From the Vault - Keith Howard Character Sheet 1990

Another piece from the Vault involving characters from Exit 6. Like I said before, a LOT of the assignments I did during art school featured these characters. I loved them, they were mine, and it was only a matter of time before I put them in a full comic book and released them out into the world.

But, back in 1990 I was still working on the ideas.

I believe this piece was done the first week of my second year of art school for a Business of Art class. The idea was that we would create a character, do a model sheet of him or her, and, over the next few months, do various projects that centered around that character. One week might be a product, the next a storyboard for a commercial, and the next a pitch for a movie.

But it all started with a character sheet featuring various "turns" of the character and a little description. So, if you ever read EXIT 6 and wondered how strong Keith is, well, now you know.

This piece was inked with done and brush and probably colored with Dr. Martin's Dyes. Oh, and the lettering was done by Thom Zahler. I hated hand lettering and Thom was good enough at it that he would always help me out. I still hate hand lettering and thank God everyday that the computer makes it easier for a guy like me to letter a comic book.

And check out those fingers. Back then even Keith Howard only sported four of them!