[Pinups] Squeens, Swords and Samurai

This month ArtStreet were looking for illustrations of animals such as mammals 😺🐶, birds 🐤, reptiles 🐍, fish 🐟 and amphibians 🐸. Wonder Island is a rich tapestry full of magical wildlife but we were apprehensive to show that off to the public prior to release. So instead, we took on their second challenge, anthropomorphic animals. 

Featured in this months update are two 7 x 11 pinups featuring anthropomorphic characters from the Wonder Island franchise. 

The first is the indominable Squib Queen, a character immortalized in the pages of Wonder Island at the behest and financial arm twisting of the delinquent Sqiub Nation.  

The second (titled Samurai Jackrabbit) is a homage to the work of legendary animation director Genndy Tartakovsky and Samurai Jack, featuring Wonder Island's own Swordo, Son of Swordo. 

The responses to these pieces so far have been very positive! 

LADY OF DARKWATER

Time-lapse: https://youtu.be/1KcEXHfyevM

A WORD FROM THE ARTIST (YUKA CROSS, 2/09/2021)
"The Squeen (AKA the “Squib Queen”) was originally a gag character made by our adoring public supporting Wonder Island. It all started with my boss telling me to make a river seem more “alive” by adding more things into it so I drew a “squib”. My boss then ordered to have it be “chubbier” since I made it so skinny, I refused and started shouting “justice for skinny squib!” which elicited a response from our audience and they fell in love with the idea of the squibs making my boss mildly upset. They lovingly referred to me as the “Squeen” from then on.”

Dsxlmxdo makes an enthusiastic return to the comments section praising the crisp simplicity of the piece. Thanks for your support Dsxlmxdo!

SAMURAI JACKRABBIT

“This drawing of Swordo and Nibby came from a (ridiculous) idea to “make a parody crossover of Samurai Jack and Wonder Island. Originally, it was supposed to be a gift for Australian Father’s Day for my boss since we both really like Samurai Jack. I grew up watching Jack and the show even influenced my technique in giving my characters interesting silhouettes.”

The featured comment on this piece goes to Tukuyomi who praises our insight and inquiring nature. Thanks Tukuyomi, I appreciate your commentary and hope to see you featured in future updates!

All-in-All, Animal August was a lot of fun for us here at Conquest Comics. It was the first month we managed to balance our production with our promotion and its only going to get better from here. We hope everyone enjoys the art and watching our journey as we strive towards brighter tomorrows and greener pastures!

Thanks for reading!

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