#saura

THE WORLD OF MINI DISCO:

This is not a post I ever expected to be able to make honestly! When I started this blog “10 years from now” wasn’t something I ever seriously considered. It felt like forever.

Hello eternity!

In some ways it feels like nothing has changed at all, both in good and frustrating ways

In others, especially this month, things have changed way way too suddenly

I’m so incredibly grateful to everyone who’s stuck around, both since the beginning and since I restarted in 2020

近場に咲いていたソメイヨシノと枝垂れ桜

GREETINGS WEIRDOS OF TODAY AND ROBOTS OF TOMORROW IT'S ME, CLARK!

Would you also believe it’s been a little over two years since my last Sketch BOOM? Of course not! Most of you are undoubtedly scratching your heads wondering what that is. Sketch BOOMs are basically doodle dumps where the goal was to cram in as many characters as I could. The record was set in 2015 with 108 characters, by the way. Pity most of those characters haven’t been seen since then. In the meantime focus has been turned towards other inhabitants of the Clarktooniverse, like Saura here! Before the tragic death of George Floyd, the blue beast’s human persona was meant to be a white teenager. It was that moment of senseless violence that made me wonder if more could be done with my stories. After all, storytelling is meant to teach empathy. Jim Henson created Fraggle Rock as a bid to achieve world peace. Even if that goal was never achieved, he had the courage to try. Thus inspired by real world events, The Owl House, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Disney’s Dinosaur, and Korra, Saura’s human persona became a black-latina lesbian named Sarah Bosewick. Oh, did I mention her last name was also a tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman?

Being a black-latina made life difficult for poor Sarah. Her anger issues didn’t help matters. Nor did suddenly gaining the ability to transform into a bright blue humanoid dinosaur. Y’know, average relatable problems. Given these great powers has offered Sarah to fight back against social injustice, corrupt politicians, and other prehistoric creatures. All in the name that the world will be a better place for her little sister. In the meantime she also serves as the subject for my first character-focused boom. Expect one of these every month. For now I figured Saura and friends would make a good subject for this month, seeing as June has Pride Month, Dinosaur Day, and Juneteenth. Lucky coincidence, no? With all that out of the way, let’s check out each sketchie from right to left.

[1] THINKING OF YOU

Patricia Arif was one of the first few individuals to learn Sarah Bosewick’s secret. It helped that the Islamic girl was outside crying when her fellow student transformed for the first time to save someone. Up until then, Patty’s life was perfect. She was popular in school thanks to her industrialist father practically owning their hometown of Fosslin, Arizona. Until he filed for a divorce that is. Not only did it shatter the illusion of her perfect family, but soon the girl’s friends abandoned her too. Soon after Patricia wore her mother’s old hijab to hide her tears. Luckily she found real friends in Sarah and Darwin (more on him later), even helping develop tools and a costume for the former. A form fitting costume that the taller girl doesn’t think about all the time. Just like Sarah totally doesn’t imagine her girlfriend in a burkini. Totally.

You can thank @zernna and @burningthrucelluloid for the inspiration regarding said burkini, by the way. Alec is a frequent collaborator on these stories and paid the anarchistic alien to draw these two lovely ladies rocking some summer swimwear. I’ve always meant to draw it for myself and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Same goes for finally giving a face for Sarah Bosewick, though not without trial and error. Full disclosure, I actually edited this last minute. Our titular heroine’s hair originally looked like what you saw in Patty’s thought cloud. Then it dawned on me how hard it’d be to draw so it was switched out for a pixie haircut. Look closely and you can see where the edits are. Especially since Patricia and Sarah are too busy looking at each other.

[2] HAIL TO THE KING

Saura’s appearance in the world also brought back some regular dinosaurs back to life. This included a tyrannosaurus the townsfolk quickly named ‘King’. Funny enough he was actually set on being a female inspired by the rex from Jurassic Park. However, that was before I envisioned a mighty menace with a flock of feathers around its neck akin to a lion’s mane. Ironically drawing it proved to be a big pain in the ass so the feathers were downplayed. Oh well. It’s still a T-Rex and Saura’s gonna make a habit out of punching it in the face. BE IMPRESSED!

