The locket

Among the recovered personal effects of the senior Woolcotts was a locket with shadow portraits of what might have been Emma and Philip's grandparents.

It seems innocuous enough, but of course there is more to it than meets the eye. If you turn the glass just so, the portraits vanish and what remains is a sophisticated cypher.

When Emma brings her locket "to the jeweller for repairs," she is actually getting the updated codes from her mysterious emloyer.

rough concept sketch of Emma's locket

The New Girl

So sorry, my lovelies. I was out of town last week, so, alas, I neglected to post. But now I am back, and so is Vixens Vendredi (-ish).

And today, we bring you The New Girl.

Don't let that wooden leg fool you; she's still the most agile human being alive.

What's her real name? Your guess is as good as mine. To date, she's introduced herself as Carmen, Lenore, Giselle, Odile, Isolde, Elisabeth, Beatrice, Elektra, Dorabella, Pamina, Semele, and Amastre. How she knows so much about opera and ballet is a bit of a mystery as well, but it is rumoured that she was a prima ballerina before she lost her leg.

I'm not sure if she features in the first story arc, which is more or less laid out at this time, but she's definitely waiting in the wings. If this were Charlie's Angels, she'd probably be Cheryl Ladd.


That's a wrap for this week.

Alternate masthead design

I'm not particularly fond of my title card, so I'm experimenting a little with the typeface et cetera.

I don't think it's quite there, yet. But it's progress.

Whoops.

Sorry, my dears, Vixens Vendredi is running late this week.  I haven't forgotten about you, I've just had my hands full between two jobs and trying to get the pages done for the other story I'm drawing right now. Hope you're having a lovely Winter Solstice.

Tougher than he looks

Philip prefers strategy and sophistication in settling differences, but is not afraid to engage in fisticuffs when it is called for.

Mystery box

A messenger brings a puzzle box to Woolcott's Millinery.

Who could have sent it? What could it contain?

And will the Vixens be able to solve the puzzle in time?

It's a good thing Emma keeps a set of lockpicks handy.

Woolcott's Millinery and Haberdashery

The Woolcott family has owned and operated their shop for three generations.

The current shop is located at a quiet intersection at the edge of town, and certainly does not have a secret underground passage to any brick outbuildings.

The outlandish rumours about the shop and its proprietors are, of course, only rumours and hearsay.

Mind you, if one were to find oneself on desperate trouble, without hope of rescue or remedy, and if one were to drop a note about said trouble on the floor of the shop ... Well, who knows what might happen?

Entirely by coincidence, of course.

Hats!

Apologies, my dears, this week's Vixens Vendredi is a bit late getting off the ground. But where I am, it is still Friday, at least while I am writing this.

For this week, we get a look at a few of Emma's hat design concepts.

It has been one of those weeks where everything got a little bit away from me. I've been busy with other projects, and trying to find (more) work, and in the meantime trying to make do with what I've got by loading lots of items to my eBay store (www.ebay.com/sch/rockie_squirrel/m.html for those of you keeping score at home.)

I'll try to make sure next week's Vixens Vendredi has a little more substance and polish.

Perhaps starting with the hat decorated with a miniature robot hummingbird.

Until next week, my lovelies.

Philip Woolcott - not just a pretty face

Getting a look at Philip Woolcott, proprietor (on paper) of Woolcott's Millinery, and leader (in the reports) of the Steampunk Vixens.

But he's not just a pretty face with puppy-dog eyes. He's an engineer almost as smart as Kelly, and a sharp-shooter almost as dangerous as Violet.

Emma taught him to play chess when he was little, and he's pretty good at it.

She recruited him to the team when he finished school, and they often work as a team in the field.

They developed a sign language code when they were children, and still use it for secret messages during missions, or to communicate when there's a risk of the bad guys overhearing them.

Hello new fans

Hi to everyone who stopped by Rachael Wells Art at FanExpo 2012 and picked up a bookmark for Steampunk Vixens. It was great meeting and talking with all of you.

FYI, Steampunk Vixens also has a Facebook page. Why not check it out?

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Steampunk-Vixens/361624993884599

Baby steps

I've been super-busy with other projects, but I've still been working away at this, mostly behind the scenes on stuff like plot and pacing for issue one.

In the meantime, I've done some sketching, and a little bit of graphic design. Because hey, a twitter profile photo that is not an egg is progress. Why not follow us at  twitter.com/steampunkvixens

Here's a bit of what's in store.

Character design, Emma Woolcott, team leader and the brains of the outfit. She can use her charm to get people to tell secrets they didn't know they knew ... but it doesn't work on family.

Concept sketch, Philip Woolcott, younger brother of Emma. People give him credit for Emma's genius, despite his best efforts to deflect it and convince them Emma's the real brains. He's generally apologetic and deferential to Emma as a result of this.

Concept sketch Kelly Quinn, engineer, inventor, and all-around genius. She dressed as a boy so she could go to school, and that's where she met Philip, who recruited her to the team.

Concept sketch Violet, most dangerous human alive. Observant and insightful. And with a past that she doesn't discuss.

It's alive!

After laying around on the back burner for a couple of years (ever since this post), my Steampunk Vixens comic is finally getting under way. I'm in pre-production now, tidying up environment and character back stories.

Fingers crossed, and with any luck I'll actually be able to pull this off.