Ok, I’m still adding new Betty art from the archives. These new images come straight from the design work I did in preparation for drawing book 07, Slumber Party of DOOM!
In that story, Betty and the gang go back to school in the fall only to find that something nefarious is transforming the mean girls into blood-thirsty zombies (and the neighbors too, and well, probably more people if Betty can’t stop it.) So, I needed to put together some costumes / outfits straight out of classic 80’s high school movies.
First up is the above, Tonya’s very 80’s back to school look. I wanted to just kind of dive in to the bodacious 1980’s with this one, as Tonya is the only character in the original gang who aspires to have any sense of style. I kind of imagined she was starting the new year with a new look, making a splash on the first day of school. As she’s also pretty much a nerd at heart, I also imagine that she’s pretty nervous the other kids are going to make fun of her. Sure enough, the mean girls live up to their name, “booking” her as soon as they can.
Next up, Betty. I did two designs for her. With the first attempt, I was going for a kind of “chic-tomboy” look. But as I continued working on costumes for the other characters, I realized that it just wasn’t really “Betty.”
The costume I eventually went with was way more her style. This one is basically “rocker girl meets tomboy,” and suits her much better (though that jacket from the first attempt may show up in a later book, I still kind of like it).
Finally, Rolf may not have been going back to school (he graduated a couple years ago), but he needed some work clothes to wear while helping Grammy out around the farm. This was a simple design, but I needed to get the details down for the shirt and the more baggy pants.
All these drawings can now be found in the Soul Chaser Betty Design Gallery.