Creatures of Khemet: Part 2

One of the main reasons I loved reading mythology as a child was the monsters. I imagine the old story tellers sitting around trying to think of new ways to frighten the kids.

"Okay this time, a donkey, but with SIX HEADS. That's bloody scary."

"No way man, in this one we need something really damn weird. What are the most dangerous animals we've got?"

"Hmm, crocodiles are pretty bad?"

"Great! And they're ugly, that's good. Let's have that be the head."

"Oo oo! And it needs great big claws and powerful arms, it could have a bit of lion in it."

"Nice. If it has a lion mane too, that would hide the bit where the crocodile head joins. Now then, the backside. What's the scariest bum in Egypt?"

"Uuhhh, a hippo bum?"

"You're a goddamn GENIUS"

The devourer, Ammut. Wonderfully retarded, the best of all the Egyptian demons. I wonder if I'll ever manage to make it actually scary?

Sekhmet

(Gosh this is up later than I'd hoped! Sorry all!)
Sekhmet, lady of red linen and Queen of Khemet. She's the only known living god
and has ruled the galaxy for hundreds of years. Famously attempted to massacre all of mankind once, but was stopped when the other gods got her very very drunk. No one talks about that anymore. They would rather not have their heads ripped off.

I think I'm still trying to find her a little visually, she's meant to be a warrior goddess so I want her to be huge and athletic. Also mature. Yeah a goddess like Nut (see my first page for the comic) who represents the sky is going to be a little sexy and elegant, but Sekhmet needs to look like she can smash your face in with her thumb. Currently I worry that she looks a little too much like a guy in drag. But part of the fun of this blog is showing you all how the development is going, and I'll keep you up to date.

Birmingham Comic Con

Well Dave and I had a very enjoyable weekend, meeting up with some incredibly cool people and handing out fliers for our comics whenever we could. Thanks everyone for the encouragement! I got some much appreciated critique on my work for the comic, and I'm really happy about the direction it's going in right now.

We're already in the process of booking tables and hotels for the Bristol convention in May, hopefully we'll be going with quite a few of our colleages so our tables should have a few very different comics for sale.

Expect some new sketches and comic images here tonight!

Sketch Dump 4

So it's been a while! Again. On top of the Tom and Jerry colouring work came a few other paid jobs and that can only be a good thing. Funding for our personal comic work for example! I intend to regularly keep posting new sketches in the run up to the Birmingham convention in October, which I am definitely attending. Here are a few sketches from the last few weeks to kick things off.

The Commander

The Commander

This is the highest-ranking, most heavily protected man in the galaxy - not that he needs it, judging by the size of him. His name isn't on file, he doesn't leave fingerprints and he doesn't answer questions. This is the high commander of the grand army of Queen Sekhmet, whose career is as long as his cape and glittering as his armour. But he doesn't need that army of his. He is an army. He could physically ruin you without any effort.

But he doesn't. What intruiges Shay about the Commander when they inevitably meet (Shay is the galaxy's most wanted outlaw, don't forget), is that he is in fact a very personable and courteous gent, and seems rather fond of Shay. This comes as a surprise, because he also appears to be very good friends with Ahjin, Lazul's villanous high priest father and Shay's deadliest enemy.

It can't last.

A kick up the bottom!

So while writing out my restock of indie graphics for my comic shop, one of our regulars pops in and asks me if I've seen the latest issue of the Judge Dredd Megazine. We had sold out of it so I was thrilled when he came back with a copy for me and showed me the small press article by David Baillie. Well! Now Dave and I have had our blog mentioned in the Megazine I have had a flood of complicated feelings: a) Oh man, that is so terribly cool! b) Oh my god we haven't posted in ages, that must look awful!

While I've been getting little bits done since I got back from my holiday, we had a sudden influx of paid work and I'm still settling into the new routine. In my opinion however, this is not a good enough excuse for the lack of updates! And with the Birmingham convention coming up and me definitely now going I'm not allowed to make any excuses any more.

So thanks to everyone who has taken an interest in our little blog, I think you all deserve some new artwork as soon as I get home from work.

Creatures of Khemet Part 1: Snakes

Well, demonic monstrous firebreathing snakes to be precise. The sort that worship Chaos and the giant snake Apophis, who was defeated centuries ago by Ra. They range in size themselves and tend to stick to the more remote areas of Khemet. The giant snakes generally mistrust humans, though some have been spotted working with members of Nemesis Fleet in recent years.

Cobras are a different matter. The species as a whole is very sacred to Khemetians as they are a symbol of the goddess Wadjet and are magical creatures. While they are far smaller and sweeter than the chaos serpents, the cobras of Khemet should not be underestimated. They can breathe fire too!