2015 — MRJAKEPARKER.COM

For the 2015 season of Inktober I wanted to jump into a world I had been dabbling in for a long time: SkyHeart. The entire month was devoted to concept art, character designs and illustrations to fully flesh out the world. All of this helped me have more confidence and direction for the SkyHeart graphic novel I would go on to illustrate in the following years.

Day 1

Day 2

Meet Wake, the main hero in my graphic novel.

day 3

Wake treks in and out of the city of Bridgeport every day, making deliveries for ship captains who dock there. It's usually just documents and letters, but sometimes he's entrusted with special packages.

day 4

Early on in the story, Wake's life is saved by this girl from the Slyph kingdom. More on her later.

day 5

On the outskirts of Bridgeport is a little farmhouse where Wake lives with his mother.

day 6

Took some time today to figure out the design for Wake's mother. I want her to look strong and confident. She's had to take over most of the farm work since Wake's father died and so workboots and pants were a must have.

day 7

The tengru came out of nowhere and attacked. His mother beat the creature back and yelled, "Wake, RUN!" He bolted for the tool shed and grabbed the first thing he saw; a rusty shovel. By the time he got back to her, she lay listless on the ground. The beast was gone.

day 8

The tengru are an ancient race of creature born of darkness in the center of the planet. They brandish boltrods that harness the power of dark lightning, and use them to suck the life force out of everything good and living.

Nasty boogers!

day 9

A lone Bellonian fighter patrols the skies.

day 10

At one point in the story, Wake saves the life of this guy, Limberg, who then promises to repay Wake by helping him in his quest.

day 11

A Bellonian airship concept. This would be a gunship known as the "Vulture."

day 12

Meet Grimm, a pygmy air-whale who's able to ride the magnetic currents and even create his own. Wake and Limberg rescue him from a band of pirates and he joins Wake on his quest.

day 13

The Tengru's leader is as ruthless as he is ugly. When he receives word that a boy, a sylph warrior, a flying pig, and a pygmy air whale have obtained the artifact he's been searching for, he'll stop at nothing to destroy them and take what should be his.

day 14

The world of Airth. Literally torn apart by an ancient war between the gods who created it, Airth is divided into 4 sections:
1. the Stratos, a chain of islands high in the sky where the Sylph people live
2. The Rimland, a massive ring of continents and giant islands where Most of the inhabitants of Airth live. Wake lives here.
3. The Abyss, a stretch of atmosphere filled with incredible cloud formations and tiny floating islands. Limberg and Grimm are from here.
4. The Core, an ocean covered rocky sphere filled with colossal caves. The Tengru, monsters and beasts, and the Dark Lord live down here.

There is a prophecy that the Dark Lord will regain his power and destroy what's left of Airth to start a new planet with him as ruler. The only thing that can stop him is the Star Seed. It is the key to making Airth whole again and destroying the darkness forever. But is the Star Seed only a myth?

day 15

A Tengru mount, riding a groxx.

day 16

The world of Airth is ruled by several different kingdoms, each with its own formidable sky-force.

day 17

An gunship from the nation of Vestania. The markings indicate it's a leadership, and is scouting the skies for enemy outposts.

day 18

The Sky-whales of Airth. Created by the gods to rule the abyss, they ride the magnetic currents that govern the skies and are one of the few animals that can create their own currents. Their language is extremely hard for outsiders to learn, but if mastered they accept you as their own.

Day 19

Wake has to deliver a package to the outskirts of Bridgeport where a peculiar old man named Everett operates a lighthouse. It's quite the trip, but Wake loves seeing what crazy stuff Everett is up to.

day 20

Wake the delivery boy, Yahna of the Sylph kingdom, Limberg of the lower isles, and Grimm the pygmy sky-whale set out on their journey to find the Star-Seed. It's he only chance Wake has at saving his mother, but could the Star-Seed artifact also be the key to saving Airth?!

day 21

Wake has a run in with some pirates. Their ship is a salvaged Bellonian Corvette, and while it may look clunky, it gets the job done. Has a crew of 10, and carries 3 smaller interceptors.

day 22

I've always loved those Drew Struzen movie posters and wanted to do something like that for SkyHeart. I might make this the book cover. If not, it will definitely be a poster.

day 23

Yahna of the northern Slyph tribes takes on some demented beast from the core. With only one arrow left, she'll have to make this shot count!

day 24

Wake gets a little in over his head when he accidentally disturbs a sleeping armisaur. Found mostly in rocky canyons and mountains, armisaurs nestle into rocky crevices to nap, their hard protective plated armor barely indistinguishable from the surrounding rock.