Inspiration

When I was 10 or 12, Dungeons and Dragons was a big thing but the content was fairly limited. Not just the sheer number of modules, but the tone and such were limited by the player's personal preferences. Out of dozens choices only a handful leave an impression. Face it, it's really a chocolate, vanilla or strawberry choice. We like what we like for no other reason. 

This creates a cycle were the player was introduced to the module, then they presented the module as a DM to replay. The story gains additional replayability through this introducing it to others. I can repeat by placing a twist on the source material so that it is disguised. By the time you have your own kids, you see the cycle start again. It is very much like some beloved concept such as drawing, woodworking, camping, Disney, etc. to be passed down.  

The activity is the same, but different depending on where you are in the cycle. This naturally leads to the idea of maps, guides, handbooks, t-shirts. I find it amusing that there could or would be some sort of insignia, brochure or mission patch for an old module because the are simply loved and repeated. 

That is the source of inspiration for these images and my love of the OSR. 

The difference between 6 and 10 is not very great in terms of time, so I recall my bedroom decorated with classic Disney posters, 60's and 70's baseball pennants and other object de art which were done in these odd colors and styles. It's no wonder that I have associate these images with those conjured by D&D. 

Tired Doodling

Words... words... words... it's one am. 

Done. 

Outlining Ideas

Here is what I have been up to the past few days. I'm working a lot, so I don't have that much time. 

Today, I burned a bunch of time reading blogs, 3 Toadstools mostly. This week on 3 Toadstools he revisit's a favorite of mine, Isle of Dread. 3 Toadstools came up with this great tool for campaign building, where you select 10 monsters and run with them. He has a list of categories here. It's a great read and simplifies worldbuilding. 

Anyway, I am getting ready to return to my Peninsula of Plenty campaign, but modifying it to be a hex crawl. You probably noticed I have thinking about hexcrawls a lot. I have Filling in the Blanks scheduled for my next review, but haven't done it because I've been reading and rereading it for ideas for this new campaign style. I have to get both of these done as Into the Wild will be out next month. 

What I have had time for is sketching. I like to do paper plans for new ideas in Inkscape. I am also tinkering with a new display format for images. Ideally, all images will be the same size so the page doesn't jump. This will be the case with my photos of models, but harder to do with drawings. It's a start. 

1 / 5

Castle in Green

2 / 5

Black and blue

3 / 5

Reds

4 / 5

Wilds

5 / 5

Tower

❮ ❯

From the Sketchpad

Benny disapproves

This collection is more about using things before they dry up and get wasted. I have a set of markers that are a thin copy of Copic markers. They have a great array of colors in the pack, but no way to work them for shading because those are the only colors available. If I don't use them up, they'll dry up. Nothing worse than losing a marker to disuse. 

I do have this thing for retro designs using a very limited color palette, so I am burning these markers up to make rough drafts for my Inkscape work. The work is quick and very loose, as these are just rough ideas to keep my hands steady and moving. Use it or loose it. 

I'll probably redo these a couple of times before they graduate to something I do digitally. The whole digital thing is also new to me, so I need to practice, practice, practice. Inkscape is my go-to tool for digital work. I like the ability to make geometric designs with bold colors. 

I'll probably have a few more later tonight and tomorrow. I'm in training for the week, so it's natural to sketch while taking notes. 

I've seen any number of designs by Disney artists like this and you'd be correct if you thought I was dying to get back to an Amusement Park soon. Disney is out for 2021, but Six Flags is more doable. 

These are really small, about 4 or five inches. 

I did like the ship design with the water playing around the front and back. I'm going to revisit that idea because it was really an after thought in these designs. 

Funny how the little thinks just pop out at you. 

Teaser Art - Working with Pros.

I want to hire an artist for an upcoming project. The one I have selected has sent me some samples of works in progress. This means my commissions are on the back burner. Yeah, that happens. We have to work out the deal, pricing mostly, then style. 

She works in a digital anime style. At least that's what I would call it. The image above is the wireframe for the image to the right. She works fast, so I hope I can afford to hire her. 

