[art] Hinterwelt cover sketch

[Storn]

Comments welcome

This is for Hinterwelt Games' Future Skein. Which, from what I can tell from my art list is this;

barbarian tribes fighting giant robots of the machine lords in a dark future.... yummy... pulpy... how Thundaar the Barbarain can ya get!?!!? Bill from Hinterwelt should be along shortly to promote it better than I can.

The ground (paper) is a bit weird due to the fact I punched up the pencils to be darker. The tan board that is drawn upon is not that yellow. And the girl with backpack and axe in the corner got a bit cropped...but not enuff to make me scan in the sketch part again.

My friend Chris, the pulp maestro, said it needs a "leporous moon"... maybe even breaking apart? I want to do it as a daytime scene... can I get away with a moon? I don't want to confuse the area where the title is going to go. But Maybe I can get away with it. What do y'all think?

And yeah, its a wrap around.

http://www.herogames.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=233512

[Eric Lofgren]

Demon Dogs!



Sahweeet, Storn :)


My friend Chris, the pulp maestro, said it needs a "leporous moon"... maybe even breaking apart? I want to do it as a daytime scene... can I get away with a moon? I don't want to confuse the area where the title is going to go. But Maybe I can get away with it. What do y'all think?

And yeah, its a wrap around.



Yup. I'd say give the breaking up moon thing in daylight a try. Make it big and very dramatic set on a darkish sky. I bet it would look very compelling.

[shade1978]

I'd really like to see a bigger version of this. It's kind of hard to make out some of the details on the linked version.

[mahubrahd]

holy crap....

this is a great , solid, two fisted, barbaric, robo battling action. all i can say is what a start. thanks for posting this.

in my most vader like voice....
"impressive...most impressive..."

-aris(is jealousy a sin?)

[Steve Conan Trustrum]

My first thought was "oh my god, Storn's started drawing on paper towels!" :D

It may be just the angle, but even considering that his abdomen looks to be a bit long with reference to the belt indicating his waiste line. Other than that (which may just be me), sweet!

[HinterWelt]

You can put a moon in but do not have it breaking apart. I was just thinking though, shouldn't the buried statue have spikes coming off her head? :)

Seriously, Future Skein is set in the distant future after a conventional/biological war between military AI and humans/civilian AI. The result is a world map that is unchanged. The AI were the victors but have brought very different views to the new world. Some live in hive cities closed off from the rest of the world constantly building towards various scientific goals. Some survive in much the role they had in the distant past. trapped performing the maintainace of a base or directing the research program for humans long dead. These AI have usually gone insane. Others still choose to wander the lands looking for humans to kill, bent on the destruction of the human race.

Humans are at various stages fo development from barbarians (the most common, to steam powered 1800s level technology, to super secret, high technology communes hidden underground bent on the destruction of the AI race.

Throughout all this a technological artifacts survive due to the careful often ritualistic maintainance or manufacturing plants still running on automatic. The battle most face, depending on which side they are on, is one of survival, growth and building. There are always crazy humans looking to destroy your network. There is always an AI trying to kill the tribe. Mixed into this are the genetic constructs that both sides used during the war. A very few of these creatures have come through the ages immortal and unchanged. Most were viable and have bred to greater and greater numbers. Made for war, they are agressive and territorial.

Hope that helps sum up the premise for everyone.

Arieal, Ookla, RIDE!

Bill

[MetalMan]

Oh man... this thing is gonna kick all kindsa ass when its done :)

Post apocalyptic science fantasy ... whats not to love?!

Good job, Storn... and even better job, Bill. You certainly picked the right man for the job!

[Glen Osterberger]

Very cool stuff .. Make me want to do more pulp stuff

[madelf]

Oh, that is sweeeet!
Can't wait to see the finished painting.

[fil kearney]

that panther is great! its got a lot of mood just by itself.. it'll make good for a back.

