Ready Art Explains the Growth Lab - Episode 058 Comics and the FUTURE! (Patreon)

This is based on some of the comments and feedback on my recent redraws of GLab 4 and 7! Check it out if you are curious about how good ole' Ready sees the various ‘eras’ of his work!

The Early Years, Issues Growth Labs 1 – 6

These were the first official Growth Lab comics. They were done in the early 2000’s and released pretty much one right after the other. All the work was created on paper and pencil then scanned and lettered in Photoshop. I think for a lot of people this is the era they remember the most. Maybe it was early exposures to my work or maybe it’s because it’s been around so long the art has been circulated the most. Either way, I love this stuff and for me it really represents my first true efforts to make a comic book about the Growth Lab Universe.

It also represents the introduction of longtime favorites like Naomi and early characters like Doctor Susan Hughes as well as Rebecca. At this time, I really didn’t have big plans for the Growth Lab other than a series of stories about transforming women. I was influenced by things like the movie "Village of Giants" and the comics for  Hulk and She-Hulk. I  wanted to do fun stories with transformation which I couldn’t find anywhere else.

If you like this era, thank you so much. I look back and the art and it still has a lot of the fun energy I enjoy. For me, I also see issues with anatomy and pacing but overall, it still stands the test of being fun. As I’ve been redrawing some of Growth Lab 4, I find myself not changing much because the underlying effort has a solid structure. Mostly it’s correcting anatomy issues and perspective.

Another thing to note about this era is there are very few male transformations and no sexual moments. At the time I was drawing it I really was concentrating on female transformations. Specifically, breast expansion and giantess art. I personally didn’t feel my ability to draw males or my storytelling was really up to much more than that. I sometimes wonder if that’s part of the reason these particular stories are still popular with people since they share that singular focus.

The Transition Comic, Growth Lab 7

Growth Lab 7 is 104 pages and was drawn over five years. The first 22 or so pages were drawn in 2007 with the remainder being drawn somewhere around 2012. This was a large break where I still did comic work but not the Growth Lab specifically. For me I lost a little bit of interest in the series since I didn’t know where to take it. I still loved it and still love the characters being developed but I was a little unsure of where it was going. As you know now, I enjoyed doing comic work as sort of a free-form storytelling. I let the story go based off the situations which arise. Sort of like a sandbox where you set up the simulation and let things run. It does mean things can go off in different directions but allows for a lot of creative fun to happen which is what I enjoy about drawing in the first place.

It should be noted Hannah and the military were introduced during Growth Lab 7. Hannah made her first appearance in the comics and she was envisioned as a antagonist of the series. The plan was to have her pitted against Naomi as sort of a General Ross to the Hulk, the Hulk being Naomi. It didn’t really work out that way but that was the initial plan. This also introduced the first super growth of Naomi at the end. This is where she becomes the size of a mountain.

In that five year break I thought a lot about what I could do with the series. When I came back in 2012 that was when I started my main website the Ready Art Zone, putting up comics for sale and doing more commissions. The Ready Art Zone was a great success. Many friends and fans of mine joined and checked out the galleries there. The site is still going strong and I still  have a forum as well as all my comic work available. I can’t thank the people who signed up enough and I appreciate every single one of you.

The End of the Old Age, Growth Labs 8 – 11

Growth Labs 8 – 11 were my last pencil drawn and scanned comics. I think these have some really great art in them. I worked on these to improve my anatomy and layout. It was also one of the first times I really sat down and did a lot of structural under drawing to work out poses. They may seem like transitional comics now but they have a lot of great art in them.

We see a little more of how the military operates in this universe. I start hinting at the introduction of where the growth energy comes from and why it was created. That all gets fleshed out much later but this is me trying to establish some sort of reason and theory behind what’s happening. Not super solid stuff I know but I was doing what I could.

Issue 11 also introduces Luna Masters at the very end as well as the spaceship Luxembourg. She’s only shown briefly in a few panels but it’s the first introduction we have to a bigger science-fiction type world.

The Digital Age, Growth Labs 12 – 13

Issue 12 as well as issue 13 were my very first digital comics. They were done, I believe, in Paint Tool Sai which I think became Manga Studio? Not quite sure but I know I eventually did transition to Manga Studio which is now Clip Studio.

