A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 1

Page 1 of a 28 page mudplay comic I've been working on sonce February '06. No wonder I haven't been posting anything. More info at the [comments] link.

All entries in this series:
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Analog: pencil + Microns
Digial: Micrografx Picture Publisher 8
Compression: Ulead Smart Saver
Attributions: on image

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 2

A little background on Tina's affinity for plowing through puddles and mud. The sneakers under the bed came from a previous pic: "Muddy Keds". (She still hasn't washed them yet)

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 3

In a cutaway, Tina demonstrates why she loves platform shoes so much. The narration actually explains more than the desc, but suffice to say that the popular "Brand T" boot she's holding, which incidentally is shorter than a high-top sneaker) is only waterproof to about the 5" level, which is less than the slush puddles you can encounter in an urban snowstorm, hence the scene here. I photographed a slush puddle last January as a texture for this page, and the brick wall was a spur-of-the-moment idea while doing the color work.

Analog: pencils, Microns
Digital: Micrografx Picture Publisher 8
Compression: Ulead Smart Saver
Attributions: on image

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 4

The most time consuming aspect of this comic is about to be spotted by our central character.

Trivia: I initially drew Tina in a short-sleeve shirt, but changed it to a long-sleeve after the first four pages. Somehow I forgot to change the second panel of the first page until spotting it literally in the last days of the project.

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 5

Tina spots the mother of all mudfields. That texture is hand-drawn...you'll be seeing lots more of it in the next few pages.

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 6

She's about to do it, folks. Well actually, she starts on this page.

I was going to depict her sliding down the hill,in response to an email request to see Tina 0attempting to climb a muddy hill and slipping (since platform shoes aren't known for traction). But that would have required padding the dialogue too much and the page was dropped at the layout stage, replaced by a reference to the fact she
couldn't climb back up the way she came, due to the shoes she was wearing. A stand-alone pic isn't out of the question, but it won't be a part of this particular story.

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 7

She's in it now, and so far she's right about those platforms. I put a 'Mature' sticker on this one (at FA)due to the lewd remark she makes about the noise coming from the mud as she walks.

Yes, she does the 'wild thing'--I just haven't drawn her getting horizontal with her BF yet (but oh, the mental cartoons...)

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 8

When the going gets deep,... Tina just keeps going. Bear in mind that those shoes (drawn from an actual Steve Madden design) have 4" heels. But at this point, she doesn't intend to get anything in them--she just believes it won't get any deeper.

It would be accurate to say this is where the going gets down and dirty

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 9

Aw, she's gone and done it. Got mud in her shoes. Well at least no one is watching.

Spoke too soon--there be a Kritter in the bushes

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 10

Well, you're dirty now--might as well keep going, freed from the obligation not to get any on you, and knowing that some folks wish they could do what you're doing, but can't (without getting in a lot of trouble)--present company excepted, as we will soon see.

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 11

Now just about calf-deep and getting hard to move. Time for some intervention, no?

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 12

Help has arrived--and Tina notices that with her socks slipping below the surface, she probably could use a hand, being she's still sinking. Note how she's able to lean back and is still anchored at her calves.

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 13

Kritterfox sure isn't the least bit inhibited about plowing straight into the quagmire, is he? That's pretty much how he got the part :)

I'm getting a little better at rendering that texture--I'm using the clone feature of Picture Publisher to shorten the task of applying the texture to subsequent pages, but every so often I need to re-draw it from scratch to keep the patterns looking sufficiently random.

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 14

Well, it seems Kritter got out-of-hand even faster than Tina did. He's not quite as stuck since he's barefoot (actually he should still be pretty mobile at this point because of that), but it does--as I have him realizing--present a bit of a problem getting Tina unstuck.

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 15

Kritter suggests a method of getting unstuck that involves spreading one's weight out on the mud in order to work one's legs free.

Only thing is, this tactic involves rolling around in the mud to get enough leverage to free your legs, and while Tina didn't really care about getting her feet and legs muddy (after it happened, at least), she's drawing the line at the rest of her clothes. As such, even though she acknowledges that Kritter is probably right (note her remark in the last panel), she still wants him to come up with another idea.

