Sketch BOOM: Jet's Temp Secret Santa Edition
HEY THERE PEOPLE OF TODAY AND ROBOTS OF TOMORROW!
'TIS I, CLARK, BACK WITH ANOTHER DOSE OF WEIRDNESS!
Perhaps some of you out there have noticed I didn't post anything for Christmas this year. This may seem extremely out of character given my well-documented obsession love of the yuletide. Rest assured, this wasn't intentional. Around December was when technical problems starting plaguing my laptop, with memory filling up to capacity every six seconds and causing the computer to slow to a crawl. Basically it made Illustrator, a program that takes up a large capacity of space, was practically unusable. What made this a major problem is that most of the Christmas art starring the Clarktoons was made digitally. Making things weirder was that the two pieces finished before this problem arose were both Hanukkah-based. Being non-Jewish, I felt it'd be weird to post art solely for the Festival of Lights without anything to represent my preferred celebration of choice. However, those of there out there who do light up a menorah every year will be pleased to know that this artwork will be saved for this upcoming season, so be on the lookout for that. Still, that left the problem of being unable to finish a Secret Santa piece for Jet. There is a sketch that was mostly colored, but now it can't be finished. What's an autistic giraffe to do?
How 'bout take three months to finish a backup Sketch BOOM featuring all of Jet's crazy characters? Yeah, that'll do.
All joking aside, there's no excuse for why this took so long to complete. Whenever my stomach wasn't doing summersaults, I was just too lazy to get off my spotted butt and finish this. Hopefully the wait'll have been worth it. Though, for the record Jet, a tip from a fellow artist? Give more detailed descriptions to your art pieces. Half the time I didn't even know the names of some of these weirdos and the little blurbs attached to your pieces didn't really help. Not saying to write a book, just some more context would be appreciated. With that light nitpick out of the way, time to unwrap your late Christmas present!
[1] WATCH THE SHOW
For those of you tired of the typical talk shows that are slowly being phased out, do I have good news for you! Check your local listings for showtimes of The Void Show, an interdimensional series hosted by Trixel! If the host isn't strange enough, then wait 'til you get a load of their guests. From literal gods and monsters, there's something here for the whole family to enjoy. Watch episodes live as they air before being streamed via UHF+. Cuz y'know, everything has to be named LAZYNAME+.
Honestly, the main reason to include Trizel was the design. I really like the simple triangular appearance with the checkerboard pattern within. Simple, but trippy. Was tempted to add a drop shadow on some of the edges to heighten that weirdness (similar to the B in 'BOOM'), but ultimately the decision was made to stay as close to Jet's design as possible. Minus the exception of eyebrows, that is. Figured they'd enhance the character's showman-zaniness. Next time I draw this bozo I'm giving them Conan hair for shits and giggles. Can't wait for the day Trixel hosts the Oscars!
[2] PEER-PRESSUED PERSONA
Of course, what would a Sketch BOOM of Jet's characters be without the main artist herself? Then again, upon starting this project, she didn't even have one. What caused the change? Cut to one day on Discord where the Polish artists asked for the personas / fursonas of everybody on my server. She had a scheme centered around creating a portrait of the other members but lacked any references. Thus it fell under me to ask everybody under the guise that it was for my own project. My ruse didn't last long since Jet revealed her intentions sometime later, though not without getting an earful from me about not having a visual representation of herself. Clearly the friendly shaming work since now we have this. It is a bizarre design that works perfectly for Jet. A mask, shades of blue, and a set of rocket-powered sneakers totally not reminiscing of any other popular video game mammal. Totally. By the by, seeing as Jet shares a birthday with Jesus, one could consider this a birthday persona sketch to boot. So Happy Un-Birthday, Jet!
[3] BATTLE AT BARNEY'S TOY BOX
Rewind to the Christmas season 2024; it's a week left before the big day and everybody is losing their minds over the Zombeagle. First introduced in the 90s, it got banned due thanks to the Parents Against Fun Foundation (PAAF) throwing a hissy fit. Apparently they were not amused by the plush pooch whose guts could be pulled out and stretched. Bunch'a humbugs if you ask me. Fortunately the toy has been given a second chance at life thanks to influencers online. Unfortunately now everybody's scrambling to get one. By that I mean a crocodile and his pet ghost, a desperate mother with magical powers, a hyper-evolved dinosaur with a superiority complex, some little pony, her goblin-cyborg buddy, and a universe-hopping armadillo with a huge ego to compensate for his utter lack of morals. These weirdos now fight to the death for the chance to buy the one Zombeagle left at Barney's Toy Box in Downtown Clarksburg! Who will succeed?
