Munch Chunky Sketch Works One

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this weeks issue, is being interrupted in order to get a bit of rest, 

and to share this little bit of work with you.

when the MC site first went live I had a section called the development blog

where I had intended to go through the entire history of the series.

unfortunately I started and then never got back into it.

mostly because it wasn't a true development blog, or blog at all.

it was just this long scrolling wall of text and pictures.

which made no sense to me.

so I figured why not do for MC what I did for Goblyn, and just make a sketch book.

this is the first of a couple, but I don't see the next one coming out for quite a bit.

Munch Chunky Mondays 00: A new thing starts

a new take on the Enoroo shop scene from the animated Munch Chunky

So, I'm going to start this thing here on the site, called Munch Chunky Mondays.

I'll be talking about news and updates about the different things that will be happening to me, the comic, and within the world of Munch Chunky.

I'll also be adding videos, each week. some of them I may be talking in, while others might just be speed art videos with music I composed like the one below.

beyond that... all I can say is. 

I'm working behind the scenes on the Munch Chunky Databook, 

and that should be launching next week, if all goes well.

that's all for now... see you soon and enjoy the video.

-Smars

Munch Chunky Issue 3b

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I think this is the first time I have put out an issue of this comic on time.

like it was 100% finished before the clock hit 12.

I think it has to do with this new schedule. 

suddenly my stress is low, and I'm blasting through pages and having a ball while doing it.

I'm thrilled about how the colours in these last few issues have been coming out.

there's very little to no fighting for attention in any one frame.

i think now that I'm coming up on four issues, and I have introduced a ton of characters I should begin a Munch Chunky Databook. I figure if i start now, I'll be able to update it as the issues come out.

yeah?

we'll see.

haha.

also... new song this week for the Munch Chunky OST

Ixia beat.

it's named after the big blue creature they meet in the forest

an Ixia beast. 

it's fuzzy, and twilight foresty, and fun.

the song, not the beast.

Munch Chunky Issue 3a

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WOO HOO!

the first issue of Munch Chunky on my new weekly wednesday schedule.

this one was a cool down from the momentum of the last few issues.

a lot of running in those other ones.

of course the next issue just starts the running all over again

hahaha!

but I can tell I'm getting more comfortable with MC and really starting to have fun with the colour pallet.

that's good, because i was really worried that things would look really bland. it's a slightly simpler looking book than Goblyn, and the colours have fewer passes and gradients as well.

i wanted to play with symbology and symbolism in this series a lot. both in shapes and in colours.

Munch Chunky issue 2b cover (speed art)

a speed art edit of me colouring and making the cover for Issue 2b of Munch Chunky
fun! :3
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The music is by Mobal Sute which is essentially just me C:

but you can check it out at http://mobalsute.bandcamp.com/album/munch-chunky-ost
where you can listen to the full version of the second song used in this video called Exit Strategy.

it's fun kinda' 8-bit chiptunesy music.

Munch Chunky Issue 2b

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I 100% apologize for the long hiatus.

I got behind on the other series I do, Goblyn

plus it went weekly... so that wreaked havoc on my ability to complete

this issue.

But I finally did.

and I'm happy it's done.

I spent a lot of time staring at level maps from games like the Super Mario World/Yoshi's Island series

in preparation for the next issue and subsequently the rest of the series.

those were always big inspirations for the visual concept of how the world would look.

a cartoony, environment, rich with vivid colours and bold shapes.

so that's next.

until then... enjoy the newest song from the Munch Chunky OST, Exit Strategy.

Munch Chunky Issue 2a

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------All the stars are lining up and Munch Chunky is really taking shape.

I had quite a bit of fun working on this issue.

I even streamed me making this issue.

even tho I  was using photoshop 6, which is so totally nerfed in comparison to CS3 

(which I normally use to make comics)

it wasn't bad. MC isn't very heavy on the dynamic layers and such.

it's just straight forward drawings, with colour, and a good solid story about friends and adventure.

what more could you ask for?

oh, the link to the livestream videos?

done and done.

--> http://www.livestream.com/smars <--

here's a little embed action for you too.

smars on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

Munch Chunky Issue 1b

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so, introductions to all the major protagonists of the series have been made.

rivalries have been set in stone.

now that, that's out of the way... 

we can really get this avalanche of adventure 

rolling over people and causing all sorts of chaos fun.

this issue definitely went over my 50 to 55 page rule.

but I really had to get the rest of this part of the story out.

so... justifiable self rule breaking?

idk...

the set up for the entire series is always the tallest hill to get over.

everything else from that point is just letting the story flow through you.

time to flow.

live, love, & eat fruit.

Munch Chunky Soundtrack...

So back when I was trying to do Munch Chunky as an animated series, all by myself. 