(extended desc at comment link)

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 16

Kritter is momentarily taken aback by the remark, but Tina reassures him that she's not holding his habits against him, just that she'd rather not muck up the rest of her outfit (note she's still sinking)

For the record, Tina isn't really into wallowing--just the sensation of walking on soft ground, making tracks in treachrerous-looking mud, and appearing to purposefully ruin new or new-looking shoes without regard to consequense.

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 17

Kritter volunteers to let Tina climb up on his back so she can jump to shallower mud. Is that an ulterior motive in his offer?

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 18

This is the part where I really bogged down (pun intended) artistically, as I needed to render all that shiny multicolored highlighed-and shadowed mud sticking to the principal characters. Lasso, lighten, re-lasso, re-lighten, lasso again, darken, wash, rinse, repeat. That was a major time sink, but the end results were worth it once it was all said and done.

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 19

Kritter--now muddier than ever. Tina--not very far behind. All that mud took a looooooong time to color, I tellyouwhat. The dripping, the glistening, the smearing...geez, you'd think I was talking about spooge...

No.....on second thought, spooge wouold be easier to draw. XD

So, looks like Tina finally catches a break--she managed to get up on Kritter's back without losing her shoes.

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 20

The plan didn't quite work out the way Tina expected...somebody forgot mud-caked platform shoes aren't world-renowned for their traction. On the other hand, it seems to have turned out exactly as Kritter had fantasized :)

Now I have highlights and shading all over the mud-covered portions of their bodies...a major investment in time for all of you watching this series. Is it getting convincing yet?

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 21

Well, Tina did manage to land in shallower mud. Kritter, on the other hand...oofah

Does anyone remember he's a mostly white-furred character?

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 22

Usually when I have another person's character cameo in a comic of mine, I have the character's owner write his/her lines. That way I can write my own characters reacting to a creation whose words and actions aren't influenced by my thinking. However, for this comic, Kritter's owner passed the writing of his character to me for the most part. However, he [i]did[/i] suggest asking Tina to push him under a second time, hence this little sequence. Tina's wit gets to come into play at the unusual request.

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 23

Tina does the dirty deed. Feels wicked, don't it? Tina's not the sort to add insult to injury, so this does feel a bit weird and thrilling at the same time.

The inset (think of a Family Guy-style cutaway) was the obvious pun.

(extended desc at comment link)

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 24

Okay, breathing time. We don't want Kritter passing out under the surface, do we?

Besides, Tina is at the point of wanting to wash off now. Walking home with muddy shoes is one thing, being covered in goo from the hips down is quite another--nobody'd let her in the house.

I think Kritter has achieved just about 100% coverage--he can't possibly get any dirtier :D

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 25

After much squooshing, struggling, slipping and squishing, the two make it back to a garage used by Kritter for storage (at least in this comic), where we see them finishing up their cleanup which must've took a [i]lot[/i] of water and quite a bit of time with that garden hose. Those familiar with Kritterfon know he's been into a wide variety of messes, so naturally he'd be curious if Tina was into anything else.

Now, I've never done wetlook before so chalk that up as another effect I've "learned", and you can blame Masamune Shirow (and 4chan) for that :)

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 26

Hosedown complete, a clean, but dripping wet below the waist Tina thanks Kritter for the use of the hose, but enough time has passed that she can't stick around to converse (actually, they must've had plenty of time to talk during the hosing-down process) and must bid her adieu. Kritter is already cleaned up--he really needed it first. I wonder if he had himself Scotchgarded, as I don't see any scrub brushes or soap around :)

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 27

And in a final display of wetlook (hey, I only had a couple of pages of practice) Tina hurries off for home. But instead of heading up the driveway to the park path, she shortcuts toward a wet claypit next to the building. And before Kritter can complete his warning, she's mucked up her shoes again.

But this time her 2"" platforms with 4" wedge heels do the job she intended, and keep the mud out of the top of her shoes. I won't say how the back of her legs look after running through that--anyone who's walked on a soaking wet sidewalk knows what happens.

A Curiously Filthy Story: pg 28 (end)

And finally, the last page. Oh, so he thinks Tina is a [i]little[/i] strange, eh?

:)

For those of you watching as I'm uploading this, and those coming in after ripping into their loot, merry Christmas 2006 :D

(extended desc at comment link)