Development of THAT Thumbnail (Patreon)

I approached my good friend Ockeroid to commission him for a thumbnail. We've known each other from the Newgrounds days, so he was someone I felt I could trust with an important mission.

"Please draw these women but with Kenny and PS1 Solid Snake's faces."

and his reponse?

that's when I knew I'd bagged him.

 We talked over the plan and he warned me that YouTube may take issue with such... exposure? Even on just the thumb. So we tried to figure out a way to position them where it wouldn't be too much, yet still be able to tell what's happening. Plus find a way to make audiences inquisitive rather than think this is some weird Rule 34 thing.  

 This is the rough layout I provided. 

 My avatar taking up the bottom left to provide some blocking with the other positioned in a way to not be showing too much.

 This was pass no.1  

We decided to dress them for safety. Plus... hmm... let's just say the "point of interest" was too big, to the point that once put into the layout I'd provided, they'd be gone.

So we agreed to reduce the size, no longer seeking to match the original image so strictly.

Here was pass no.2

A cursed image to be sure but it's almost there! We settled on fully dressing the pair to save on any risk of YouTube demonetisation and Ockeroid moved onto final.

And it was done. I'd asked him to send me them stood apart from each other so I could reposition them individually in the thumbnail. And he did such a great job within the space of a couple of days (he also kindly granted me permission to share these WIP images with my Patrons). So do check out Ockeroid's Twitter and his own YouTube channel for more of his work!

I like to approach artists to help with thumbnails sometimes and I find the whole process of collaboration very rewarding, especially with something and absurd as this one. And your support allows me to keep reaching out to these artists and pay them fairly, so thank you!

Now, back to work on the next video!