(a foolish endeavor if ever there was one)

I had created an actual musical score to run in the background of the episodes.

Most of them were each of the main characters themes Bojo's theme, Turtles theme, & Diddles theme, or remixed variations of those.

but then I realised i couldn't do the animated series the way I wanted in the time allotted to me.

but I still had the soundtrack, and the need to express Munch Chunky in music.

when I see this art I hear songs, and I've been building a little library of those songs for a few years now.

I'm not proud of them all, but most make me very happy, because they capture the spirit of Munch Chunky 100%

from Munch Chunky issue 2b on, with each new half issue ex. 2b, 3b, 4b, 5b, and so on... I will add a new track from the Munch Chunky OST collection on my Mobal Sute Bandcamp page. 

you can listen to them and if you like them, download and collect them.

I've added an original sound track section here to listen to the OST tracks that are being uploaded to Bandcamp.

I just thought it would be fun to share a bit of the music I hear when I work on Munch Chunky.

live, love, & eat fruit.

Munch Chunky Issue 1a

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So I’m finally going to tell this story. 

Not in the way I had wanted to a few months back 

(which was animated) 

but the way I had originally conceived the project in 2001, as a comic book.

I learned a lot about storytelling and pacing when I decided to make Munch Chunky into an animated series. 

I could get away with things that would fall apart in a comic book scenario. 

Because of that, I had to change the beginning of the story 

and the way it plays out for the comic.

Another of my problems was my limitations in animating. 

I only know how to animate so many things, and I often hit walls 

I couldn't get around. 

In comic book form I hit a lot less walls with the images being fixed. 

It’s hard to explain, but what it came down to in the end wasn’t the expense of animation, 

but the time. 

I’m able to commit the same amount of time to the comic form as the animated form, 

but i yield more story from it, 

for my effort.

and ultimately I just really want to tell my stories, 

and I can’t let the process of building the body of that work be 

the part that breaks down the ability for the story to be told 

consistently and fluidly.

Trongo Bongo

Trongo Bots.

I've been drawing these goofy looking mech suits for so many years.

I'm a big mech, super giant robot enthusiast. seriously.

I spent a huuuuuge chunk of my childhood reading watching stuff like Voltron, Tranzor Z
(or Mazinger Z if you want to be a purist about it) and yes... of course, Gundam.

 but of all the mechs and robots out there i say that i was most influenced by Shirow Masamune's Appleseed manga series when i was a kid, which was filled with all these wonderful personal sized mechs he called landmates.

Shirow would used these really great organic shapes that often reminded me of insects, and that just pulled me in further into his magic. seeing smaller, one man, personal mechs was a revolution to my mind, and I immediately was drawing personal mechs in everything I created.

with Munch Chunky i wanted to continue with that tradition, but since MC is a lighter more fun story i didn't want the designs of the mechs to be too overwhelming.
Since the series is about things like food and adventure, i wanted them to be very organic and bouncy in shape.

for me, they had to have a look of functionality without being to visually complex. I wanted them to look like they could run around, while still looking funny, but not absolutely cumbersome.
Silly, but still kind of cool. like the G generation SD Gundam model series.
C:

they're also made this way so that i can customize each one for a new rival team at the drop of a dime and without the design really slowing me down.

they all have the same basic shape underneath, and then i start slappin' on all the extra bits that make them fun and flashy, as I go.

i did decide a while back that some teams would customise their mechs to the extent that they would have very specific advanced functions only used by that team.
it's all regulation of course.
ha ha

live love & eat fruit.

cute animals...BIG, BAD, ROBOTS

just sharing a couple of designs for some of the secondary background charas in issue 1b of Munch Chunky.

(they're fairly loose sketches, but still comprehensible i think)

the tryout sequence is full of lots of random animals driving around in big hulking robot suits.

i did think for a while to have everyone's suits reeeeeally customized and unique, but it quickly became a headache. 

i still slip into fantasies about how much fun it would be to have a bunch of cool designs and weird shapes for all the different suit. but then i snap out of it with the reality of how frustrating it would be to keep up with all those varying shapes. so i standardized the base shape of the Trong Bot suits. 

and from there, they can be customized by the individual as they see fit. 

So i still get a good bit of variation, while still being able to not lose myself in the details.

i'll show some of those different yet similar Trong bot designs next post.

till then.

live love & eat fruit.

Sweet region

The Sweet region, is the second smallest region to Kowl in the far North of Eratone.
PT RANK: 06

OVERVIEW:

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The Sweet region is a relatively peaceful region in contrast to the others. It is renowned for its great valleys and lush green forests. The region is comprised of a series of isles surrounding a larger central land mass. It has a small but fairly dense population of people. It has suffered from large migrations of it population to more industrious and financially stable regions over the last 100 years.