Spoiler alert: not the armadillo. His name is Pic Shell, the character Jet herself used for my first Dungeons and Dragons seasonal one-shot. Being the bastard that he is, the armadillo's main scheme was to sell the toy online for insane prices. Obviously the others, sporting nobler reasons to nab the toy, wouldn't allow that. This resulted in Jet being the first character eliminated in the all-out brawl, but thankfully that didn't seem to impede her fun. Heck, she signed up for net year's campaign where a different bunch of characters had to save Santa Claus from a bunch of B-movie villains. Originally the goal was to include her cobalt elf from that as well, but alas there was no room left. In fact, this was the last sketch to be drawn and its my favorite of the bunch. If there's anything to pick apart, it's that the Zombeagle itself is too small. The cuddly cadaver canine is more the size of the Turf dart gun in Croc's hands. Furthermore, the coloring on Crocie could've used some work. Otherwise this turned out better than expected and can also be seen as a sort of gift for the other involved players; Hannah, @burningthrucelluloid, and Hobo. Maybe one day there'll be a sketch of the sequel solo campaign. For now, we'll always have Barney's.
Oh, and in case anybody's curious, Hannah's single-mom character Heather (farthest back) left with the toy after Fox's pony sona Autumn Scribble (pony next to Pic Shell) won the overall fight. Thankfully Alec's artificer goblin V'rellunk (the green gal next to Pic) managed to replicate the plush's design and give everyone a copy for Christmas.
[4] TOTALLY NOT A SPY
...What? He's totally not a spy.
In reality this is Fish Norman Rod (aka Fish N. Rod), a random character even by Woody's standards. From what I can tell, he's literally just a sentient fishing line. Him being a secret agent is an idea joking posed by me several times. Sadly the idea isn't fully fleshed out here. The goal was to include a pistol caught up in the hook, but there wasn't enough room. At least not without it looking as if the sentient wire was about to shoot the wolf perched next to him. Oh well, save the idea for a mock Wonder Ziggy movie trailer. Fish N. Rod stars in No Time to Fly-Fish.
[5] BUTTERFLY HUNT
Double U is arguably the premiere catcher of butterflies on Butterfly Island. Yet even the friendly wolf needs some assistance every now and again. Enter the Swamp Gang, who were in the archipelago looking for a rare sea monster. Seeing a new friend in need of assistant, everybody's favorite floating marshmallow offered their aid. In no time at all they managed to befriend the flying insects, much to DU's amazement. No matter what the species, everybody is eventually won over by Bumper's cuteness.
This is actually a repurposed idea from a failed BOOM involving Bumper coated in butterflies. Figured it'd be perfect for this situation. Jet has made her love of these creatures an open secret. It's about as well hidden of my own affinity for WALL-E. No doubt she'd have a lepidopterarium attached to her home if it could be afforded. Hence why this sketch instantly entered my mind upon the decision to make this temp Secret Santa gift. Along with our final sketch, this is what prompted the creation of this BOOM in the fist place. It also marked my first experiment with no art pens from Kingart. Seeing them on sale at Walmart for under $10, the temptation to try them out was too great. Plenty more trials have been attempted since then, but this still holds up in comparison. If nothing else, it made penning the bugs themselves a heackuv' a lot easier. Now the question is; will they ever get off Bumper?
[6] UNDER THE MISTLETOE
Snaffe and Stain get cozy while checking out the Clarktoon Crossing office Holiday party. Actually, it sems they got extra cozy. To think, ZO-E hasn't even come around with the Mistletoe Camera yet!
Here we are, at the sketch that begun it all. You can tell because it was outlined via Sharpie. Now there's plenty of pictures of the giraffe-snake and sentient goo puddle out there, but not enough of'm being all lovey dovey. Seeing as they are a confirmed couple and I'm a hopeless romantic, who better to rectify that than yours truly? The idea of Snaffe holding up the mistletoe via her tail is what got the ball rolling here. In fact, the original idea was to make that a single image on its own, but ultimately I figured it'd be way more fun to make it part of a bigger project. One that took three months, but hey, there's no arguing with the end results. Merry Christmas in March, Jet! Merry Christmarch, if ya' will.
MAY THE GLASSES BE WITH YOU!