Esa concepts

So, yesterday I made a new warlock character on World of Warcraft, and caught myself trying to create a character for her. It all started by trying to decide what talent spec I wanted to make her - affliction or destruction. I didn't really want to go the typical "leveling spec" route of demonology with her. I wanted to have fun and just run quests with her.

I started formulating a personality - she was wearing an heirloom headpiece, so I decided that as a worgen, she was ashamed of her face and didn't like people looking at it. Depsite her implied meek, sweet personality, I thought it would be funny that she actually had a bleak outlook on the world, and just wanted to set it all on fire. So, I went with Destruction.

Something clicked in the back of my brain. One of the things I've really been struggling with lately for August Rye is that I needed a female character that could fit somewhat into the circle of August's 'friends', or rather a loose collection of people August can somewhat get along with. The only female August's age was a girl who she hated, plus was dating the boy that she was smitten with. This creates a bit of a sterotyping problem, because on the surface it looks like 'two females who can't get along because they like the same man.' I'm not too big on that kind of cliche, so I've been trying to think of a suitable female character to fit into the narrative. The problem is that the main character, August, is not exactly a friendly little ball of sunshine, so the trick was finding someone that was not so like everyone else that she'd get shot down by August as just another peasant. No, this girl had to be someone special.

So yesterday, Esa was born. Roughly around the same age as August and Billy, Esa roams around the demon world, keeping only undead and a few other demons as company. She's absolutely erratic and eccentric when compared to the main cast, which may be part due to her upbringing with other demons in the demon realm. She absolutely hates when people look at her actual human face, to the point of being ashamed of it. Instead, she always wears a hood, or a mask that resembles the face of the species of one of her closest undead companions. Her main powers are lighting things on fire and necromancy on Thursdays. When it comes to her outlook on life, she sees no problem with her rampant acts of destruction - as far as she's concerned, everywhere you look is something that needs to be destroyed, so you might as well watch it all burn. Despite her bleak outlook on life, she's very pleasant and polite, if you can get past her cultural quirks.

The Demon Lords cards

For August Rye, there's a huge backstory and world behind the "demons" that inhabit the story. The Demon Lords are not actually particularly in leagues with one another, but a select number of highly powerful and influential creatures and characters in the demon realm. In the story's present day canon, there are currently eleven lords, with several old relevant ones either deceased, defeated, or missing.


Since I picked up some small 2.5x3.5" bristol cards, I've been drawing these demon lords (and some other characters) onto individual cards. I plan on coloring them eventually, but I want to get them all drawn and inked first. The twelve I have in progress so far are nowhere near close to the actual number of characters, but maybe a little over halfway.

In order: Helvizar, Sangri, Ymara, Cheshiredame, Lilith, Galeo Cavier, The Songstress, The Reaper, Snuggles, Billy Bay, August Rye, and Ravenfang.

I'll post more when these are finished and when I have the rest drawn as well. August Rye's been on my mind lately again, which is good. I'm getting inspired to get back to work on the story, just in time for the summer. :)

What is August Rye?

August Rye is the title of a comic world and story that I've been building for the past several years. While it's not off the ground yet, it's getting fairly close. The story has a fairly well-grounded world built for it and has central characters and themes... now I just have to find the time to sit down and do it!

The story is in a modern, American setting, starting in a fictional metropolis called Finn City. It also explores another realm attached to ours, named, affectionately, the demon world. The demon realm holds many monsters - some from our legends, and some that have never been heard of before. Demons come in all sorts of species, with strange powers and ridiculously long lives.

Though there may have been a time where the demons were indifferent to humans, after the disastrous vampire wars, the demon world has become a much more dangerous place for them. Some demons even come into our world to wreak havoc, and so many humans took up the tradition of demon hunting centuries ago to defend themselves and their homes. In the modern day, the Dreamland Operation, based in Finn City, boasts themselves as the most effective demon hunting organization in existence. Two years prior to the comic storyline, they began training a young girl named August Rye, and she's set to become one of the most notorious demon hunters in history.

Not much else I can say rather that that, because that would take forever, and I have to keep some secrets, right? For now, have a peek at the bios of some of the characters, along with their design sheets:

The Wall and Garden Leader

I drew this picture for my 30 characters challenge, but as the rest have been mostly sketches, I figured this picture needs a bit more of a formal location. I'm trying to avoid using my deviantArt at the moment, so I'll post it here!

Some sketches from my pocket sketchbook

So, to start off, here's a few tiny things that I've been doodling in a little 3x4" sketchbook that I carry around in my pocket... everywhere. I've actually had to start a new one!  They're pretty cheap, though, so I don't mind.

Haltenti, the Wizard in Pink... or pink and yellow marker-pens, at least.

Cheshiredame, posing for a poster?

This was an arc 2 cover image idea that didn't turn out too well.

An apple or two I drew from scratch with my new colored pencils.

I had a brief flirtation with using ball-point pen. Then I lost the pen I was using...