Much of the remaining populations exist heavily in the numerous small coastal port towns of the Sweet Leaf isles. The remainder exist further inland, in small scattered villages, including Bojo's small farming village of Cherry hill.

 NOTABLE PLACES:

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• Rot Pear port
• Peach Pit town
• Mushy Kale forest
• Cherry hill
• Pineapple falls
• Guava gardens

 NEIGHBORING REGIONS:
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• Sour Region
• Hard Region

 MORE DATABOOK:

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Kowl Region

The Kowl region is the smallest region and is located in the northern most part of Eratone.
PT RANK: N/A

OVERVIEW:

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Kowl is the only neutral region in the Pax Trata. It is an arctic land inhabited mostly by the numerous Koba tribes, who are the only original inhabitants of the Kowl region. Their central kingdom is located near the world renowned "Snow star bay." The Koba do not compete in the Trongo ball tournaments, and have stayed neutral to any one region during the pre-Pax Trata warring period.


Many Koba families have immigrated to other regions over the generations, finding different types of work. Most find work as mechanics in Trongo ball tourneys, as they are very mechanically inclined.


 NOTABLE PLACES:

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• Snow star bay
• Frostberry falls

 
 NEIGHBORING REGIONS:
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• Sweet Region
• Sour Region
• Soft Region
• Gumi Region
• Hard Region
• CoCo Region
• Spicy Region (formerly)

 MORE DATABOOK:

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CoCo region

The CoCo region is the largest and most powerful region on Eratone.
PT RANK: 01

OVERVIEW:

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The CoCo region is a powerful and influential land of both wealth and strength. It's strength shows most in its 62 year long Trongo ball Grand Gourmet winning streak. In this time, the CoCo region has become the major trade center for the entire world. The regions largest export is Enoroo, which is made from the processed Kakoaum plant, which is only grown in this region.

The plant is harvested year round, and many people from other regions come to the CoCo region for the opportunity to work the numerous Kakoaum farms. It is because of Enoroo and its domination of the trade market, that more and more people in other regions have become suspicious as to if the CoCo region is winning illegally.

The CoCo region is controlled by the CoCo Kingdom, which is run by the King, CoCodile Tamarindus VI.


 NOTABLE PLACES:

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• Chipwich town

 
 NEIGHBORING REGIONS:
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• Gumi Region
• Hard Region
• Spicy Region (formerly)

 MORE DATABOOK:

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Eratone

Eratone, is the world in which Munch Chunky takes place.

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OVERVIEW:

It is a terrestrial planet, covered with liquid water over most of its surface, and is comprised of seven major land masses known as regions. Each region is a unique biome, specializing in trade goods that only be found in that particular region.

The names of the regions, mostly refer to the dominant trait associated to the exported products of the area. 

The only region to which this does not apply is the neutral region in the arctic north known as Kowl.

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HISTORY:

• ANCIENT TIMES

The period known as the Ancient times on Eratone, was an era of peace and prosperity in which societies and goods trade flourished throughout the many unknown regions. This was followed by the era of archeology, which was a period of great and unimaginable discovery and invention, as artifacts of an older unchronicled time were discovered. The desire to acquire the most rare and valuable of these archaeological artifacts would lead to the great upheaval, which in turn lead to the great Culinary Wars.  With the great Culinary Wars, came wide spread chaos and destruction. The blind desires of the many regions would culminate in the eventual cataclysmic destruction of the Spicey region

• MODERN TIMES

The world after the destruction of the Spicey region and the large scale loss of life, would lead to the Pax Trata, a peace treaty among the remaining regions of Eratone. The Pax Trata allows the regions and its citizens to trade goods of any type freely, but maintains that each good or service be exclusive to that region in order that the region itself might remain unique.

With the Pax Trata came the inclusion of a yearly/seasonal set of tournaments known as the Grand Gourmet, where selected teams play for the honour of their home or adopted region in a sport known as Trongo Ball. The year end results result of the tourneys determines which region gets to export or import it's goods first in the new year, as well as being granted the ability to import/export in an unlimited capacity

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REGIONS:

♦ Sweet:

♦ Sour:

♦ Hard:

♦ Soft:

♦ CoCo:   

♦ Gumi: 

♦ Kowl:

♦ Spicey:

SUB REGIONS:

• Sweet Leaf Isles 

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NOTABLE PLACES:

• KINGDOMS
• CoCo Kingdom, The
•  

• CITIES

• TOWNS
• Rot Pear Port 
• Peach Pit Town 

• VILLAGES
• Pineapple Falls 
• Cherry Hill  

• OTHER

• Mushy Kale Forest 
•  

  
 

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 SEAS & OCEANS:

•  Tangy Sea
  

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MORE DATABOOK: 

•  CHARACTERS
•  TRONGO BALL
•  ITEMS