I’ve had this idea for a while, and the final project has given me a good opportunity to put it into action.  I’ll be making a comic (not quite a graphic novel, as the individual pages won’t necessarily carry the same plot) which follows the mental, social, and emotional development of an automaton–a golem, if you will–made entirely of rock.  I’ve always been pretty fascinated by the complexity of human cognition.  Books such as Godel, Escher, Bach, and Stanley Kubrick’s films, really draw me in.  I also like to study my own thoughts a lot, taking several hours each week to reflect on how I’ve acted, whether or not my actions were in line with my thoughts, etc., in an attempt to better understand myself and my mind (is it fair to make a distinction between the two?).

Here’s some concept art for the golem.  Medium: Wacom Bamboo Pen Tablet via GIMP in Windows 7.

These are the original hi-res (1024×768) drawings, so if your computer doesn’t like big images, don’t click on the thumbnails!

The first sketch has been in my head for months now, but only recently put down digitally.  I’m not feeling it all the way, and will probably change a few things.

The second sketch (is it still a sketch if it has color?) is the product of a lot of experimentation on my part.  I’m usually one for strong outlines and well-defined edges, which comes through in some of the calligraphy work I’ve done.  But when I accidentally disabled the outline layer, I saw that the rough color worked pretty well.  It fits with the “earthy/natural” feel I was going for.  For you GIMP junkies, I achieved the “imperfections” in his rock by burning some random squiggles and then smudging them until I was satisfied with their level of blending in.  I used a similar method for creating the chunk taken out of his chest where a heart would be–yes, there’s symbolism there!

Criticism is welcome.