I tried to do so much with issue 12 in terms of a digital comic. I was a little overwhelmed going digital. I didn’t really have a process so I basically re-created what I did in pencil exactly in digital. Basically, I create a lot of work for myself I didn’t need to do. I ended up refining the process a lot over the next 11 years but back then each page was taking a lot longer than it does now.

Issue 12 introduces what’s now known as the United Space and Air Force, the USAF. It gives us a sense there is some sort of a military type operation dealing with Growth Lab energy. It establishes that Hannah is also part of that organization but in charge of a different section. In my mind it was like Luna was part of the Air Force and Hannah was part of the Army. That’s not a perfect comparison but generally that’s how I thought of it.

Luna was basically designed to be focused on using growth energy to power spaceships and create safe transportation from point A to point B. Specifically she was supposed to be in charge of creating a teleportation like device using growth energy. This was going to be something like harnessing that power safely and using it to whammy jammy people from different parts of the Earth as well as whammy jammy to orbital stations and maybe even farther. Hannah, on the other hand, was in charge of using the growth energy to create what the GLab universe called super soldiers. These would be enhanced performance people who could be used for combat missions, exploration and other various dangerous tasks that would otherwise require heavy equipment or heavy suits. I don’t want to say it’s a one-to-one comparison with something like Captain America since the idea with the Growth Lab universe was these people could do things like survive in space without a suit as well as have things like enhanced strength and endurance.

One behind-the-scenes thing is, there was supposed to be a very clear understanding by Luna and Hannah and everybody else working with growth energy they knew its effects. They knew about the growth and how people can be affected and cause more breakouts. Their goal was to harness the energy and prevent those breakouts as well.

Another behind-the-scenes moment is we find out later is Luna specifically was always set up to be a fall guy for all the problems in the program. One of the reasons she’s never specifically kicked out of the service or really taken away from her position is she’s basically a scapegoat for bad times.

I don’t know she is specifically told this to her face but there are few Growth Lab comics that discuss this. Hannah, as we find out later comics is one of the people who maneuvers to use Luna in this way. This is all part of the Coalition of Science stuff that comes down much later in the series.

The New Age, Growth Labs 14 – 18

This is the beginning of the current era of the Growth Lab comics. These stories are me working on the basic foundation of the universe while having a lot of fun drawing transformation comics. I want to be clear I’ve always had a blast doing it and 14 to 18! I had so much fun. So many character introductions, a lot of random stuff but a blast to draw. I look back at these pages and really enjoy what I did. Well worth a look if you’re interested in what I consider a throwback to issues one through six.

I want to add this is the era where I started drawing a lot more men in the comics as well as many more sexual scenes. I can imagine if you are a longtime fan of issues one through six specifically for the reason they were mostly women and not much else you might not be as excited about this era. I completely understand it and I appreciate the people support me through all this. I enjoyed it because I enjoy drawing a wide expanse of characters as well as experimenting with those comics.

This is also where we see a lot of Luna and her adventures specifically. The story does transition away from Naomi centered narrative to a Luna centered narrative. Again, no offense meant to Naomi fans. It was just something that happened and I went with it. Of course, I do like Luna as a character.

New Beginnings, Growth Lab 19

Issue 19 is significant to me because it originally was supposed to be a complete reset of the Growth Lab universe. Not to sound dramatic but I was planning to basically eliminate the main cast and start all over with a new set of people. The idea was based off comments I received with people asking about my use of the term “blow” or “blowing up” as people grew. They were asking if people actually did blow up and I always explained that did not happen and growth was pretty safe. The idea with 19 was there was some sort of an accident and dire consequences would result in Luna and many of the main cast effectively been taken off the board for a while. I would’ve brought them back at some point but the idea was they would not be the focus from this point forward and they were going to be removed in some dramatic fashion. This does have some body horror but the use was for the purposes of a reset. I know a lot of people might not like this comic in terms of its graphic nature but it was intended to serve a purpose. I do not recommend you look at it if you don’t like body horror type stuff. That said let’s move into the next stage.

Various Adventures with the USAF, Growth Labs 20 – 37

I won’t go too much into this since there is so much ground. The basic bits here are we see a lot of Luna and the military having various adventures. A lot of people are introduced, a lot of growing an action happens as well as crazy events. I haven’t gone back and looked at every single one of these issues but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a few worldwide breakouts. All this stuff was me getting a lot more comfortable with the art and my abilities.

