Joel's New Hair

For a long time now, I've been trying to devise a new hairstyle for Joel from "Forever 16". The one he's had until now is a vestigial trace of my old drawing style - I used to give all male characters that weird frizzy hair, back before I learned how to design more distinct humans. I keep trying to get rid of it, but no style I've come up with has looked satisfactory. I do like this one, though - that longish mop-top look is what I've had in mind for Joel all along, and it's really tough to make it look right, but I think I'm getting a bead on it at last. I'll keep playing around with it, but I know I'm headed in the right direction.

New Character Day

Aside from Michelle, I really don't have much experience drawing non-white characters, but you know me, I'm always looking to broaden my horizons. So I sketched out this African-American girl recently, and I'm so satisfied with how she looks that I want to make her a recurring character in "Forever 16".

I decided to name her Kendra Williams, but I'm still ironing out her role. I'm against the idea of tokenism, so I know I don't want to have an African-American character just for the sake of having one - I want to give her a personality, and something to do with the other characters. At first, I wanted to make her Aaron's girlfriend, but then I realized that I'd have to get rid of one of Aaron's funniest character traits - lusting after celebrities that his friends know he'll never get to meet (he used to have a crush on Britney Spears until she shaved her head; now he's got a thing for Megan Fox, and he's eagerly waiting for Miley Cyrus to turn 18). So now I'm thinking she might work better as Michelle's friend, someone who can give her romantic advice. And since I've gone this long without Joel or Michelle or anyone else ever realizing that Abby has an unrequited crush on Joel, maybe Kendra should finally be the one to see the light there...that could open up some intriguing story possibilities.

You Said a Mouthful

I know I've been underwater a lot this week, but I can't seem to help it - all my inspiration seems to be coming from under the sea right now. Case in point: in the course of my regular browsing, I recently came across a music video on YouTube from Swedish pop singer Nilla Nielsen. The song is called "Just Dance" (and thankfully, no, it's not a Lady Gaga cover), and she "sings" the whole thing underwater. What really caught my eye was the way there always seems to be a big bubble at the roof of her mouth while she's lip-syncing (it's especially evident at 1:42 into the video), and I thought "That'd be cool to draw." Somehow it seemed to fit that Jocelyn should be the one to emulate it - she's the musically inclined female in my cast of characters, and as I've established in the past, she does have a singer's voice.

American Handstand

The rain around here has been so bad lately, my entire front lawn was a lake yesterday morning. In case it isn't obvious, I can't wait for summer. Fortunately, I can draw whatever I want, so for Michelle, summer's already here!

Every time I draw a character upside-down, I have to turn the paper upside-down too. Not that this is a handicap, mind you - I've tried doing it the other way, and it always comes out looking weird. It's hard to flip the center of my brain where I keep my character models on its side.

What The *#%@ Do YOU Want?

Out of all the characters I've created, Jocelyn Stafford has to be one of my favorites. She's evolved a bit over the years, too - she started off as a rather one-dimensional bully, but that disappeared when I hit upon the idea to make her a bit more political, pulling for the Democratic party despite being raised in a staunchly Republican household. It helps to explain her rebellious attitude a bit better, I think.

Jocelyn's always been a rocker chick, though - her design was very heavily inspired by a girl I saw at the mall one day, whose bleach-blonde hair and fishnet stockings under black boots immediately screamed "cartoon character". Long-time fans of my work might notice that I've augmented her character design slightly; she now sports a scorpion tattoo on her left arm, to contrast the butterfly on her right. They represent the angry and sensitive sides of her personality, respectively, but she keeps the scorpion on the side closest to her heart because she's definitely more deeply rooted in the aggressive side. (But when she's alone with her boyfriend Steve, she's a pure romantic.)

Michelle's Underwater Room

Inspired by a series of photos I found on Flickr, I decided to draw Michelle typing away on her computer underwater. And then I went the extra mile and decided to put her entire bedroom underwater - it's been a while since I did the whole flooded room concept. I may end up turning this into a series featuring all the "Forever 16" kids in submerged bedrooms. I already have concepts in mind for the others.

It's hard to see 'cause of the blur I put on here, but the books on Michelle's shelf provide some insight into her interests. There's a lot of computer science and web design stuff, along with books on art and animation. She's definitely one of the more expressive kids in the group - I mentioned earlier that I'd thought of putting her on the swim team, but now I've decided to divide her time between computer studies and art studies. I think she'll make a good painter.

I Hear Voices

I think any cartoonist has gone through the process of trying to pin down voices for their characters. It took me a while to figure out exactly who I hear speaking when I read my "Forever 16" comics in my head, but here's what I came up with.

Joel Maxwell – Jonah Hill. He has that perfect mix of intelligent and juvenile that I think fits Joel perfectly.
Katy Maxwell – Ashley Tisdale. Vapid, shallow, and easily riled. What better way to describe Katy?
Tina Maxwell – Kathy Bates. Very matronly when she needs to be, but also full of sound and fury.
William Maxwell – Chevy Chase. Beaten, downtrodden, easily defeated, and incredibly gullible.
Aaron West – Will Friedle. That perfect tone that makes him sound like he only thinks he knows it all.
Michelle Hsien – Alyson Hannigan. Smart, considerate, and very playful, without sounding the least bit ditzy.
Jocelyn Stafford – Alecia Beth Moore (a.k.a. Pink). Harsh, voracious, and unrestrained, she's the ideal match for Jocelyn's spontaneous bursts of individuality.
Steve Nelson – Jason Mewes. Very quiet and subdued, but also capable of being wild and strung out.
Ashleigh Russo – Jenna Von Oy. An energetic fast-talker, exactly the way I've always envisioned Ashleigh from the start.
Abby Morgenstein – America Ferrera. Not only is the voice a great match, she also served as the physical inspiration for Abby; I can't imagine anyone else doing her voice.

I like to keep these in mind in case "Forever 16" ever makes it into animated form. Though I support the idea of casting professional voice actors, I made this list to reflect the celebrity-casting trend that's been prominent in animated features lately, since if I did get to animate these characters, I'd want it to be in the form of a movie. When Pixar casts their movies, they go based on how well the voice fits the character, which is exactly what I tried to do here.

The Wet Look Is Out

Drawing wet clothes is tough. But it's a fun challenge, 'cause I usually draw underwater scenes; it's not often that I draw what the characters look like right after they get out. It's rare that you see Michelle get angry at Joel, but this seems like an appropriate scenario for that.

That's Michelle's pool, in case you were wondering. I was toying with the idea that she's on the high school swim team, but I'm not sure if I want to go with that - "Forever 16" already has one athlete (Aaron), and I've already established that Michelle is into computer science, so another extracurricular activity might not be very plausible.