Hey, kids! It’s your friendly neighborhood SuperFogeys artist here with a look at how the art for this massive robot reveal developed.
It all started shortly after I agreed to take on the Fogeys as regular artist. Brock told me that Jerry’s plans called for a giant robot to attack Las Vegas and it was up to me to design it. The only stipulation to Brock’s request was that the robot design be different than what has been seen before. After a few quick sketches to experiment with the form the robot would take, I quickly hit upon a shape I liked. I then fleshed out the form to this sketch complete with a tiny Doctor Rocket to show it’s scale.
The first two things I decided about the design were that the robot would be asymmetrical and have a giant hole in the middle. Everything else grew out of those choices. I justified the giant hole by envisioning it as a giant energy lens of sorts. It collects any ambient energy in the area then amplifies and focuses it into a giant, devastating blast. The antena on the shoulder was originally drawn there as a way to further break up some of the symmetry. I really had no other purpose in mind for it at the time other than looking cool.
Some time after designing the robot, Brock informed me he had decided to make the robot transform into the jet the SuperFogeys would use to get to Vegas. This presented a new challenge. How do I make this robot turn into a jet without going back to square one? I thought about designing a new futuristic jet that would incorporate some of the robot’s design structure. That option seemed like a lot of design work an also held the potential to tip our hand too early that the jet and the robot were one and the same. My ultimate solution was to have the transformation take place via nanorobots that could rearrange the molecular structure of the robot. The previously functionless antena was then re-imagined as the delivery device for the nanorobots. Hence the antena being part of the jet’s design also.
After drawing glimpses at the robot in SF 310, SF 317, SF 320 and then later the big transformation sequence in SF 346 it was time to plan the Big Moment. In order to wrap my head around a scene that was so very much larger than anything I’ve drawn for SuperFogeys before, I drew a small very rough sketch of what the shot would be:
After getting Brock’s approval of my rough sketch, I then scanned it, blew it up, and printed it out onto an 14″ x 11″ sheet of bristol. This is where I did the real penciling work:
Inks were then laid down:
Colors and effects were added in Photoshop and now the scene is set for some full on giant robot action on the Las Vegas strip!
Written by : Marc Lapierre
If we needed further proof of your genius, Marc, we have it here. Yes, you can explain away the mystery (of how you did it), but, fact is: You pull off amazing line-work. SF is lucky to have you, as are the fans.
Marc you never fail to amaze me with your abilities. You have definitely been blessed with a great talent. This is awesome to see and to hear some of the elements of the robot. This behind the scenes glimpse is very cool. Thank you so much for sharing this with us.