He's always... smiling...

"Gijinka". Or basically Humanized versions of characters/things that aren't normally human.  I've dabbled into this myself, but the most successful outcome of this idea had been when I took that ever-smiling creepy looking clock from Disneyland's "it's a small world" (whom I fondly call "Glockenspiel" after the type of clock he is) and made a "What if...?" human version of him. Thus from here on, I'll be referring to the clocktower as a "He".

At first this was just me trying to figure out why the original face is so... creepy. He has "dead eyes", or eyes that look straight forward unfocused at anything.  So I tried drawing what he'd look like with his eyes focusing slightly inward, giving him a much more approachable look.



I became infatuated with every new sketch, making this simple study into a slow development of a character. He developed more personality every time I drew him.

Then "Epic Mickey" came out. You know? The video game where the first boss battle you encounter is the "it's a small world" clocktower?? Yep. Loved that.


Unfortunately, my fellow students and friends found a love/hate relationship with this, as one good friend found when she returned to her desk to find this smiling at her:

 "I don't know if I should be flattered, or frightened..." was her rather uncertain response.


Eventually I found myself drawing him as a human, experimenting until a form fit well enough. And along with this came more "What if...?"s with a more... unwilling subject. Disneyland's Haunted Mansion!

I think they'd be best bros yo'.

Well this little infatuation of mine comes and goes. And as it does, more things come into play. More... characters~

Head count so far: Glockenspiel, Mansion, Castle, Matterhorn, Space, Splash, Temple, and a slight idea of pirates. There's a few more of these in the works. And they'll all find their way to my sketchbook eventually. But until then, I'll slowly work out the characters one small group at a time.


Keep sketchin' everyone!


~Mark

Things I haven't finished...

Sound familiar? I bet. Everyone has em'. Little projects they've started and never quite finished.

I've got tons.

Here's a couple of things I never completed (but who knows, I might someday)

This here was a tribute for the old parade at Disneyland Park "Parade of Dreams". It was murder trying to get all the details of each float into each section, let alone finding good reference photos of each one! As you can see it was scanned in as 2 pictures and spliced together... I don't remember where in my pile the original is so I can't say I know how big it is anymore. But it's pretty big.

Ah, for those who are familiar with my characters you might recognize my little Southern Belle: Rose Marie Briar. This was a family tree in the works, tracing back to her great grandparents and the first of the Briar clan to live in America. This project was fun to begin with because of all the costume research! And those of you who know me well, know I love to research and design costumes!
I still have much of her family tree to develop, but just knowing the line of parents, grandparents, and great grandparents already helped solidify the background and setting of Rose's life.

"Hey wait! I know them! He finished writing that story a long while ago!"
Nicholas of Main Street. Possibly the only written story I have ever finished. A 1/2 Fanfic (Disney/Disneyland) and 1/2 original story of Nicholas Baker and his misadventures in finding a peaceful life on Disneyland's Main Street USA.
I have this one on the list because, this project was one of those no-and-off again projects. Where each time I started writing it, I stopped and started all over again trying something different. I thought I'd never finish it. But I did. And after I had finished writing the first round of the story (see my DeviantArt page at: http://choco-kun.deviantart.com/ ), I found I was a better writer when I finished then when I started. So I started it all over again! And I have to say it's doing quite well. Some things have changed thus far, some stayed the same, but for the most part it's still Nicholas of Main Street.

Well, that's everything I have for you today, more to come! See you all next Monday!

~Mark Thorne

Oops...

Hey everyone! Sorry for the week-long absence. Caught a cold last week and haven't caught up since!
I'm in need to upload a lot of new work to share with you, in the meantime I have some pages that I haven't posted otherwise and thought I should share until' then:

 Well, until then everyone!

~Mark Thorne

Comics

Happy Monday everyone!

Today I'm going to post a group of comics I have done for a college course I took about a year ago.
I have to say, there's a slight hang up when you put an applied arts person in a fine arts class...

Anywho, these comics, featuring various characters from my small town "Somewhere Between", were part of my final (and most successful) project in that class.

Some day I'll return and touch these up nicely (as there has been some adjustment in style since).

Enjoy~

~Mark Thorne

Little Red One

How can I not post about this guy??
Long while ago I drew up a picture of a clown character. Just a little guy with the saddest sort of cuteness about him.
I just recently revisited him by a random chance drawing in my friend's notebook, and it sparked my need to develop him further.

So I present to you, Rousel the Clown

 

I mean, just look at him! 

I originally drew the "walking" picture with the idea of just drawing the two clowns I've created (Apollo being the older one) in a single picture. But there was such a familiar feeling between the two when I drew it, that instantly I could no longer accept them except as father and son.
It's amazing how a character can almost develop themselves as you draw them more. And believe me, I will be drawing plenty of Rousel in my time to come.

Other things that have developed about him have been simple, but fun. First off, someone this cute has to be shy. It just suits him far too well. But language, for instance, is an area where he deviates from the norm. He can understand English well enough, but can only speak simple short phrases in French (whether it is out of choice or not is yet unknown). Similarly, he can be very touchy when it comes to pronouncing his name (as it sounds very much like the English name Russel) and will fall into a pouty sort of sternness in correcting any mistakes in the matter.
But, I can easily see him prancing about in a bouncy little dance singing something very joyfully when unaware of any watchers, then hiding behind the nearest object in embarrassed fright if discovered.

Ah, Rousel...

~Mark Thorne

New Hat

For those who know me well, I wear hats.
Not your usual baseball caps.
HATS.
Top hats, Car hats, Fedoras, and most loved by myself: Skimmers. Also known as Boaters.

^Much like this one!
Well the one I have, a "Panama Boater" is a size or so too big for my noggin. So now I've saved, and finally purchased a new one!
Hazzah!

Anywhoots.
SKETCHES OF THE DAY!

Every now and then I get the urge to sketch something in a style much like Art Nouveau! Such a wonderful style it is!
These are two characters (Kita, the fortune teller and Eliza, the librarian, respectfully) that I drew up and intended to finish in Illustrator.

Have I ever mentioned that Alphonse Mucha is one of my favorite artists of all time?

No? Well then, let it be known: I LOVE ALPHONSE MUCHA. Thank you.

~Mark

Another Monday!

Hello everyone! Back on track from my previous week!
This week I'm gonna post a few rough pages from my current project with Noah Page! YAY!

In no particular order:

This project has been awesome to work on thus far! I finally finished the roughs, and will begin the inking process as Noah sends me the final pencils. Might I add that Noah is an excellent artist/writer himself? Great stuff!

Legal stuffs: Art shown above property of Mark Thorne and Noah Page.

Til Next Time!

~Mark Thorne