Of course, all this talk of artwork has my brain singing. I need to start drawing again. 

 

Jedart - The Not Review

I've mention how many times I've been sucked into a document because of the artwork. Simon Miles, Todd Leback, and now Jedart. 

Screencap of the artist on Jedart.com

Jenna Lauren Drummond did the cover art for several of Todd Leback's books. And I really love this style of work. It turns out that this doesn't seem to be the style that appears on Jedart.com. There is a lot to love over on that website. Go ahead and check it out. Personally, I like the frogmen and the sci-fi stuff. The frogman is insanely animated, but the sci-collection are just your poses. Nice to see both fluid action and static poses.  

Let me talk about why I love the covers of Todd Laback's series of books, since this style doesn't seem to feature on Jedart.com. 

It's the floating angles and the capture of the hex crawl ideal. The first product I saw was Hexcrawl Basics. I just love that this image is a map and landscape from the air. It's not avant garde or experimental or any other fancy thing, it's simply perfect for the book title. Everything you would wonder about "Hexcrawl Basics" is summarized in the image. Click the link to check it out on DriveThruRPG. There are interesting locals like the focal point keep and the walled town, plain areas and the sky above it all, with no edge to world as everything fades at the horizon. 

That is pretty much "Hexcrawl Basics" in a nutshell. 

The next title is "Filling in the Blanks" and I am sure you can see why I mentioning this one. I'm going to do a review and I want to get my admiration of the cover out of my brain before diving into this book. 

This image I like for a completely different reason. It reminds me of the comic book artist, Pablo Raimondi. Back in the 1990s, he had a quick, savage style which he lent to the covers of X-Factor. He went for impossible angles and clear cut actions. 

Jedart's handling of the image captures nearly everything from the Hexcrawl Basics title while also embracing whimsy. I love the viewing angle above the characters in the foreground. While it isn't a one for one match with Pablo Raimondi's cover art, I can see that sort of see the "capture the moment" aspect in it. Even though we can't see the heroes' faces, there is a clear sense of wonder in their poses. 

Edit - My apologies, I keep editing this post when I recall something that stood out to me. Expect that to happen a lot. We all have deal with crap like that. 

Ooo... Shiney.

I'm stuck in mainatence mode right now, I'm cleaning up the basement and getting ready for my spring Model series while trying to figure out where my campaigns are going. I have to decide if we are doing Star Wars or D&D tonight. Since the players are the same, I guess it doesn't matter. 

It's a good thing it doesn't matter because I had to take a spin to Hobby Lobby for a model and Home Depot for a shower head. One of those was more important than the other, but both where wiped from my mind when I found this excellent R2-D2 ceramic figure my grandmother made for me. 

It stands about 9 inches tall and has a fitting to hold a light. At some point the single flasher bulb was replaced with Christmas tree lights. It lit my bedroom from 1978 to about 1998. I am really sure my grandmother had no idea what R2-D2 was at the time. It's dated 1978 and bears my grandmother's initials, TV.

Putting it away was an odd but glorious moment in my life. My girlfriend at the time said, "Ooo. Save that, the kids will like it." That was about 2 years before I proposed. I didn't even notice. From about 2002 til now the kids did like it. But now they are Star Wars'd out and it has been returned to me. 

It really never left. 

Updates - New Podcast Episode and More.

I have a short update episode of the podcast loaded to today. It's brief.  I talk about some changes in real life, updates to gaming sessions and the blog. 

It's kind of funny, but I started this podcast with a mistake. I was thinking about podcasting and was shopping for microphones and trying out new software. Someplace in that process, COVID hit and the only way I could get art supplies was online. I placed an order with Amazon without noticing that I place a microphone into the cart instead of my wishlist. 

I could of sent it back, oooooor I could make something with it. That mike has served me well over the past year, far more than just a podcast. 

I used it for my zoom classes, both the classes I taught and the classes I took in school. I also scored a new job using that set up. The mic is hardly used for the podcast at all but it's been a life saver.  

Rather than spamming it up with multiple posts, I've been drawing again with some new markers. I'm trying to get the hang of really simple sketches. I'm having probables balancing line weight with proportions. 

