Muzzle Development Journal 2: Pin-ups

This is a different meaning of the word "Pin-Up" than you might be thinking. At least, for now, it is. The picture to the right is my first Muzzle Pin-Up, one of our psychologist with a bizarre past and video game addiction, Jenna. I could go into the whole "she likes long walks on the beach" spiel, but I won't. Instead, I'm actually going to use this to talk about why I'm doing this style of Pin-Up, and why I'm only doing the "risque" style for certain characters.

Firstly, I'm doing this style (clean, humorous, and kind of biographical) mainly because it's a good way to get some concepts going for characters that are pretty much already designed. This type of pin-up is the comic book definition where its a decorative picture that shows the character or group. For the individual pin-ups, I'm throwing in somethings about the characters. For this one, we see Jenna in an office, twirling her hair, in a somewhat seductive pose. We can deduct that she works in an office (which she does), and that she does come off as being seductive (whether or not she means to is another question). The next one I'm working on in this series is going to be of Alexis (which should be fun), and then Binkin and Patty as well as the rest of the cast. Not all of them will be "seductive," but more of a showcase of the characters themselves (i.e. Alexis's could be seen as being seductive, but she's more playful than anything else, while Binkie is more "serious.")

Now, question the second: Why am I going to do the "risque" pin-ups, and why only certain characters? Well, lets get the first out of the way. Remember that I said this is going to be a more mature comic? While there isn't any senseless sex thrown in, keep in mind that A) I'm an artist who draws, more often than not, women, both clothed and nude (i.e. the Pin-Up Project). B) The comic isn't just about me, but the other characters as well. And C) This is a grown-up comic (not Hentai) with grown-up subjects, both funny and serious (in the case of the second chapter, very serious), and yes, sometimes something that involves nudity will pop up (again, me being an artist, and other matters as well).

When you have characters such as Jenna, Alexis, and Patty, its hard not to have people asking "are you going to draw her naked?" Case in point, this happened quite often when people saw both pictures of cartoon Alexis and real Alexis. Had I been more violent about it, I'm sure both of my hands and feet would be broken. The trick is, only a few of the female characters would want to be seen like this. So, yes, expect "actual" pin-ups of Jenna, Patty, Vanessa (Patty's girlfriend) and even Alexis (at her request), mainly to poke fun at my other project, and to get people to stop asking to "see them naked." I've found that if you want take away any imagination you don't want people to have, give it to them early.

On the other hand, don't expect me to draw some of the other female characters or any of the males in this manner. First thing's first, I hate drawing men, especially in a manner that, personally, I think works better for women. Read as "men don't have that nice, curvy shape that women have that is fun to draw and look at." Secondly, certain women in the strip are not meant to be seen like that, period. This includes Binkie, Heather, and some of Alexis' friends that will appear later on. Some of these are out of respect for the person's wishes (the ones I am doing requested it, or agreed to it of their own volition), to respect another's wishes (most unsaid), or due to it being unnecessary (well, most of them are, anyway, but it's meant to be funny). There is only one exception. If anyone asks why after this, I will personally pay them a visit to pin this next paragraph on their thick skulls.

I will not draw Binkie as a "risque" pin-up for the sheer fact that all of the above apply plus these two reasons: 1) I've known her longer than I've known anyone else in this strip, and I hate it when guys see her as a nothing more than a sex toy. 2) A huge part of the story would clash with this entirely, and it would be in extremely poor taste to do it in the first place.

Now, the question of "Why is your girlfriend getting one?" pops up. Well, that's simple: she requested it. By her words, it isn't like people are looking at her photographic nudity/lingerie in a comic. They're seeing a cartoon representation of her. Besides, according to her, its meant for fun anyway, so why not?

That's only a small part of what I'm working on. Stay tuned for more!