Sunnyville Stories Episode 1, pages 17-18

It’s now 2011 – that means out with the old…AND IN WITH THE NEW!!!!

May this year be a productive one for me.  It’s a whole new year and I intend to make this blog and its associated work, Sunnyville Stories, the best that I can.  Those of you who read my page – please don’t be shy.  Comment on my work, give a little feedback, and don’t forget to subscribe via email or RSS.  Oh yes, Sunnyville Stories #2 is still available from IndyPlanet and as for issue #3, I anticipate it will be available sometime in February.  I’ll share images from that story as well as sneak peeks at episodes 4, 5, and 6 as time marches on.  But now let’s get back to our other story – the first episode of Sunnyville.

Here’s the punchline to that joke from page 16.  That came from the Three Stooges – their humor was quite influential on my work and not just the physical hitting.  Many dismiss the stooges as being physical comedy only, but Moe, Larry, Curly, and Shemp were quite capable of doing puns or hilarious verbal exchanges too.

I love that panel at the bottom of the page here – Sam definitely sounds like a country girl.  She’s intent on feeding her new friend and having him meet the family.  That image BTW of Sam leading Rusty away was one of the first images I ever drew of the pair.  I think it was going to end up being symbolic of their relationship in the stories.

Now we get a shot here of Sam’s home.  This was a bit of a challenge.  I tried to do it in two-point perspective, but it just didn’t come out right.  In the end, I switched over to an easier one-point perspective.  I’ll have to work on my linear perspective skills some more.  That family that Sam mentions in the lower left panel, the Davions, was the previous owner of Rusty’s new home.  That is a reference to the tabletop game, BattleTech – one of the ruling families in that game are called the Davions.

Lastly, check out that fish picture in the lower right panel.  That was yet another motif I borrowed from Maple Town (the 1980s anime series that inspired Sunnyville).  Characters in Maple Town would have clothing and furnishings decorated with food motifs. The Rabbit family had carrots pictured on their clothes, hankerchiefs, and stained glass windows; the Squirrel family had acorns, etc. For the Macgregors, there’ll be an ever-present fish motif.

We will be meeting the family…but it will have to wait until next Saturday.  Stop on by Indy Planet if you haven’t already to get your copy of Sunnyville #2, please comment on my posts and work, and enjoy your New Year everyone.