I think there are a lot of fun things also in these comics and I still go back and check them out for various pages to redraw or revisit. I want to add these comics were all drawn between 2015 and 2019.

A New Digital Inking Pen and The Current Growth Lab Era, Growth Labs 38 – 52

This era is a specific one because I spent a lot of time around issue 38 looking at new ways to ink and create the comics. You may or may not notice my inking and drawing style did a transition around then. A lot of that was due to me spending a lot of time in various art streams, Clip Studio’s store and various Gumroad stores looking for ideas to ink my comics and improve my art. Specifically I was looking for a drawings/inking brush that matched what I felt was my style. I did find that brush on a stream and I was so happy when the streamer told me where I could get it. Well technically they told me the name of the brush and I had to go find it but the result was the same. haha

It is important to note that my Patreon also added animation at this time. I use the animation as a throwback to the more classical Growth Lab where it’s all about ladies growing, breast expansion and female muscle growth.

With that new brush, which is the one I used to this day for all non-animation work, I felt my art took a turn for the better. As any of you know when you have a tool you are comfortable with and enjoy - it makes everything else a lot easier. What I have now is something I really enjoy drawing with and I feel gives me results very close too, if not exactly, what I’m imagining of my head. I still do experiment with new tools and methods! You might notice almost all the work I do now has a specific look and it is something that I’ve been working on for the last three or four years.

Story wise we have a lot of information coming in about the Coalition of Science and the origins of the Growth Lab energy. Specifically related to that we find out that the Growth Lab energy is an out of solar system energy virus created by an alien race. I know in typing that out it sounds completely wacky but trust me, it’s not anymore wacky than the basic story of the Growth Lab.

The stories here do focus a lot on various relationships with characters. Ultima, Alexander, Benton. We get introduced to Emily, the Coalition of Science and a whole lot more. Some of the later stories even have the alien gargoyle invasion.

I do know the latest stuff has some new style transformations not related to breast expansion, giantess or female muscle growth. Specifically, were getting more monstrous transformations with people turning into these gargoyle aliens. Again, thank you so much to all the people checking out the comics and giving it at least a shot.

My main focus is still breast expansion, giantess art and female muscle growth. I can imagine some of the very old-school fans from the early years might not be as interested in alien stuff, the military or male transformations. I completely the respect that. I also want to add I really appreciate and thank you for understanding my personal need to explore new ideas.

It’s important to me to be able to do what I want and explore different artistic methods, storytelling means and ideas. I do this art for myself as much is I do it for you. If it’s not fun for me it’s impossible for me to imagine being up (as I am right now at 4 AM in the morning) doing art. It is not motivating if I’m just doing what I think will “make money”. I’ve never been about that; you all know that. Everyone here knows I gave away my art for free and continue to do so to this day. I feel it’s very important give back to the community and I know not everybody has money to throw down on my art. I only ask that if it’s possible and you feel so inclined please support my work. It is only through my generous friends and fans on Patreon, on Gumroad and through commissions I am able to keep going and continue to bring you work you do enjoy.

The Future, the Transformation Universe Stories

After Growth Lab 52 comes out I’ve started on a series of stories intended to be a little less focused on Luna and the Coalition and a little more focused on what many may call a “classical” Growth Lab story. This is stuff like Naomi, small groups, smaller settings and so on.

I’ve just started the stories and I’m plotting them out now so please hang in there. I can’t tell you where exactly they will go but the idea is to tone down the galactic nature of the storytelling and bring it back to little breakouts here and there. I’m in the process of this and there’s a lot of workshopping. I can’t guarantee how smooth or easy or fast it’s going to be. I’m still intent on bringing you the best art and animation I possibly can.

If the redrawing of the recent Growth Lab pages tells me anything it’s there are many people who still enjoy those classic issues of 1 through 6. I love them too and want to bring you as much as I can.

If you’re still here and reading, thank you so much!!!! Holy crap what a letter. Comments or questions are always welcome and thank you so much for your support I feel gassed out after saying all that but maybe it made sense to a few of you.

Talk with you soon thank you so much and love you all!

-Ready

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