrated but seems to be used to being turned down, F's oblivious voice: "How about giving her curls?

page 2:
- guy sitting by himself in a bar, barkeeper asks "F turned you down again?", M: (downing his glass) "Yeah..."
- barkeeper voice-over: "Even being kicked out by her parents only managed to make her more obsessed with her tinkering. Strange girl." (paired with montage of F at various ages taking apart toys and being chided by her parents, eventually standing by herself with a suitcase in front of her house's doors)
- cut to F in the workshop, she caresses the doll's face with proud fondness
- F falls asleep with her head on the doll's chest
- doll arm is suspended by a wire or sth but it slips and comes to rest across F's back, winds up looking like an embrace

page 3:
- finally the doll is finished, F shows it off to M ("It's taken so long...") and winds up agreeing to a date with him after all, still elated with pride and joy over her creation
- M sitting in a fancy restaurant waiting for her, looks at his watch
- montage of his pocketwatch and scenes of F with her doll: fixing up the doll which results in the doll looking more and more like herself without F noticing
- M closes his watch in frustration after two hours and leaves the restaurant

page 4:
- passage of time: F spends time with the doll and falls in love with her own creation, reading to her, dressing her up, making her dance, sleeping next to her after giving her a goodnight kiss...

page 5:
- M comes in, sees F sleeping next to the doll
- wakes F furiously and tugs her roughly to her feet: "You don't care about anyone but yourself!" (combine with a panel of F and the doll side by side, clearly looking very much alike)
- he grabs something and hits the doll with it, breaking it before storming out
- F is left by herself, looking at the doll's broken face on the ground, we only see her face because it's reflected in a mirror shard (we see her from above)

page 6:
- voice-over of F: "Maybe it's true... I love myself the most in a world that doesn't value what I treasure more than anything. But now I come to think... Is that really a bad thing?"
- she rises from the ground and picks up her tools
- "Maybe it's just enough for me."
- finish with a big shot from outside the window, seeing only the silhouettes of the window bars, her tools, and F holding the doll as she repairs it so that it also appears like she is holding a wounded lover

Oh the sappiness... And the pseudo-philosophical drama! I've got some really nice visuals in my head but I'm not sure I could pull that off. Well, we'll see!

[j.s. sabastian]

@SCARBO i really like your enthusiasm! in our world four weeks go's by really fast. IMP. stop spending anymore time on character design!!!! it's great that have a inspiring story line but you should be thinking/working of character placement in the panels which i haven't seen yet, and even dialogue bubbles. when creating this you must envision the overall picture.
another thing i notice you jump back and forth from digital to natural pencil and paper to save time pick one!------IMP your pencil works a lot stronger.

[Scarbo]

Thanks for the feedback! I've been working on page and panel layouts, but won't get to scan them until tomorrow at the earliest.
My planned workflow goes Pencilled pages -> Digital inking -> Great profit (but I may have to change the last step).