Earliest Concept Images

These were some of the earliest concept images that I drew for this project, back before it even had a story. I knew it was a character that finds a gun, that the character would be like me when I was a kid, and that I would be inspired by winter in Minnesota when I was growing up.

The following illustrations happened at around the same time, back before there was even an outline for the story. I wanted to use a snow fort like the ones we made as kids, usually off to the side of some parking lot. Later on I decided to not use a parking lot, to rather keep it in the country or woods.

In this next concept, the main character has a different style, maybe a little older. He's also got a different gun, a German luger. At this point I also pictured the hero in the story to have sort of a 'delusion of power hallucination' in which a snowplow tank would be present… I'm glad I found a stronger story but I thought the tank was pretty cool.

At one point I drew the two characters going to some sort of smoke stacked city.

I had the idea that since there was a gun involved, and I've always pictured it as revolver, that it might be a western, so I drew some possible layout environments of a town they might start in. I thought it would be interesting to foreshadow death by using things in the town, like a hangman's gallows or cemetery.