Hey, Steemit! I’m at @caffetto with @guthrie. Just commenced a few hours of cryptofellowship and Magic: The Gathering with @iamaredbar. Those two things seem to be all we talk about these days.
Earlier this week, I wrote about how my crypto-investments are bringing me closer and closer to finally realizing my dream of doing comic book illustration full time. You can read that blog post at, “STEEM, EOS and BitShares is allowing me to pursue my dream job!”. I think that’s the calling card of a true dream job. The thing that you think about doing all day and night, while you’re ambling through other errands and responsibilities. For me, that’s definitely working on comics.
True to my word, I did feel I could afford a night of drawing, for mental health reasons, if nothing else. I’ve been thinking about my crypto-STEEM-inspired comic project a lot lately. I’ve consistently been meeting with friends and mentors, gathering story and plot material. I’ve amassed an entire cast of characters, one of which is the subject of tonight’s artwork.
His name is Biny Sleaze. He’s a Ukrainian oligarch, turned hacker. Solely responsible for taking down a top 10 blockchain with a devastating breach and hijacking of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency. With that money, he lives in seclusion in Vang Vieng, Laos, operating an opium den. Through a fog of drugs and alcohol abuse, Biny is still surprisingly lucid when orchestrating relentless bounties on the dark web, paying high rewards for successful hits on prominent political figures in the Western world.
This sketch was just a treatment to further develop the character and where he lives, at least in my head. I imagine him in a dark, wooden den lit with candles and oil lamps. Miserable and barely conscious, he yells at the women operating within the confines of his home/business. I have big plans for this asshole. I intend to make him one of the least likable characters in the history of comic book fiction.
All done on the iPad Pro using Procreate and Apple Pencil. Thanks for reading. For more comics, illustration, photography and the stories behind the work, follow me here @kommienezuspadt!
As much as your photography amazes me, I’m so happy to see the ratio of comic and illustration related posts increasing!
Biny is looking great. Glad you’re fleshing out the story and gaining momentum. I’ve been doing a lot of research reading and reading about writing/story structure recently. I’ve had the feeling that I’m ready to start the artwork on a first issue myself, but then I realized I had a lot more writing work to do before diving in. Or perhaps I’m just subconsciously nervously stalling...
HA! Same here @bryan-imhoff, but I did that nervous stalling for years when I was "...working on THEIA", and but the time I got a few pages in, the entire plot of my sci-fi thriller, actually became a reality. It was about a bioengineer that successful adapted extremophile DNA to that of a human. One day I woke up, and six of my friend that were familiar with my comic sent me links to articles where it was already being done. This comic is about the mass adopting and rapid exchange of wealth from fiat to crypto. I better move my fucking ass.
BTW, years ago my friend Neal and I had a thing where we had a certain day of the week we both had to do an art exchange and present the other with a finished comic page. It was a great way of keeping us both on task. You and I should talk terms to make that happen, lol. Big stakes. Like, 50.000 STEEM to the other person if they don't present their pages. If both of us have them done, no money changes hands :P
Haha, accountability is everything. I am in the middle of writing Star Circuit and it's a huge ordeal. When I start doing the actual pages I'd be down for a challenge like that.
You actually do once again have that pressure of reality catching up to your vision... so by all means haul ass! On the other hand, I’m working on a tale of apocalyptic magic... so if that comes to pass, similarities to my story will be the least of my worries!
I was honestly kicking around the idea of a production “wager” myself. Now that you’ve suggested it... it’s pretty much a must happen, although I think you’ll be getting a lot of Steem off me! Let’s definitely hash out details, maybe direct message me on Discord.
Running into that problem all cyberpunk authors have. Can't speculate faster than reality when trying to write near future fiction.
WOW!!! You are an awesome artist! Have you ever used micron pens? That would be a really cool way to ink this drawing. :)
Very well thought out character, love the name. Look forward to the others.
The achievement of dreams is extraordinary. The pencil painting is a masterpiece. Good luck always for you @kommienezuspadt. Thank you for sharing.
Good work! I'm also finding that crypto currencies and even blogging here on steemit has given me a degree of freedom in regards to what I will be doing in the future. Almost like a very high maintenance Universal Basic Income!
Great drawing and story!
Insane!
This is awesome man!! He does look like he is barely conscious, ;DI love how he is holding the cigarette on his left hand and resting it on the table. I really suck at posing my characters they always look like puppets lol. Waiting for more characters sketches 👍
So excited to see this book taking shape again. I remember reading the first pages when you put the dialogue up here on steemit and I loved it. Can't wait to see more!
Beautiful drawing, Incredible, Very interesting friend. The idea is always to follow and do what you want, which always brings good results. Your illustrations for the comic are great and very good. I have always followed your contests and the covers of each one have been great. Congratulations and success.
You are great and more digital, as you achieve. I love it
Hardcore AF
Sick
Pretty cool man. How do you like using the iPad Pro? I hear a lot of mixed reviews.
The character looks great in his unlikeable appearance. In German there is a great word for it: "unsympathisch"... always thought, the English equivalent "unlikeable" just isn't strong enough.
This is going to be an amazing project and I'm glad we can follow you here on your path.