lb_lee | Old-Ass Art Dump

I am stuck in my apartment with a bum knee, in the crappy position of bored and antsy, but SO antsy I can't actually concentrate on jack. At least I can still finish stuff I've already laid out and mostly done.

SO HERE HAVE OLD SKETCHES. And a couple other things! Yeah, woo, that'll totally give me something to do!

A crappy pencil sketch of a middle school girl with a long black braid, a flannel shirt, and overalls.

A crappy pencil sketch of a middle school girl with a long black braid, a flannel shirt, and overalls.

More old, old drawings from back in my "I get paralyzed by my own perfectionism unless I draw on crappy looseleaf" period.

Poor Llarona. One day, your day will come, and I'll figure out what to do with that story you're in. Drawn in February 2007.

Crappy pencil sketches on crappier looseleaf paper, showing a centaurlike being completely covered in layers of gray rags. Its face and gender can't be made out.

Crappy pencil sketches on crappier looseleaf paper, showing a centaurlike being completely covered in layers of gray rags. Its face and gender can't be made out.

Llarona's buddy from the story she's in, drawn in December 2006. If I remember right, this one appeared in a nightmare, and I loved the design so much I drew it and came up with a story (or at least, the beginning of one) on the spot.

Sorry Gray Rider. One day your time will come too. You just hang in there on your crappy looseleaf paper.

Doodly cartoony system sketches of everyone holding signs showing our names, ages, and gender identities. Sneak is holding zer sign high and is dressed in zer old superhero outfit. Rogan has no beard and isn't fat yet. Mac has his pants dropped and is cheerfully holding his sign over his crotch; his hair is shaggy but nowhere near the tresses they are now. Gigi is so tiny she has to stand on her sign box; her appearance has changed not at all. And finally, there's Miranda, with her buzz cut and huge hoop earrings.

System roster drawings from a very long time ago, back when drawing simplified like this was the hardest thing ever.

A red pencil doodle of Rogan sitting with his legs crossed and his body all hunched up with the bitchiest expression, stirring his cup of bitter tea and sneering FREEYYYYYY.

A red pencil doodle of Rogan sitting with his legs crossed and his body all hunched up with the bitchiest expression, stirring his cup of bitter tea and sneering FREEYYYYYY.

This is an incredibly stupid rough doodle Mori did of Rogan a few months ago. He really, REALLY dislikes James Frey.

A little pencil doodle of Sneak back when ze was twelve. Ze wears zer sweater-cape, sneakers, and jeans, and is standing on one foot, fidgeting with confusion.

A little pencil doodle of Sneak back when ze was twelve. Ze wears zer sweater-cape, sneakers, and jeans, and is standing on one foot, fidgeting with confusion.

SUPER old sketch of Sneak from fall 2006. Ze got the most drawings of any of us but M.D., before we became selves-aware, because ze was so damn drawable.

A somewhat clean pencil drawing of the cast of the old draft of Infinity Smashed, all flopped in an uncomfortable pile in front of a large house. M.D. is looking to zap Raige, who lucked out being on the top. (Well, except Bobcat, who is perched on him.) Venna and Mngleh are under them; Venna is a younger brunette of M.D.'s people, and Mngleh a towering sideburned braided swordsman who speaks little and is Venna's other half, psychologically speaking. Aqua, an amphibious blue shape-shifter managed to avoid the whole thing, since he can fly.

This one is from the very old version of Infinity Smashed. Half those characters don't exist anymore, and certainly not that house. I did it in... probably October 2010, and never finished it because well, the canon got nuked. The girl on the left and the guy on the bottom are both M.D.'s people, though Mngleh's kind no longer exists in canon. Venna (the girl) is a way better mentalist than M.D. and her and Mngleh are basically one soul in two bodies by this point. She does all the talking for him, and they use plural pronouns.

A pencil drawing of a woman with glasses and curly hair dancing in a flowy dress and boots.

A pencil drawing of a woman with glasses and curly hair dancing in a flowy dress and boots.

The original pencils for Jenny (Mac's ex-girlfriend) that I later inked. I always did like the pencils better, but alas, the looseleaf is now so old that there's really no way to strip out the colors. Done probably in January of 2007.

Man, remember when I could never bear to finish anything except on crappy, crappy looseleaf paper? Dark times. Don't miss them.

An inked drawing of Mr. Unnigrutt, a very large freckled bearded man with red hair and a suit. He spreads his arms in entreaty, saying, All I want is a successor to the family business. Is that so wrong?

