It's Ellen Brock, Novel Editor and Booxamillion, her ghostly, drill-sergeanty cohort!
I love to listen to podcasts, interviews, and other spoken-word style audio while I draw, and I've particularly enjoyed marathoning Ellen Brock's "
Novel Bootcamp" series, where she gives all kinds of excellent
tips on writing, which is great for novel writers, of course, but also comics writers--and creative writers of any sort, for that matter. I happened to be working on a comic story at the time I discovered her channel, so her advice (Boot Camp and
beyond) was
fantastic for making sure the story we're cooking up wasn't falling into any
pitfalls, cliches, or other snags.
One thing that sets her vastly apart, though, is that unlike a
ton of other "tips and tricks" style YouTube advisors, she actually has a polished, non-gimmicky presentation style. Some presenters, even super big ones, still have those tell-tale signs of someone "reading cue cards," often because they kind of overact while trying to sound like they're speaking naturally or off the top of their head and giving improvised advice. But ironically, their overzealous, overly familiar styles way too often make it quite evident they're indeed reading from a script. Ellen Brock, though, speaks with the preparedness, pacing, and poise of a teacher, so I'm never taken out of her presentation by that "bad acting" octopus that entangles so many others on YouTube. The ease of her speech makes running her videos back-to-back-to-back a snap, rather than an exercise in having to trudge through a less enjoyable speaker's talks for their nuggets of wisdom.
Anyway, on to more about this illustration. Though I usually just listen to her videos in the background, when I actually watched them I noticed she didn't really have any custom graphics, so as a sort of design challenge--and because I wanted to salute her "Novel Boot Camp" series--I thought it'd be neat to draw her as an actual boot camp instructor! Super clever, I know! So I figured she could display whatever topic she wanted on the little screen, like an actual boot camp mission briefing. The comic I was writing at the time was science fiction, hence the dummy text.
I also wanted to include a playful mascot, so I included the little ghost guy from the hilarious "
Ghost Reader" shirt she sports sometimes. For her own shirt, I went with another cool design she wears, but that also feels somewhat "military" or physical-challenge-y, namely that sweet "
Varsity Reading" shirt! To toughen them up, I gave them both some sporty eye black and EB some camo pants.
Easter Eggs: I kinda made up the medals and stuff, but I included a Purple Heart, since I know there's an actual medal with that name and it kind of added a little cuteness to our spooky little ghost pal. His hat features books instead of stars, as does EB's helmet. The books were colored as a nod to the original Pokemon generation's version colors, so RGBY, just because I've been thinking about Pokemon a lot lately. I loved researching the different, actual military training materials, like the sandbag barrier with the brick and wire topper, and what I finally learned are called "Czech hedgehogs" (those X-shaped metal structures). Including the legal pad was kind of an inside joke with myself because I hate writing on those things! And the giant typewriter felt like a nice, symbolic inclusion--though, I guess some people still use them!
Fun Facts: This illustration was a combo of cel-shading and painting, but here's where the illustration all started out from, with just some rough, desert-y paints. I originally wanted to really go to town with almost all yellows, but one gradient map later, a more traditional, blue sky felt like the best way to go. And speaking of best ways to go, you'd best go way over to Ellen Brock's channel and learn a thing or two, or at least brush up on just about
every topic under the scorching desert sun.
Not normal,
Reuxben
