Sketchbook (museum)
From Homestar Runner Wiki
- This article is about the Sketchbook in the Museum. For the Weekly Sketchbook featured on the Main Pages, see Sketchbook. For the strongbad_email.exe Disc Three bonus video, see Sketchbook (video).
The Sketchbook includes a selection of thirteen pages of early drawings of various characters. The first thirteen are rough concept art of characters, either ones that would become main characters or be rejected at the concept stage, or occasionally depict characters in different outfits. The sketches are captioned with additional context, written in an informal tone by Matt Chapman. Many are accompanied by dates, indicating that most were drawn before the launch of homestarrunner.com in 2000.
Starting as an HTML page, the sketchbook was later reworked into a Flash slideshow. At this time, two captions were revised and three "ice cream" illustrations were added to the sketchbook.
Page Title: Homestar Sketchbook
Ice Cream Page Title: Cool Treats!
Contents |
[edit] Sketches
Early (bad) drawings of Homestar and all your favorites plus never before seen characters
| Description | Caption | Revised Caption | Date | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four sketches exploring The Homestar Runner in varying states of completion. Each depict him with some design differences from the regular Homestar Runner. | Alternate designs for the Kick the Can Homestars. | Jan 2000 | Page 1 | |
| Four sketches of Marzipan, plus a sketch exploring hair and crown. One resembles her final design, while the others have a much more humanoid head as well as visible arms, hands, and feet. | Early Marzipans. Way too human. | Aug 1999 | Page 2 | |
| Six sketches of Strong Mad, three placing his head in varying positions on his torso and three with different hairstyles (bald, curly, flattop) | Strong Mad development. Watch his neck and head magically disappear! | Sep 1996 | Page 3 | |
| Ten sketches of small dogs. | Trivia Time designs (Pom-Pom's dog). Still haven't found a good one. Is that Stimpy? | Apr 2000 | Page 4 | |
| Several character sketches: Homestar Runner, Strong Mad, Strong Bad, Mr. Bland, and three new characters. All are wearing equipment related to flying, swimming, or racing (with varying degrees of realism). | Flying, swimming, and racing designs from the unfinished 2nd children's book "Homestar Runner Goes For The Gold!" | Sep 1996 | Page 5 | |
| Six sketches of Strong Sad. All feature broad horizontal stripes across his torso. | Strong Sad development. I kinda miss the stripes. | Page 6 | ||
| Eight sketches of Strong Sad. Many have striped torsos and/or are wearing a necktie, some are rail-thin rather than round. In the center, one Strong Sad poses dramatically with a hat and cane over the word "VAUDVILLE!" | More Strong Sad. That Vaudeville one always cracks me up. | Page 7 | ||
| Six sketches of Strong Sad. The one in the lower left is drawn with very long, realistic legs and wearing high heels. | Even more Strong Sad. The lower left one is Strong Glad! Nice gams, babe! | Page 8 | ||
| Six sketches of Dijjery Doo. Some have stripes or scales, or lack ears. All have two large pointed teeth, like a walrus's tusks or serpent's fangs. | Dijjery-doo, a Cheat-like prankster that was abandoned for being too Cheat-like. And too walrus-like. | Page 9 | ||
A script written on lined paper:
this is the isle of Pom. {inline drawing of the isle} | The original scribblings for the Pom-Pom solo book. Later made into a flash toon but Mike won't let me keep it on the site. | The original scribblings for the Pom-Pom solo book. Later made into a flash toon. | Unknown | Page 10 |
| Multiple characters are sketched on the page: two images of Bubs to the left, four of Coach Z to the right, and in the center a doodle of a face resembling a carrot. | Some early Bubs and Coach Z drawings. Don't know who the carrot-looking guy was gonna be. | Page 11 | ||
| Seven drawings of Homestar Runner, in varying degrees of detail or exaggeration. | Various Homestar drawings. | Page 12 | ||
| Seven characters in costume. See Rejected Costumes for additional detail.
Clockwise from top left: Strong Sad (an Oompa-Loompa), Homestar (Hellboy), Marzipan (Trixie), Marzipan (Marge Simpson), Pom Pom (Comic Book Guy), Homestar (Travis Bickle), Coach Z (Doug McKenzie) | Some costume ideas for the Halloween Episode. Ten bucks to anyone who can identify them all. | Some rejected costume ideas for Halloween Episodes. That other Marzipan is supposed to be Speed Racer's girlfriend, Trixie, okay? | Page 13 | |
HOMESTAR RUNNER! WOW! iCY FUNTiME!A color illustration of a popsicle shaped like Homestar's head and torso. | Not in original sketchbook | I swear these were HUGE in Japan the summer of '87. | 1999 | Page 14 |
POM-POM! SUGAR TASTE!!!A color illustration of a popsicle shaped like Pom Pom's head and torso. | Page 15 | |||
STRONG BAD! GOOD DELiTE...A color illustration of a popsicle bearing the likeness of Tiny-Handed Strong Bad's mask. | Page 16 | |||
[edit] Fun Facts
[edit] Explanations
- The original iteration of the Museum did not include Pom Pom, Too in the Old Flash Stuff, hence the initial remark about it not being on the site. A later version of Old Flash Stuff added in this toon, resulting in the excision of the snarky comment about Mike.
[edit] Trivia
- Prior to February 14, 2006, the three ice cream illustrations were in their own folder, "Ice Cream", in the main Museum menu.
- A 2024 tweet indicates that the popsicles were illustrated in 1999.
[edit] Inside References
- The "summer of '87" is an oft-referenced year in Homestar Runner.
[edit] Real-World References
- "Is that Stimpy?" refers to the left-center sketch of Trivia Time resembling Stimpy, a pudgy cat with small pointy ears from The Ren & Stimpy Show.
- The caption on the ice creams refers to the concept of being "big in Japan", where a North American or European act achieves outsize success in Japan compared to their home country.
[edit] Fast Forward
- A cookie jar resembling Trivia Time is occasionally seen in Marzipan's kitchen.
- The never-finished book second book would be revisited for its 20th anniversary, re-imagined as the toon Homestar Runner Goes for the Gold.
- This toon features "Strong Glad", appearing with long legs as seen in the eighth sketch.
- One of the sketch designs for Bubs would be reused for the character of Original Bubs in the Strong Bad Email original.
- The sketch design of Coach Z with a large mustache and afro would be recalled in depictions of the Coach's younger days, such as in stand-up or Decemberween Short Shorts.
- Another sketchbook page shared on Twitter indicated that a Hellboy costume was considered for The Poopsmith to wear in The House That Gave Sucky Treats.
[edit] See Also
[edit] External Links
| Museum |
|---|
| Sketchbook | Original Book | Super NES | Where My Hat Is At? | Fan Stuff | Old Flash Stuff |