The ill-proportioned horse.

A better try.

Needs shading. 

My nemesis. 

In the last image, I really shouldn't have picked a stippling style with this image. I'm probably going to use some digital Magik at some point, which I hate to do. I wanted this to be all ink. If I don't go digital, I will be out 7 zillion pens and it will take me a life time to complete. Art-life balance, I guess. 

It's Here! This Artwork Now EXISTS!

Back in March of 2020, I sort of went nuts. I started drawing everything that came to mind, whether I had the skill or not. I had this idea for a drawing from The Last Unicorn. It was to be in full color ink, but in the middle of the project I realized that I didn't have the pens or the skill to make it work. 

However, I was determined to make it work. I started over with oil paint and hit another dead end. Finally, I took it digital. 

The first iteration didn't work either. Then I stumbled across a couple websites: Thisartworkdoesnotexist.com and Deepart.io. Switching back and forth between the two, with a little image manipulation on my end, I finally got it right. 

But how to get that tiny file out of the computer? 

I was just going to print it out at Walmart or Walgreens, but it didn't look right. Then I found Fractureme.com. It took a couple weeks because I ordered in the middle of Christmas and New Years. 

Fracture prints on glass, an artform that when done by hand is mind boggling difficult. Completely beyond my skills. I am not sure how Fracture works, but it looks great. No frame required and all of the mounting hardware comes with it. 

I think I am going to have to do this again. 

New Pens, New Art - Horses, Castle and Figures.

I picked up some new markers on Amazon. These are the Faber-Castell Wallet of 4 PITT Artist Pens - Black and Sepia. Each set has one

• B: 1-5mm (Brush spread)
• M: 0.7mm
• F: 0.5mm
• S: 0.3mm

Right of the package, I did a quick sketch of a horse in Sepia. The brown is on the lighter side, but that gives you the ability to layer for deeper colors. 

I really like the feel of these pens. They are on the short thin side, but easy to hold. The brush glides smoothly over most types of paper, but I haven't given them a hard test of textured bristol board or (heaven forbid!) newsprint.

These are wonderful pens at the price point. 

Black	Sepia

Having fooled around with the sepia pens, I used the smaller nibs to do some sketches in black. I did two quick figures studies and some sort of space fighter. Even the small nibs glide nicely. Almost too nicely. I didn't want to lift the pen, which gave these studies a scratchy look. 

That's my hand, not the pens. 

Man with halberd	Swordsman

Later today, I will test them out with another drawing of a castle. 

Testing New Tech with Sketches

I bought a new phone, a Moto G Stylus and new Kindle Fire then started working at a place where neither are allowed. That's ok, it gives me time to draw. 

The first image was a warm up for pen work. Just some designs. Perhaps, they are windows, dias* or portals. (* I'm not sure if the plural is "dia", "dias" or "diases".) 

The next two pictures are of towers. Each tower is drawn in profile and then top down. The profile is 1 square equals 10 feet while the overhead view is in 5 feet per square. 

i didn't like how the arrow slits looked and completely forgot the side door. 

These towers are strange because the exterior of the castle is to left and there is no windows on the ground floor. I need to draw in stairs next. I love the detail on the doors. There is a main door plus two gates to bar it from opening. In this rendition, the fifth floor has no windows at all. 

Both need a top floor.

Anyway, it's late at night. That might explain the strange pink cast to the images. I didn't use a flash.  

Map Doodles

I'm troubleshooting Worldographer tonight. It works on one system but not another. Annoying, because I know it's my machine. 

Anyway, here is a quick map I used for testing. 

As a map, it's pretty plain. I like it as artwork better. 

(Ab)Using What You Got

I like to use random ideas. Generally, I hate spam but spam comments have cause some of my better writing to come to the forefront. In this week's version, "a better life with Spam", I'll be posting images of artwork based on Artificial Intelligence. 

This was a project I started a few months ago. I like the unicorn but wasn't sure where the rest of it was going. 

