[ID: a digital drawing of Peony and Neptunia from Space Battle Lunchtime. Neptunia is a blue-scaled alien woman no hair except for a teal mohawk. She is wearing a leather jacket, white t-shirt, and jeans, and has one arm around Peony. Peony is a human woman with shoulder-length puffy brown hair and big black glasses. She is wearing a pastel pink dress with hearts, a pastel green cardigan, and pink frilly socks. She is holding a tray with blue and purple cupcakes and is smiling up at Neptunia. End id]
Kicking off Pride Month with all-time favorites Peony and Neptunia, now in vaguely 1950′s-style outfits!
Silhouettes and Exotic Character Design: Space Battle Lunchtime!
[ID: a panel showing Peony floating through zero-G and looking panicked. End id]
Space Battle Lunchtime is a mini comic series about plucky Earth chef Peony, who finds herself competing in an intergalactic cooking competition. The talented Natalie Riess brought in some extraterrestrial fun while still keeping the exotic design clear by using clear character silhouettes and clever framing to convey emotion and setting:
(more under the cut)
[ID: a panel showing Peony. She is wearing a pink chef’s coat and a frilly apron. The silhouette of a circle on top of a box is outlined in red.End id]
Let’s start somewhere obvious: the main character Peony. I’ve already talked about her design a lot in other posts, but I just wanted to highlight the consistent silhouette, even between different outfits:
[ID: a panel showing Peony wearing a jean jacket and long frilly skirt. The same silhouette is outlined. End id]
And that doesn’t stop there. Take the alien characters, both major and background characters, and note how their silhouettes contrast with Peony’s:
[ID: a panel showing Peony catching Neptunia’s dish. Their outlines are outlined in red. Neptunia, a blue alien, has mostly circular designs and is much taller. End id]
[ID: a panel showing Melonhead looming over Peony. Melonhead has a circular head, square torso, and long body. End id]
I won’t get into the similarities between Melonhead and Peony’s designs, but do note the boxy chef’s jacket, hip frills, and characteristic round face.
[ID: a panel showing Peony and Lil’ Magicorn. Lil’ Magicorn’s silhouette is all circles in contrast to Peony’s boxier design. End id]
[ID: a panel showing five background alien characters, all with different basic silhouettes outlined. End id]
In conclusion, these basic silhouettes are the building blocks that let the unique designs shine without ever overwhelming the page or confusing the eye, no matter how foreign the character’s appearance looks to our mundane human eyes!
[ID: a panel showing Peony and Aris’ silhouettes. End id]
If y’all use a decent box mix and use melted butter instead of vegetable oil, an extra egg, and milk instead of water, no one can tell the difference. I sure as hell can’t.
Also, if you add a little almond extract to vanilla cake, or a little coffee to chocolate cake, it sends it through the roof.
yo I can vouch for this
I’ve done this for the last few cakes I’ve made and holy crap it makes suuuuch a difference
the cake is still fluffy, but it also seems more dense, and it doesn’t dry out
like at all
you can leave it uncovered on the counter all day after being cut into, and it won’t get all crusty and dry
this is an amazing way to take your cakes to the next level
kaledo-art
janainaart
snowghoul
germansingergirl
jbbartram-illu
