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Max Vähling
Fridays, usually before 8am EST
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This one went through a series of changes. A throwaway story idea at first, it was mostly meant to add some colour to the weird world Conny is in. But I couldn't really squeeze it into any of the stories I was working on. Since all it took to get the idea across was this one picture, though, it seemed a natural choice when I decided to produce some pinups both for this site and maybe as promotional material later on. Also, I needed something to draw because I wanted to try that new brush pen I had bought.
At first, I went for the obvious Very Little Girl in a Very Dark And Big Cell. But Conny always has a vulnerable touch to her, and showing her in the back corner as a very small element seemed to victimise her more than I'm comfortable with. The angry look on her face didn't help, either. So I pulled her to the front, removed the chain from her neck, and it worked. Well, the chain thing was mostly in order to give her more flexibility to move within the cell and write "Detention won't break me!" on the wall, which I later decided against. I rather go for the simpler idea if the effect is the same.
This may become the cover motive for the first Conny Van Ehlsing book. Or maybe the cover sheet you've seen with the "Making of Conny" special will. That one was made with a potential book cover in mind, but it's quite old now and I've used it a lot already. This one's brand new.
The girl in front, in case you didn't recognise her from her recent adventures, is of course Conny in her 14-year-old self. That's how she looked when I started the series - the six-year old Conny was just a flashback that I enjoyed too much. You'll see more of Teenage Conny soon, by the way. For the cover, I wanted something that connects the two. The book will be about looking back, essentially, and so is this image. It looks really good in a thumbnail preview, too - alsways a plus in book covers, at least in these days of online vending.
If you think abut it, it's quite obvious what secondary use I had in mind for this one. Too bad I don't have any Conny books to sell (yet)...
Thanks a lot to Daniel Gramsch for the colors to this installment. With this, Conny and I will take a little holiday break. If everything goes right, we'll be back in about two weeks. Happy new year! (Or, if you're following one of the religions and philosophies that don't celebrate the new year on January 1st, have a good time, whatever you're doing!)
This is a drawing that I (yes, I) did for the cover of the Conny album I'm going to release in Germany soon. No, it's not the cover itself.
This is the cover motif for my upconing (German) Conny Van Ehlsing album. Like it?
It's not gonna be on any English book anytime soon, so I thought I'd post it here. And you can read all about it at my work blog, Comic Soon.
Last week's WCN crash seems to have swallowed my last update. And for some reason, I was sure everything was fine when I checked later. Maybe it's because the alternate cover doesn't look that different?
So, here's the second of two alternate covers I didn't use for the book. (I'll think about what to do with the first during the next week). I enjoyed drawing this monster (crayons! always fun!), but it didn't quite come across as a child's drawing of a monster. Actually, I found I had less of an idea of what a six-year old would draw like than I'd assumed. So I did some research and went back to the drawing board. And the crayons.
I know, I'm totally overdoing it with the album cover. Especially since the album won't be published internationally for quite a while. But, you see, that's why. Where else am I going to post this? Anyway, this installment will be the last cover-related one. I might upload more sketches, though. If you're like me, you'll love an insight into the creative process. (And don't worry about the comics, they'll come, too. Soon.) As you can easily see, this week's installment features the first sketches of what I had in mind for the cover. Of course, pencils aren't really the best medium to sketch a cover that fades three pictures into each other. But they helped.
There will be more LI'L CONNY soon. And eventually some grown-up six-year-old Conny.
I'm starting this year slowly, with some sketches, renderings nnd pinups from the back burner. Here's the first.
Oh, and a happy new year to everybody!(Unless you're from one of the regions or convictions that don't celebrate the new year around now. In that case, happy 2009, whatever that may mean to you.)
New: Want to buy a print of this? You can, at Deviant Art!
New vote incentive at Top Webcomics: Vote for Conny to see a sketch for Gaijin's Halloween costume!
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