10/26/2025 Creation Batch
- Zach E Bear
- Oct 26
- 2 min read
It's been a busy couple of weeks but I've definitely been sketching!
I was given a homework assignment for my illustration/story-telling class that included creating a two page comic with dialogue between characters. There were very few stipulations, so this really feels like my first, original, creation that I'll be submitting for critique. I'm unsure if it's supposed to be a completely polished comic or one that's just a breakdown/layout thing (meaning its a very rough sketch with just the bare essentials). Either way; I have my script written and now I just need to illustrate it properly. Right now, I'm calling it "Rent Is Due" and it's just a comic with two prostitutes who discuss life in some sort of early/mid century apartment.
My main inspiration for considering comics comes from Jeff Jones' Idyl and I'm Age comic series, which is primarily just nude & scantily-clad women discussing life and philosophy with animals in nature. Jones really cornered the market there and I don't want to attempt to try and pick up where he left off; not to mention I want to be somewhat original.
So this little comic series "Rent Is Due" is what I came up with. The title comes from the perspective that the two women are trying to pay rent and it also strikes a higher meaning, implying that we all eventually have a price we need to pay to someone. This is just generic enough to keep the door open for as many comics in this setting that I want, without me thinking about some overly complex storyline and characters. I don't know where I'll take it, but I feel like it has some solid potential.
The comic roughs and everything are towards the end of this creation dump; the rest of my drawings are just more figures and anatomy. I'm continuing to burn into my mind how the human body looks and works so I can become a master of drawing purely from memory whenever I want.
I also started a new oil painting, inspired by my recent Europe trip. You can see the first stages and the watercolor sketch that it's based off of before my comic work. If you're on the collectors tier of my Patreon, you can view the painting video I filmed from this Patreon post.
I've been working with AI art generators a lot lately, and I think I need to talk about my thoughts on AI and art in the form of an essay at some point soon.
