And now, it's time for an explanation!
15 years ago
Okay, I've been meaning to write something like this for quite awhile, but haven't really had the time. There seems to be some confusion about some of my work, and the characters involved in said work. So hopefully, this little journal will help to explain things.
Firstly, I need to explain the premise behind the Skunkworks studio, and the products they make. The studio itself is an advertising and modeling agency. They produce photos and ads for various companies, whether it's someone selling cars, a new clothing line, a cologne advertisement, or whatever. This is their usual fare.
But the studio also produces its own line of material, namely, the Skunkworks folios (magazines) and such. Now, while their regular material is generally photographic advertising or special graphics, their take on the adult theme is a bit different. Here's an example:
You, the customer, purchase a smut magazine which happens to have a special feature from the Skunkworks studio. What you see in this magazine is artwork of sultry, shapely skunk girls engaging in sexual mischief. This is the studio's product. But here's what goes on behind the scenes, and how the studio arrives at the final product:
A theme or plot is decided upon for a new folio. Models are brought in, and employees set up props, secure locations (if it's to be photographed outside the studio), and ready the equipment (lights, cameras, fans, etcetera). The scene is staged and photographed several different ways; this is repeated for each individual scene.
After the film is processed, prints are compared and the best photo for that scene is chosen. The chosen photos are then passed onto artists, who redraw the photos. Sometimes the scenes are drawn in a cartoon-ish style, other times they may be drawn a little more realistically. The models are often tweaked and exaggerated, making them more shapely or fantastic than they may actually appear in real life. Oftentimes, certain parts are also exaggerated a bit as well.
After the artwork has been completed, the images are produced as a folio, which the studio can either sell directly to the public, or to various adult magazines which publish the studio's work. As such, what a person is looking at is a cartoon drawing of an actual scene, not the actual real-life scene itself.
Now, the reason I'm drawing the characters in a different style now is because I'm returning to the Caterwaul storyline. Skunkworks does appear in the title on several occasions, and since the Caterwaul storyline is meant to be viewed as the "real world" version of the character's lives, it's important that the characters look how they would appear in real life.
TL:DR version: The Skunkworks artwork is meant to be viewed as artistic versions of the characters; ie, not true representations of the people themselves. The Caterwaul series is a representation of the true characters themselves. The Skunkworks material is an over-sexualized version of the characters, whereas the Caterwaul material is meant to be viewed as the real-world characters.
It's also important to point out their world, economy and society is not a mirror of our own. The people there have different rules, they behave differently, and overall, their world probably shouldn't be compared to ours. The website will have detailed information on all of this stuff once it is up (which ought to be this summer).
Any questions? Comments? Hate mail? Drop it here, man, and I'll answer your queries as soon as humanly possible.
Firstly, I need to explain the premise behind the Skunkworks studio, and the products they make. The studio itself is an advertising and modeling agency. They produce photos and ads for various companies, whether it's someone selling cars, a new clothing line, a cologne advertisement, or whatever. This is their usual fare.
But the studio also produces its own line of material, namely, the Skunkworks folios (magazines) and such. Now, while their regular material is generally photographic advertising or special graphics, their take on the adult theme is a bit different. Here's an example:
You, the customer, purchase a smut magazine which happens to have a special feature from the Skunkworks studio. What you see in this magazine is artwork of sultry, shapely skunk girls engaging in sexual mischief. This is the studio's product. But here's what goes on behind the scenes, and how the studio arrives at the final product:
A theme or plot is decided upon for a new folio. Models are brought in, and employees set up props, secure locations (if it's to be photographed outside the studio), and ready the equipment (lights, cameras, fans, etcetera). The scene is staged and photographed several different ways; this is repeated for each individual scene.
After the film is processed, prints are compared and the best photo for that scene is chosen. The chosen photos are then passed onto artists, who redraw the photos. Sometimes the scenes are drawn in a cartoon-ish style, other times they may be drawn a little more realistically. The models are often tweaked and exaggerated, making them more shapely or fantastic than they may actually appear in real life. Oftentimes, certain parts are also exaggerated a bit as well.
After the artwork has been completed, the images are produced as a folio, which the studio can either sell directly to the public, or to various adult magazines which publish the studio's work. As such, what a person is looking at is a cartoon drawing of an actual scene, not the actual real-life scene itself.
Now, the reason I'm drawing the characters in a different style now is because I'm returning to the Caterwaul storyline. Skunkworks does appear in the title on several occasions, and since the Caterwaul storyline is meant to be viewed as the "real world" version of the character's lives, it's important that the characters look how they would appear in real life.
TL:DR version: The Skunkworks artwork is meant to be viewed as artistic versions of the characters; ie, not true representations of the people themselves. The Caterwaul series is a representation of the true characters themselves. The Skunkworks material is an over-sexualized version of the characters, whereas the Caterwaul material is meant to be viewed as the real-world characters.
It's also important to point out their world, economy and society is not a mirror of our own. The people there have different rules, they behave differently, and overall, their world probably shouldn't be compared to ours. The website will have detailed information on all of this stuff once it is up (which ought to be this summer).
Any questions? Comments? Hate mail? Drop it here, man, and I'll answer your queries as soon as humanly possible.
Seriously, though, I like the explanation. Looking forward to seeing the website.
Speaking of which, I hope to be writing more by summer
In general, though, everything was explained very well. Thank you for the info.
When I first got Caterwaul Inc #2 (I haven't read it in a long time, so I can't be sure if it was 2 or 3) and saw Skunkworks in it, I was more certain that you considered the comical stories just that. I had already figured out your outlook in regard of the comic, since I pretty much based my own character in 2 different versions to fit what I had in stored for him. Our character setups are different, but the idea of how they work is pretty much the same. I have been wanting to see you elaborate more on Caterwaul ever since I first found out about it, since it was kind of like reading a Dark Horse & Marvel comic with a Heavy Metal blend with far less repugnance.
Fourth wall broken
Oh. I do have one question. How do you feel?
And the Caterwaul stories are real to the reality of the Caterwaul universe.
And neither has any connection to real reality
on a further note, which is better for sketching blue lead pencil or black?
Personally, I use red pencils. Ultimately, use whichever pencil works best for you. Non-photo blue is usually recommended because it isn't picked up by photocopiers or certain cameras. But I can't really see non-photo blue so I just use red.