Back in Volume 1, I introduced the character of Grissom, a female ex-partner of Roka and Ril. Back in that commentary, I mentioned that she was originally designed as a male character until my wife rightfully pointed out that the cast was almost entirely male and could stand to have more parity. At that point, I reworked Grissom’s design (interestingly, without changing any actual dialogue or personality) and ended up with a character that, despite her short page time, has become a reader favorite.
Azarek is pretty much what Grissom was supposed to look like. When it came time to figuring out his look, I realized Grissom’s old, unused design would fit the character perfectly.
Speaking of which, I’ll touch upon concept design stuff in these commentaries, but the bulk of the actual sketchbook material will be on my Patreon, where backers can get access to much more concept work for characters, costumes, weapons, ships, etc, along with design commentary. If that’s your thing (or if you just want to help support the series), be sure to check out my Patreon!
On the coloring front, I usually do a slight tweak pass on the pages I get back from the colorists. On this page, in addition to those slight tweaks, I also added the pattern to the sheer parts of the female alien’s outfit. The deco was always part of the design from the concept sketch phase, but it wasn’t something I bothered trying to have Cyril do and figured it would just be easier for me to add it later myself.
Ahaaaa! I WAS indeed getting some Grissom vibes from this guy’s design! Awesome you were able to utilize the extra parts from Grissom’s creation! Also leads to extra fun theory crafting of the possibility that Azarek’s and Grissom’s species might have had a common ancestor at some point that eventually split off into the two we have today ;D
(Also, until canon maybe someday proves to me otherwise, I choose to believe that the concept version of Grissom with the upturned horns instead of the ram horns is actually what the male dimorphic version of her race might look like, haha~)
Really, I just have so much fun with this universe and trying to imagine all the fantastical space science and biology these characters might have going on, it’s awesome!! 😀
Interesting thought about the different male/female horn shapes. I do like to have differentiating features between members of the same race. Glad you’re liking the alien biology. I’m sure some hard-core science fiction readers would find fault with some designs (which I get), but I mostly go for the fun look that I’m going to enjoy drawing!
I can see how two pairs of eyes can be handy in a place like this.
What would roog taste like?
Yes, extra eyes are always good. Cember, with his six eyes, would be even better suited! As for Roog? Hmmm…what would it taste like. Let’s say buffalo wings. Ha ha.
At first I thought they were married or something…
The night is still young, I guess. Ha ha.
she switched to contacts so the other kids wouldn’t call her 8 eyes…. yuknyuk.
Ha ha! Good one!