#tsarcomicsart

Intermission Pt. 4: A New Year!

Howdy, everyone!  We hope everyone has had a lovely and restful holiday season, because now we're back to work with some more content for you all!  

For the next few weeks, I'll be continuing to explore different elements of the world of TSAR while Kiki prepares our next crop of pages for the comic (with "assistance" from the Small Bean, who continues to grow rapidly and contribute a variety of dinosaur-like noises to our weekly business calls.  Thanks for your support, Small Bean!).  Expect another comic-related update around the end of January.  Thanks for your patience and thanks so much for coming along with us on this trip!

In the meantime, here's a protoype design for one of Tanoba's largest - and also laziest - local predators, the Rosy-Footed Felt Mime!  These whiskered tarantulas hatch from the egg entirely pink and grow into burrowing behemoths who spend almost their entire lives inside their dug-outs.  Due to their ponderously slow movements, they cannot chase most prey, so they hunt by sticking their front paws - whose fur and trailing hairs closely resemble the branches of a mature rosefelt  - outside their house to entrap lizards, birds and other small animals who attempt to use the "tree" for shelter or food.  A sticky secretion ensures they won't get away before the felt mime eventually gets around to transporting her lunch from her feet to her face.

Oh, to be a rosy-footed felt mime.  Chilling at home 24/7, eating delivery takeout in her Chanel boots.  If we could all be so lucky.

Intermission 7

Some further experiments with hairstyles for our comic!  Tanoba's a big land and covers a lot of regional differences in culture, but Everspring's history as a trade hub brings styles from all over the province into conversation with each other. This is especially true around holiday times as residents and visitors alike wear their traditions on proud display - from the elaborate beaded pastoral motifs worn in lowland farming towns to the structured updos woven around carved wood-and-bone frames favored by hunting communities in the mountainous north.

I'd love to do more detailed pieces that elaborate on these ideas, but that's a challenge for future me.  On to other projects in the meantime!

Have a lovely week, all :)

Intermission 6

Since I didn't post last week, here's the second of two posts for you today :) Here's a few more examples of Tanoba's local wildlife, enormous arachnid monsters aside.  Queen Kalan's Eagles, though not the largest eagles in the region, are a favored companion of hunters and serve as inspiration for a variety of regional art forms, from local dances to traditional wedding garb to tales of heroic deeds.  They share the canyons with the Cobble-Scaled Rattlesnake, an ambush predator whose dappled hide allows it to blend into the blue-speckled gravel at the base of King Oba's ivory deposits.  Be careful if you decide to go combing the canyons for souvenirs - those pretty pebbles might turn out to be more than you bargained for!

Have a superb week, everyone :D

Intermission 5

(dated: Jan 15)

Hey all!  It's been a bit of a rough week for getting things done (a series of pinched spinal nerves combined with repeated long drives to the barn to break ice for a bunch of thirsty, snowed-upon horses will do it to ya), but that certainly doesn't mean the creative gears aren't still cranking along!

I've been tossing around some rough ideas on Tanoba's hair-styling trends this week, exploring what sorts of 'dos might be common in various contexts.  These ones want to lean a bit toward the fancy side, I think.  I'm still searching for the shapes I want, but expect further explorations on this down the road!

Introducing our story's home city!  Plus a little, ah...editing by certain yet-to-be-identified locals.