An inked drawing of Mr. Unnigrutt, a very large freckled bearded man with red hair and a suit. He spreads his arms in entreaty, saying, All I want is a successor to the family business. Is that so wrong?

You know, I feel for Raige's dad. I really do. Sure, he started out as a sort of stock bad dad, but as I've grown into an adult, I feel a lot more sympathy for the guy. He just wants everything to stay stable and okay, and don't we all want that?

Here's some trivia: Raige's dad might be the rich one now, but Raige's mom was the one who came from a moneyed family. She was the one who sort of had the luxury of bumming around being a musician--well, until her medical bills blew through it all. Raige's dad, on the other hand, came from a much more precarious financial existence, got himself disowned early on, and the one relative he WAS on good terms with (his grandfather) left him nothing but a failing beer company that he's spent his entire adult life desperately trying to resuscitate. That he succeeded and made it into the big leagues says something about his character... but it also meant he never really got the chance to develop skills that WEREN'T based around business. He relied on his wife for that, but then. Well. She was gone. And he has never, EVER gotten over it. The only reason he didn't completely fall apart was his son, but Raige is very much his mother's child and serves as a living, breathing reminder that she isn't around anymore.

It's not that George doesn't care about Raige. He just doesn't know how to show it except with money, and Raige was born right as the success really came rolling in, so even that is kind of wasted on him. (And of course, Raige is pretty much the worst possible candidate to take over the family business. Thomas, on the other hand...)

I've had a design in mind for George since at least 2003; it's just taken him fifteen years to actually get drawn. Congratulations, Mr. Unnigrutt. Your day has finally come.

Biff's horrible no-good very bad dad, who looks a lot like his son, only whiter and pointier. Biff's dad was a very hairy little rooster of a blond, who could be very charming and personable as long as he didn't see you as beneath him. He held his liquor well and tended to be a slow, steady drinker, unlike Biff's binge-and-crash pattern.

Biff's horrible no-good very bad dad, who looks a lot like his son, only whiter and pointier. Biff's dad was a very hairy little rooster of a blond, who could be very charming and personable as long as he didn't see you as beneath him. He held his liquor well and tended to be a slow, steady drinker, unlike Biff's binge-and-crash pattern.

This is Biff's dad, who really IS just unredeemable. Raige's dad has no idea how to interact with his son, and talks to everyone like an employee who's disappointed him, but he's not a bad person. Biff's dad, though, is charming and pleasant (if it benefits him to be) and just awful.

On the right is part of an old attempt at Reverend Alpert, back before I realized the character just didn't want to be white and I needed to stop trying.

The first concept sketches of Biff's family, made in 2013. Biff's mom is a scarred, bitter woman with curly hair who's devoted her entire life to class aspirations, sacrificing everyone and everything to that cause. She always looks tired, and gets a plastic, wooden smile when things get bad. Biff is shown before he transitioned--his appearance didn't actually change that much. He has two sisters--Josephine, who is pointy and active, and Mildred, who is soft and podgy and passive. JoJo survived; Millie did not.

My first concept sketches of the rest of the miserable, woebegotten MacGilligan family, back before Biff escaped as far west he could and transitioned. He got out, but the scars remain, and even M.D. doesn't find out he had two sisters until after they'd known each other a couple years.

A 10/17/13 pen sketch of Raige leaning into M.D. to kiss her, while she shoves him back and goes I love you too, you big dorkface.

A 10/17/13 pen sketch of Raige leaning into M.D. to kiss her, while she shoves him back and goes I love you too, you big dorkface.

Overhauling this one. Raige breaks every panel he stands in because he towers over the rest of the cast, so trying to draw him and M.D. together just always goes wrong.

Raige's mom, standing with her back to the viewer, talking on a pay phone. Around her is darkness and swirls of smoke from her cigarette. She's a thin, freckled woman wearing her hair pulled back in a silver and turquoise clip, a plaid shirt, blue jeans, and cowboy boots.

Raige's mom, standing with her back to the viewer, talking on a pay phone. Around her is darkness and swirls of smoke from her cigarette. She's a thin, freckled woman wearing her hair pulled back in a silver and turquoise clip, a plaid shirt, blue jeans, and cowboy boots.

Illustration for the Infinity Smashed book I am working on--specifically Calling Home. Raige's mom calls her son, and nothing about this goes wrong or upsetting in any way. I want to draw more of her.

I drew her once, a long, LONG time ago. Good luck ever finding that tiny cameo appearance she put in.