THE EVOLUTION OF RYAN

Kind of late in the day for this, but with everything else going on, why not mix it up with an Evolution entry. This time we take a look at Ryan Hull, onetime manager of Corman Cinemas:



DAVID SCHLOTTERBACK (Monsterplex Artist): I had no idea who Ryan was. I, for some reason, couldn’t picture him.

BROCK (Monsterplex Writer): That was fine with me because Ryan, both in name and in appearance, was intended to based on a friend of mine, Ryan Hull. Ryan is one of these guys that has a classically American athletic build, but it also kind of a goofball (which is why we're friends). I wanted Ryan in MONSTERPLEX to embody those same qualities so it seemed simple enough to just start there. Since I had the clearest idea, I did my version first.

After that, Dave went to work translating my ideas into his own style.



DAVID: In Brock’s version he appeared to be a bit of a “big” guy, so, I sketched him as so. Also, Brock indicated he wanted a bit of “messy” to him. I really pushed that aspect of his character.

BROCK: Dave saw a lot more "jock" in my version of Ryan than I'd intended. I didn't want to make him a bruiser.



DAVID: : Told to thin him up and to tuck his shirt in, I came back with this. Much closer to the Ryan of today. I was beginning to understand this Ryan fellow. But, I needed some more tries at the guy.

BROCK: Classic case of "this porridge is too cold." Great design for a side character or background walk-on, but not for a lead.



DAVID: Now we’re there. I really liked this sketch. It captured the style of what I was going for all along for these characters.

BROCK: With all of designs it was always the same--we just kept working it until it felt right. This last design gave us the perfect mix of athleticism and goofball. Ryan isn't meant to be an immediately intimidating character...but you should be able to imagine that he could be.

That's it for today! More later. Don't forget to tell your friends about MONSTERPLEX and this blog!

-Brock