About a month ago, some friends of mine started a sketch drive to raise donations for the disaster relief effort in Japan. I was incredibly inspired by their kind effort and wise use of talent. (I even bought a sketch of Renaissance Gary fighting a monster!) That week, after discussing the sketch drive with another friend, he encouraged me, saying “Trevor, you could totally do that.” I chewed it over a little that afternoon, and soon came up with an idea I’m really excited about.

I know I’m a little late to the game on this, but I’ve been working on a Knights print intended to raise donations for the disaster relief effort in Japan. For only $15, you’ll get an 8.5″ x 11″ full color digital print (colors by my friend, Ken – see an example of his work on Knights here), signed by both Ken and I, mailed to your home address. Material and shipping costs are included in the $15. (I expect the cost to be around $2.) The rest of the amount will go straight to the American Red Cross’ disaster relief effort in Japan.

Here’s the deal: I only have the sketch completed right now.

Reason: I am pretty slow at making things, due to a lot of reasons.

Rather than let this stop us all from helping out, I’m going to start taking donations for the print right now. This will allow us to help as soon as possible while giving me time to work on the print instead of rushing it out. Over the next few weeks, I’ll begin inking over the sketch. Once I’m finished, I’ll hand it off to Ken, who’ll then color it. Once he’s done, I’ll have cardstock copies made for each one of you that donates, sign each one, put them in a sleeve (with cardboard backing) and mail them out to you.

I don’t know how long the process will take, but I know it’ll get done eventually. I’ll keep you all updated on our progress and probably post some pictures along the way.

The print will remain for sale indefinitely, with all proceeds, as mentioned above, going to the American Red Cross’ relief effort in Japan. Whenever the relief effort is complete, the proceeds will then go to the “Where The Need Is Greatest” donation option (see here).

Now…a little about the print itself.

Ever since I came up with the idea for Knights over four years ago, I’ve wanted to explore the idea of other knights like Gary working for QAADR (Quest Amelioration and Dispute Resolution) in other countries. These knights would wear culturally-relative armor along with their suits and ties, and fight against mythological creatures specific to their culture.

Japanese culture and their samurai warriors were an obvious subject to start with. But since the Knights storyline is “slowly expanding,” I haven’t had the time yet to work this idea and its characters into the comic. This print changed all that. While working on it for the past few weeks, I had a great time creating a small viewport for you into the world of Kenji, a samurai knight operating in the same world as Gary, working for the same company, just over in Japan instead of… wherever Gary’s from. : )

And so I present to you the sketch, depicting Kenji in all his monster-hunting glory:

“A peaceful river flows under an ancient bridge. Nearby, Japanese cherry blossom trees are in bloom. In the shadow of the bridge, an Oni and Kappa believe they can hide from the skilled QAADR employee crossing above, while an Orochi attempts to hide among the lilly pads.”

Hopefully this gives you a good idea of what the end product will look like. These examples of Ken’s previous color work for Knights should help.

Here’s the button that will take you to the PayPal site where you can make your donation:

(You should be prompted for your mailing address at some point – this will be the address I use when shipping out the prints.)

Thank you so much for your time and consideration. And a big “thank you!” to all who are able to donate and help out those struggling in Japan.

-Trevor