Sam and Fuzzy Extra - April 2020

Woo! It's time for a brand new S&F Extra! Here's a behind the scenes look at what I worked on last month. 

Down here, I'll provide some info about each piece! And in the gallery above, you'll find step-by-step animated process GIFs, sketches, and final illustrations.

Sven and Fluffy
It's time... time for the return of my favourite april fools! I had a lot of fun with the insane background colouring for this art, as you'll see in the process GIF above. I really got to layer on the technicolour madness to fully capture Bonus's unique vision! (Although as you'll see, his actual drawing is not quite as glorious as his imagination.)

Omnibus VI and VII Covers
Here's a preview of the final (or near final, at least) covers for the final two S&F Omnibuses!

Rexford, as you'll see, looks pretty similar to how he appeared in last month's bonus art. But Brain underwent a lot of changes from the versions I shared last month! I adjusted his colouring to maintain more of his traditional solid-black appearance, limiting the shading to some rim lighting effects. I also added a little wisp of smoke behind him, which I think helps balance his dark appearance.

In the end, I decided to go with the traditional red background for Brian's cover. But, I did really like the striking monochromatic grey version that I shared last month! But I think I found a potentially even better place to use that version...

...a slipcase! I'm still budgeting out what these would cost, but I'd love to include a slipcase with this two book set. Hopefully we can do it, if not as part of the base goal, then as a stretch goal. I think that grayscale Brain design looks even cooler and more striking on the side of a slipcase, where it doesn't need to be paired with any text. 

In the gallery above, you'll also see an alternate, all black version of the slipcase that I played around with. I think it looks really cool in it's own way, but I ultimately decided to go with the grey version. (I think it's a little more slick looking, and it also has the added bonus of matching the design style of the Omnibus I and II case!)

Softcover Volume 6 Cover
And here's an updated look at how our Volume 6 cover is shaping up, featuring brand new  colours provided by Invader Zim colourist Fred C. Stressing. This colour scheme is very different from the one I shared last month, but I think it reads much more clearly, especially when the art is integrated into the S&F cover layout. (It also has the added advantage of not looking too similar to any of the previous cover's colour schemes!)

Please ignore the missing elements of the "&" in the logo... I accidentally left them out of the rough cover layout files I gave Fred!

Bunsen's Canadian Madness
I've drawn a bunch of fun commissioned art for Bunsen the science dog in the past. But this Canadiana-stuffed illustration is probably the most fun one yet. I've included a process GIF above so you can see how it all came together! (The poutine was a late addition.)

Dog Battle
Here's another recent commission... this one featuring a dog's epic squirrel-and-rabbit-battling daydream. I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out, and thought it would be a fun one for a process GIF.

Electric Mayhem
As you may recall, I've been drawing a series of commissions of the various members of the Electric Mayhem! I shared the Animal piece a couple of months ago, but now, here's three more: Zoot, Phil, and Janice. That leaves only Lips and Dr. Teeth to go!  (I reposted the Animal piece in the galley above in case anyone missed it.

Thanks, everyone, for all your support! It has always made a huge difference, but that's been doubly true during this quarantine lockdown. You are the best! And I'm looking forward to sharing more fun stuff with y'all.