Damn. You teach us al so much just doing what you do.

[Storn]

Originally posted by shade1978
I'd really like to see a bigger version of this. It's kind of hard to make out some of the details on the linked version.

I would love to get you a bigger version. But I'm busy writing silly e-mails today. Got a backlist of artwork a mile long that I gotta get cracking on.

A bigger version means loading it up to my website and being bigger than 100k and then linking it. The image you see linked to the hero games site is under 100k. I LOATHE updating my website... cause i have ton of work to do on it. So I'm ducking the problem for now. <g>

Thanks y'all for the encouraging words!

[t y l e r]

LORDS OF LIGHT!!

That's friggin' sweet Storn!

Can't wait to see the finished product.

[Dodge]

oh i love this i tried to post before but my comp crashed, The movement and pose in the figures is great, the bit cat looks fantastic with the shoulder blades high and mouth open. The only thing was it took me a minute to work out what the statue was.:) in awe!

[Storn]

I thought I would share the next step in the cover. I gesso'd the board, sanded it down. Then I did the underpainting using two colors. The primary color is : FW's Acrylic ink Burnt Umber. The secondary color (cause it was on the palette I was using, I admit laziness) was a Holbien tube watercolor, Raw Sienna. And a few touch ups with white

I like the acrylic, because once it goes down, it stays there. I like the watercolor, because I can "reactivate it". So they do slightly different things and are good enough together.

Now. I know that the barbarian swinging figure is a bit lost against the robot. But color will go a long way to differentiate that.

shouldn't the buried statue have spikes coming off her head?

crap. I forgot that til i was just re-reading this thread. I'll have to do that in the paint. The moon, also, will be done in the paint... it will be easier for me to do it over the sky.

http://www.herogames.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=237405

[HinterWelt]

Storn,
To be honest, you do not need to put the spikes on the head. We do not need to start with planet of the apes references. :) However, ig you think it would add something I am not against it. The statue right now is great.

You said and I will agree, color will make the difference with the barbarian.

A question for the layout people on the board, do you think the robot's arm on the hinge or possibly even the spine will be an issue? I think it will be o.k. but just thought I would bring it up.

Where are you planning on putting the moon? The obvious spot would be above the city. That would be on the spine (again, o.k.). I could alsoo see it setting behind the city but it might be a little crowded. Final Idea would be as a light source in the upper right partially out of frame.

Thanks for the great work and keep it coming,
Bill

[mahubrahd]

excellent progress....
really nicely laid out, and crafted....
there is verynice movement in the melee here, Storn, great job,
this is going to shape up to be an amazing piece...

i would just suggest that the weapon the "barbarian" is swinging have a larger head to it.

-aris

[Storn]

Actually, I did that on purpose... if there is a tiny bit of the "mace head" wrapped around on the spine, it will lead the eye to the back cover. Where the sabertooth will allow you to read some back cover copy and then push the eye back to the front cover.

If it bothers you, you can always have the spine solid and not have art on it and just repeat a 1/4 inch of the same space on both the back and front cover.

On the spikes, I didn't even *think* of our favorite french granted bric a brac. I was thinking much smaller and much more moebius/heavy metal look.

[HinterWelt]

The smaller spikes sound cool. We are just getting enough ribbing about Thundarr that I did not want to add Planet of the Apes to it. :)

About the spine, I think I can deal with it but I wanted you to be aware in case the fact that it will be hard cover would affect the piece.

Thanks,
Bill

[JSpektr]

Nice work. I kind of like it in just the brown tones, has a "lost scroll" feel to it.

The robot and the barbarian are both a little unclear to me, on the barbarian I think this is due to the extremely extended pose he's in. The legs merge together a bit, and the cape/vest obscures his shoulders, making it harder to conprehend his anatomy. Color will probably cure a lot of that, but it might be worth thinking about.

One other thing, he looks too much like he's in the middle of a ballet move, rather than kicking robot butt. Maybe if he was less graceful?