[3] PREHISTORIC POWERHOUSE

Like I stated before, Alec is a frequent collaborator on this story. One of his contributions is Robin, a hyper-evolved bracheosaurus who’s been around the block. Mainly due to being older than she looks. Her backstory has yet to be fully developed, but she’s a stubborn old girl harboring a heavy ‘down with the man’ attitude. Unlike Saura (or ‘Idiota’ as the elder calls her), Robin gave up on civilization years ago and is contempt living in the desert. What we do know is that the older dino was once a female luchador. At least that’s what I decided after drawing this outfit. I also have her a head design harkoning back to Eda and Camila from the Owl House. Will probably change the hairdo in the future to be longer. Until then, remember that size doesn’t matter. Unless you’re a huge-ass brachiosaur. 

[4] DARLIN’ DARLA

One of my new rules moving forward is to include one villain in every BOOM. My mind is full of evil characters and it feels like they never get enough attention. Thus I’d like to introduce you all to Darlin’ Darla. She’s a Utahraptor with a nasty attitude. Girl was raised by an abusive foster mother before becoming a badass, biking bounty hunter with her sisters. Eventually someone hires them to take out our hero and are quickly taught why that’s a bad idea. Not that it ever stops the cranky cowgirl from trying. 

Darla almost didn’t make the cut for this compilation. The main reason was because her head is shaped like a normal dinosaur and I hesitated to finalize that design. Anybody who draws dinosaurs will know these animals are hard to draw from the front. Luckily those other artists convinced me to go with this. Such as Zerna, who once admitted drawing her shark demon Sadi from any view other than the side was a pain. Heck, even Genndy Tartakovsky cheated when depicting velociraptors in Primal. If even amazing artists like these two struggle with that, then I can find a way. Maybe the colors can be swapped out too. What was used here isn’t as flattering as I had hoped. Expect that to be changed in the future, especially since Darla’s demanding it. One has to wonder what’s worse: her guns or her teeth!

[5] BET ON THE VET!

People are often surprised to meet Sarah’s adopted brother, Darwin Doolittle. What? You can’t see the family resemblance? After living his life in an abusive household, the Bosewicks took him in around the same time Saura had discovered her powers. The process has not been without its injuries. Lucky for the big blue brawler, Darwin wants to be a vet. So much so that he’s sworn to a life of veganism, a fact his friends constantly tease him over. Lovingly so, mind you. Despite any differences, Darwin is a member of the family. Everybody knows this young man is gonna go far. Helps that he’s one of the first to get an up-close study of dinosaurs.

Honestly, I threw in Darwin here to fill some space. From the start it was determined he’d be featured in this BOOM, just not how. Helping an injured parasaurolophus seemed pretty cool. Just be thankful you’re not seeing what Dar is…

[6] I KISSED A DINO (AND I LIKED IT!)

Really, what would’ve been the point of all this if I didn’t draw Patricia and Sarah smooching at least once? Like I said on BlueSky: GAY DINOSAURS ROCK!

[7] YOU’RE MY HERO

At the end of the day, one question remains: Why? Why would Sarah subject herself to this lifestyle? One that involves facing down psychotic predators, crooked cops, and greedy governors. Pain is a constant. Especially when it seems like the fighting never really stops. The world already spat in her face, so why should she even care? Because that world is home to Girasol Bosewick. It’s that spark of optimism in this five year old’s eyes is what gives her older sibling the strength to keep going. Ultimately Saura wants a world where her hermanita never has to experience what she did. A world free of judgmental stares, false assumptions, and itchy trigger fingers. Picturing a future where little Gigi is free to be whoever she wants to be? You better believe it’s worth every broken bone. That’s why, if you asked Saura, she’d say Girasol is the real hero.