Concept Sketches
This section contains ideas and concepts fabricated from the mind of the artist Elson ‘Darkspeeds’ Wong. When inspired, Darkspeeds will whip up his pen and paper to illustrate his impressions on the spot and submit them here. Some are coloured whilst others are expressed purely in black and white for that classic look.
Please enjoy your gateway to Darkspeeds’ sketchbook of the GRAND HUNTER series!
Got something you’d like to say about any of the concept sketches displayed above you? Well the comments box is your best bet to stay in touch in a prompt manner. Old fashioned e-mail works too!
this page need more Duke Vienna, the concept of his “near defeat” scene keeps making me wanna do it, but my motivation if so freaking low XP
Yeah there’s something about Duke almost admitting defeat that I find quite hard to believe.
He doesn’t back down so easily but yeah one day he’ll have to face the music when the odds are against him and his crew. 
already working on that part, buddy ;P
but there’s something I’ve been wondering, that you haven’t told yet:
What’s Duke Vienna’s actual name? I mean Vienna is more likely a family name (hence Vienna Legacy from 1st book), but name was never really given
Dude, Duke IS Duke.
That’s his actual name. The name Duke is not used to signify his title, it’s his name literally. 
Duke in itself can bring deeper meaning to the snow fox character because of his regal/military upbringing. = )
Ooooh, lol, silly me XD always throught Duke was actually his royal title XP
I mean, he’s the head of Flemming royalty now with his old man gone…or is he?
so his official title is actually (TRAP) Overlord than?
Hey Darkspeeds! Nice Lion King Sketches! Didn’t expect to see that! ^_^
Yup that’s right! Some Lion King sketches have been made while I was on the plane! I watched The Lion King II and I almost shed at tear at one point of the story (it was a pretty romantic part with a good song too)… Man I’m too emotional sometimes… XD
Oi! Elson!
I just watched your Book #1 video and I couldn’t help but notice fomr more concept art, you’ve never show before.
Can we expect to see it in near future? =)
Yeah. XD It was a pretty good story. I remember back when I watched the first Lion King movie. Was pretty sad when Simba’s father died. T-T
BWARGH!! @-@ I was just browsing here and I’m completely jealous of your environmental/landscape conceptual inks!
They just… are so damn cool. < -< Almost makes me want to get off my ass and do ink again….almost.
@ Jenise – I had fun drawing those while I was on holiday touring the U.K.!
Sketches 21 & 22 were drawn on the plane based off images shown on Air Emirate’s signature communications & entertainment system. I was going to do a third one that involved a bus load of people pass through a shallow river, behind them is a stunning mountainous backdrop… But at the time I was tired and fell asleep. By the time I woke up I was arriving Singapore. XD
> ->… Man I gotta find a stable job so I can save up for awesome travels like that.
I’m sure you’ll find something soon. = ) Just gotta keep trying!
ya know, with the latest concept released, I’m begining to realize where this series is going =)
but now there’s so many questions… like:
so from what I understood, Grand is the dragon god who created Glorya and those with “Great Old” in their name are his children?
(okay in created, I mean as in he gave life to it and all, not that he created the world as the planet as whole, right)
and WOT WOT WOT! Sandra is one of them?! How old is she really? in the old concept of her you wrote she was 68 or something…so is that really a lie or you do not have to be “ancient age” in order to be a god’s child? what’s more, who are other 2? gonna shoot in the dark, but is one them maybe the wombat leader of NOA? =P
Also, as you pointed out already, Ruby and Ashworth have the same marks as Grand has (the chest jewl and storm markings) and are somehow related to him, could it be that they’re actually both a part of one entity and they can fuse together (like they did in season 2 of Dragonball XD Songotex = Ashby! ROFL XP)?
…man that’s one big wall-o-text XD;;;;
WHOA!!
Massive update spree!
First off, personally I’m really, REALLY psyched that you get to feature a Dragon in the story–he looks awesome!!
His sketch brings to mind qualities of regal aspirations, age-old wisdom, and fearsome power coursing through him; as for the size, I can safely say that naming him GRAND is thoroughly appropriate.
The color versions of the other cast members look really nice, too!
I can totally sense the ulterior villainish intents on Stream’s face…almost like he should be standing in front of the wind, dark clouds overhead, and then…THUNDERCLAP!!!
