In my Big Fat Indy post I included an image that teased a project that I'll be working on over the course of the next month. I have recently been commissioned by a client to come up with an original Indiana Jones storyline and then create a series of images based on it. The series will have a toal of six images; five that show key moments from the story and one showing the story's title (as seen above).
As many of my artcast viewers know, Raiders of the Lost Ark is my favorite movie, so when I was tasked with this commission series I took on the challenge with gusto. I've talked a lot about my thoughts and feelings about the four Indy films and now I get to put my money where my mouth is and try my hand at crafting my own tale of adventure for Indy. I'll go into detail about the storyline that I came up with in another blog post. But for now, I'd like to show some of the developmental sketches I've done for Indiana Jones and the Siberian Death Ray . . .
I wanted Indy's Siberian winter weather outfit to be based on the way he appeared in Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues. That episode of the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles had bookend segments that featured Harrison Ford in his only appearance in the TV series. The scenes in which he appeared took place in 1950 and were set in Wyoming during the winter. It was a great look for Indy. His scarf gave him a Doctor Jones meet Doctor Who look:
Every Indiana Jones story has to include "The Girl". My story's girl is Maria, a Russian woman living in Paris where Indy first meets her. Maria, like Indy, will need to have two looks for the story; her Paris look and her wintery Russia look:
Another must-have element of any Indy story is "The Villain". My villain (as well as the story's girl and another secondary character I have yet to draw) is based on a real life historical figure:
The Death Ray of the story's title is an electricity-based directed energy weapon that is set on a flatbed train car. The following image shows the progression of sketches that led me to the final design:
I'll post more developmental sketches very soon!
And on Sunday, June 19th I'll be doing a special artcast that will show me doing the rough sketches for each of the five commissions. The following week, June 20th-24th, I will color the final pieces live on my artcast.
Stay tuned to this blog for more of Indiana Jones and the Siberian Death Ray!
-Otis
