Gah! The cuteness!

See? Told ya red pandas are obnoxiously cute.

Red Panda (coloured this time)

A coloured version of my Red Panda character. At the moment I don't have access to my regular drawing program so this was made using Toon Boom Harmony.

Red panda

Some first attempt sample sketches of a red panda character. I wasn't quite sure what their fur pattern was like so I did a Google image search and let me tell you that was incredibly excruciating. Red pandas are excessively adorable to the point it's almost criminal. It's like their cuteness combines the best qualities of puppies and kittens.

This sketch is also a pretty good example of the design process I take when drawing a particular species for the first time. I rarely go in with the intention of designing a character for use. I begin first by simply just figuring out the basics of the way the animal looks. I usually don't think about how I want the particular character to look at this point so my first attempts are often a bit rubbish as I'm finding my feet in terms of basic appearance.

Once I believe I know what I'm doing I then go ahead to design something that looks a bit better. I focus a bit more on character build, eye shapes - essentially the 'look' of the character. I tend to start drawing a male character, then once that looks fine, I try drawing a female. This then usually results in me thinking the female looks amazing, much better than the male and instantly decide they need to be incorporated into my Dogs Of War series.

These sketches however, are an exception. Right from the start I wanted to design a female red panda. All the drawings before her design were merely a formality. The other thing is that while I like her design and feel it's one of the better looking characters I've ever drawn, I don't have a huge urge to place her in DoW. The problem is that I can't have her as a main character (already have too many) and don't want to relegate her to an extra or incidental character, as that would make her an established character, which could complicate things if I then wanted to incorporate her in a different role, or even use her in something that isn't Dogs Of War.

So as much as I like her and will keep drawing her, I have no intention (yet) to use her in anything. I haven't even come up with a name.

Unstable Housewife - title

This is from the title sequence of my latest animation project. I'm working on a 2 minute promo reel related to the Unstable Housewife series I might get around to making someday. Don't know how long this will take - work keeps me fairly busy and usually I want to unwind after work by playing computer games or something.

Speaking of which, my new animation job is a lot of fun. I really do wish I could tell you about it, but I'm under a non-disclosure agreement, so I cannot reveal anything.

Trifecta MK Three

Here it is - the final word in armoured over-the-topness.

This is where all my love and effort goes. The first two Trifectas were mere stepping stones to this point.

Quite a number of changes in this version. Not just the sleeker look, the guns have been upgraded to railguns (so they no longer need muzzle brakes) and the turret has been shifted to the rear of the chassis. This means the crew now operate from the rear, which has necessitated a few more alterations. The engine has been relocated to the middle of the chassis, which separates the driver from the rest of the crew and means communication can only be achieved via radio. I wasn't keen on this - it felt like too much of a flaw. If the electrics failed (ie through battle damage), then the driver and commander would not be able to communicate with each other and would not be able to fall back on something like shouting directly at each other, as there is now a noisy engine in the way. However while re-reading over one of my books on artillery, I found that there are vehicles that use radio between driver and commander, so my concerns were at ease since this occurs in real life. Having the crew at the back did also mean the rear armour would need to be increased for added protection. This would add weight and potentially affect the performance, but since this is a cartoon, I'm ignoring it completely.
The side skirts were not only another means of increasing the armour, but helps to make the MK III look more like an armoured beast (in my opinion) and also saves me from having to draw the damned wheels.
The addition of the 50 cal machine gun (on the turret's right hand side) was something I only added during when I drew these images. Figured I may as well up-gun the MK III a little more. Oh, and that thing on the back of the turret? I have no idea what it is. I added it because it helped to add detail, but have not thought about any kind of functionality. The best I can think of is a stowage compartment, but it's placement makes it difficult to easily access.

In other news, I have scored myself a new animation job, starting next week. So you know what that means - my blog's going to get neglected again! However I'm not going to let things get as bad as it did last time. It just means I may not be updating my blog as frequently for a while. We'll see how things go.

Trifecta MK Two

Ok, here's the Trifecta MK2. The Universal Alliance is learning by this point. The armour has been slightly improved and substantial muzzle brakes have been added to each barrel. However firing all six barrels at once is still ill-advised.

I'm a bit 'meh' with the MK2. I don't think I'm quite finished with the design. The idea is that it's meant to be something of a 'middle ground' between the looks of the MK1 and the MK3 and I feel that this could do with a bit more refinement.

Trifecta Battletank Mark One

TRIFECTA, MOTHERFUCKERS!!

Sorry, got a bit carried away there.

I loves me a Trifecta. It's an iconic part of the Dogs Of War series (even though they don't appear until the middle of series one). It's a tank fielded by the Universal Alliance, basically in the role of an overpowered siege unit. Like the Tiger tanks used by the Germans in World War Two, the Trifecta is a representation of the power and might the Universal Alliance holds.

If you think slapping six barrels on a tank is a dumb idea, just remember this came from the mind of a 14 year old. A lot of ideas are dumb at that age (you should have seen some of my early Dogs Of War scripts. Actually, no - you shouldn't). However despite now being much older and wiser, the Trifecta is something I still hold on to dearly.

Influenced by the twin-barreled tanks from the Command & Conquer games, the Trifecta was something I came up with early on in development of Dogs Of War. In a way, I came up with it before Dogs Of War actually became 'Dogs Of War'. Since then it has almost become a character in its own right. Over the years I have tweaked the look and design which led to the decision that the Trifecta would go through several variations over the course of the series. The pictures here are of the MKI. I know it looks like a box on wheels, but that was intentional. The MKIII is intended to be the sleekest of the three, so I went back to the MKI design to ugly it up a bit.

I'm quite attached to my Trifectas (if that wasn't already obvious) and have always been a little paranoid someone would create something similar, but so far I've been lucky. The closest anyone has gotten was the MARV tank from Command & Conquer 3 - Kane's Wrath and that pirate ship (I forget the name) with the six bow-mounted cannons from the Pirates Of The Carribean films. However to my surprise, it turns out that six-barreled tanks actually did exist in real life. Well, they're classed more as an artillery piece than a tank, but a tracked, armoured vehicle with 105mm guns - that's close enough. It was called the M50 'Ontos', developed by the US army during the 1950's. Interesting design, but different to that of a Trifecta.

So anyway, my Trifecta is now out there on public display, for all to see. I can sit back, knowing I can now claim originality so if anything like this pops up in someone else's work, I will assume they got the idea from here - whether or not that actually ends up being true.
Grr! My Trifectas! Mine!