I like how Salah turned out, all elegant and gentleman-like…even his Lieutenant’s uniform looks like a business suit!
Duke is a character that just exudes confidence, and with a rather mature coldness in his eyes, too…almost sexy if you ask me! The color scheme of his uniform is super cool, too!! I really like how he looks in red-on-black.
Finally, I’d like to compliment you on the great-looking group picture of Team Vienna!! It’s great that we get to see some of the strongest members Duke has in his corner, and their poses and facial expressions speak to me about their personality.
It’s great that Buffer’s there, too! I can’t help but notice that he looks a tad…chubby in his colored form, though; I’m rooting that he and Parmir have some kind of connection!
*jawdrop* What the…BUFFER’S WORKING WITH DUKE??? Bu-bu-bu-!!! They killed him! O_O”
XD! Oh well, interesting either way.
@ Jaka: Great Old Sandra is literally ‘ancient’ age-wise *gets butt-kicked by her*. Okay, okay… Maybe not as old as grandma’s secret recipe cooking… *gets destroyed by Sandra… X_____X @___@*
Anyways I say no to the fusion idea, I don’t like that idea at all to be honest.
@ Banter-O-Rilley: Thanks dude, your enthusiasm is always a cheer to me.
Your feedback makes it even more rewarding, I wish I could answer your inquiries but where’s the fun in spoiling the surprises? I’ve updated the descriptions now so you can check out what I have to say for each of them.
Also… Dude you need an avatar, let me know what kind of character you’d like to be and give me a general description of how you look like – do you have a website? A profile page of some sort? I need to get inspired and draw something that represents you avatar wise! XD Send me an e-mail or comment back here to fill me in with the details. Thanks and don’t forget to send me your e-mail too! *thumbs up*
@ Emily: Yup he’s not dead yet! Check out the description.
Hey, I just noticed something in the last piece, Elson…
Where’s Benjimin?!
I remember looking back on your TGAF long ago, and I remember the discription of each of Duke’s crew, 1 person was a rookie with them, so if I’m correct that guy is the kid who’s the only survivor from Aaron’s masacre durring the 3rd chapter (who got blood puke in the end).
Did you simply change the idea and replace him with Buffer or is he simply somewhere behind the entire crew? (new guys don’t deserve much glory right away XD lol)
wow you must have alot of insperation. im good at drawing and colouring on adobe photoshop (a wincy bit because i dont know what most of the tools do and i use a laptop) but im cruddy at inking and i cant get up my lazy ass to do practising but one day ill get through
Toon Vector I’m very sure that once you get your lazy ass into gear and practice till your heart is content you’ll improve a whole lot more with your inks.
All the best!! *thumbs up*
Hey, Darkspeeds, how old is “Great Old” Sandra years-wise, concidering you discribed her as ANCIENT?
*notices Sandra approaching with a giant spanking bat* o.o;;
Oh dear… You wouldn’t even want to know.
I think I won’t be making her just a mere mortal… Well at least her age is beyond a mortal’s… Maybe… A ga-zillion years old *get’s zapped by Great Old Sandra*
*cough* *cough* Ouch! X_<;;… Alright, alright! I kid man… She's probably been around since the 'First Great War'… And that was like 300 years ago from the present time-line of GRAND HUNTER (which is where we are at on Chapter 09).
So the whole thing with Chartel and Fortune Island discovery happened before the 1st war than?
say Elson, can we expect to see concept of other 3 Overlords in near furure? =)
and do they too have Overdrive?
Hey Darkspeeds I gotta ask ya something real quick…Is Lu the same as Yin? Like in the Yin and Yang symbols? And is it still the more quiet and calm side like Yin? Or is it the more tough out going side like Yang, in the world of GRAND HUNTER?
To keep it nice and simple Emily Lu and Tao are much like Ying and Yang in our universe.
Shepard, the discovery of Fortune Islands happened after The First Great War.
Jaka, yes do expect to see concept art of the Three Overlords in the near future. Right now it is unclear as to whether or not they have Overdrives in their skill-set.
Darkspeeds : Hmm…Okay thanks. I guess since Yin comes before yang, and Lu comes before Tao, Lu must be the more calm quiet side, leaving Tao to be the more tough strong side….Ah, anyway, thanks. ^_^
No probs, thanks for asking the question!