I Say Thee, Ho, Ho, Ho

Over at my "Blockade Boy" blog, B.B. goes undercover as a mall Santa, on an alien planet, 980 years in the future. The beefy, oversexed hero discovers that time and distance have transmogrified the concept of "jolly old Saint Nick" into something like Dickens' Ghost of Christmas Present, as filtered through the brain of Robert E. Howard. (Not that he complains, of course.)

This is watercolor pencil and ink. I tried to loosen up my brush work, both with the watercolor mixing and with the inking. I think it turned out pretty well.

It took me a while to settle on a costume design. I knew I wanted his muscular arms and chest to be exposed, like a professional wrestler's, since it was the antithesis of the portly gent's physique. I tried different cloaks and unbuttoned coats on him. At one point, Future Santa had a tall, furry hat, like the Russian cousin of Santa, Grandfather Frost. Finally, I settled on just a simple cloak, chained together (under the beard) and a crown of holly. I put most of the details on the belt/codpiece and the boots. The bear image comes from old coats of arms.

Conceptually, I knew I wanted this less-than-welcoming Santa to pose in his chair like a barbarian king. Online, I found this iconic image of King Conan...

...and I knew right away it was ripe for parody/homage. I created Future Santa's barbed candy cane weapon based on Conan's spear.

My Future Santa also has an "elf" assistant, whose costume is raven-themed -- because Future Santa also looks a bit like the Norse god, Odin. I'll post that picture later this week (when I get around to drawing th' dang thing.)