Queue up the spam suggesting Artificial Intelligence to get things done more efficiently. Since I was lost on this image, I didn't know how to proceed. I upload it to Deepart.io and the results are wonderful. 

I've tried redoing this image in oil paint, but that seems wrong. I think I will try colored pencils, which isn't my favorite choice, but I think it could work. 

On a side note, I generally don't delete spam. Some of it is amusing, such as the guy at a consignment shop that tried to imply that his goods were magic items to tie into my 52 Weeks of Magic posts. Classic. 

Let me take a second to shout out Fat Goblin Games, 3dMakerworks.com, and Goblin Clan Miniatures. These 3d printed products came into my awareness via a spam link. They have suspended their affiliate program, but they so nice, I can't help but suggest them for your table.  

Having said that, I have noticed an uptick with tech themed spam which has been deleted. The problem with tech products and spam is they can do nasty stuff with your data. I will implementing a policy of report and kill from here on out. If you have noticed missing comments, that is why. 

My apologies, but I can't host something dangerous. 

As always, if you have a product or website you want promoted, post a link in the comments or hit me up at Facebook, Twitter, MeWe, Dice.Camp or Mastodon. I am always looking for new stuff and content for my site, I would love to do a write up on you. 

#RPGADAY2020 17. Comfort

I feel pretty comfortable running ahead a day. The 17th prompt is #Comfort. 

For me, comfort is drawing. 

The paper is a kid's drawing pad and the pen is from Walmart. I'm going without my glasses, while holding a phone. I wish I had started filming at the beginning. Not optimal, but whatever is? Gaming and play is never optimal until you look back on it. 

The idea came and simple tools made it flow freely from brain to paper with no constraint. It's not perfect, but I like it.  

Finished? No. Completed, yes. 

Inkscape again - Fighters on the Horizon

I'm still tinkering with that limited color pallet and funky looking ships.

I like the design, but need to fix the colors.

The Continuing Adventures in Inkscape - Rocket's Pale Glare

I have to tell you, I've been watching Disney videos again and it's effecting my style.



I wanted to keep the color pallet simple and stuck to 4 colors and two shades of purple, green and grey and blues.


It was kind of fun. I took the idea of rockets and skinned them off in the vein of it's a small world. I'm not sure what color background looks correct to me.


Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Morphing Styles - Emily Revisited

I've been rocking out so much work, my hands hurt. Better than being bored. I've been drawing a lot of inspiration from my wife, Kitty and my daughter, Cat. 

The first image I did over the weekend was actually sparked by a class I'm taking, Children's Lit. It's Prince Philip and Aurora under a tree. After I got my groove on, I started taking requests. That lead to Alice then Ariel. I've been working entirely in ink up to this point. Well, not "entirely", I sketched out the designs in pencil first and then diligently erased the lines.

The final request was from Kitty and was really outside of my comfort zone. It was Marie from Aristocats. I love the artwork in this movie, it's classic 1970's stuff. In many parts of the film you can still see guide and the sketch lines under the colorful animation.

I don't remotely work in this style but decided to give it a shot. I worked with only two pens and 4 colored pencils. I can't say that I am entirely comfortable with the colored pencils, as I am more of a charcoal or ink sort of guy, but I really enjoyed the process.

I don't even own a set of colored pencils, I raided Cat's school supplies for them. I worked until about 2 am last night to get it done and framed.

I have to say, framing up 3 of four pieces of art in as many days feels good. But now I am Disney'ed out. I want to get back to my own favorite subjects.

A few weeks ago, I accidentally closed an open pen in my sketchbook, marring a favorite drawing of a character named Emily. I did have a photo of the sketch which I thought would help recreate it. I was going to throw it on my lightboard and go at it. But I was still feeling adventurous and decided not to redo something that I felt was done. Instead, I set out to create a new pose of Emily, in the classic Rosie the Riveter style. To enhance the retro feel, I replaced her 1980's styled space suit with one from the Mercury missions.

I had thought that this would be another ink job, but as I worked with my daughter's colored pencils in reach, I decided to give them a try. It's missing something, so I know I be reworking her again. But the process was very enjoyable.