I have some issues with the robot because key parts of it are concealed, distorted, or non-anthropomorphic. At first glance, I thought it was just a big machine, not somehting that moved around on its own. Perhaps if the right hand looked more like a hand, the left elbow was more clearly a joint, and the head was slightly more human-like (right now it's just a lump of metal on some cables) the robot would be more obviously a robot.

The mace on a hinge is neat, but also took me a minute to figure out what I was looking at. Maybe if it wasn't in line with the forearm of the robot, so it is clear the hinge is a hinge?

Also, I think the mace violating the spine shouldn't be a problem. As long as it crosses over significantly, rather than just barely touching.

The girl in the foreground, she might have more impact if she was bigger. Right now she's the same size as the barbarian, and presumably is standing right next to him. It would enhance the depth of the image if she was closer to the viewer.

The cat on the back is cool, but won't it end up underneath the back copy? Shame to hide a detail like that.

No spikes on the statue.

Very good work, as always.

[HinterWelt]

Jspektr,
If at all possible I will be trying to avoid covering the cat. It is just too cool to cover over, as you pointed out.

Bill

[csaar]

wooooooh! love it! it got movement and balance. and the sketching is absolut top class. sometimes a sketch is more interesting to look at than the finished stuff.
thanks storn

[keithcurtis]

Wonderful image, Storn!
Speaking from the perspective of a GM whose world <i>is</i> Post-Apocalyptic Science Fantasy, I feel right at home here.

Critiques:
What is the barbarian swinging? It looks like a bit of a metal pole he picked up. Given the mass of the robot and the fact that his feet are not planted, is this believable? It looks dramatic, but taken too far and it can look comedic. Maybe if the robot were even more damaged-looking than it already is, it would seem to be vulnerable to such an attack.

Robotic Mace Arm. I'm not sure what the motion is on the arm. It is obviously impacting the ground violently, but seeing as he is taking a major roundhouse from the barbarian, it seems a little confusing, almost deadened. Also, I agree that the robot's anatomy is a little confusing.When I saw the sketch, I thought the arm was a neck and the mace was coming out of a mouth. The underpainting cleared that up, though, so I don't thinks that's an issue. Like you said, color will go a long way towards calrifying detail.

Nice cat!

I don't think the statue needs spikes. Did you use a RL reference for it? It looks Hindu, or perhaps Buddhist.

Please please please, post updates on this one. Seeing your step-by-step progress is indescribably cool!

keith

[Storn]

Did you use a RL reference for it?

Yes. It is a japanese buddha, I think, I googled it. I changed the light source and worked from a small photo...but I did work from something.

is this believable?

Lol. Is a man swinging a pipe, whacking a warbot believable? Dunno.

I hear ya... the suggestion of giving a bit more mass to the end of the pipe is a good one. J? Too balletic? Hmmm... maybe. I don't think so.... I know that position well... It is exactly like the follow trhough from a two handed back hand in tennis. A hard backhand will actually lift you off the ground... although it looks like the tennis player leaped. This guy is leaping, no doubt about it.... but the gracefulness of it doesn't bother me enough to change it. In fact, I rather like it. It is pulpy to me. The pantherish, feral quality is what i"m going for.

The warbot is a bit confusing, I grant you, but again, I know what I'm doing in color. I think that will go a long way to helping. Also, I don't want it to be TOO clear...I'm experimenting with a bit of fade (like the far arm, I want to blur and fade) in the color.

We will see if I can pull it off.

[JSpektr]

Originally posted by Storn
A hard backhand will actually lift you off the ground... although it looks like the tennis player leaped.

That may be true, but my experience in actual melee is that you'd almost never employ a strike that lifts you off the ground. Not enough control over what happens next. In tennis, you don't have to worry that the other guy is trying to kill you while you're flying around in the air looking graceful.

It may work, it just seems to me that it may work better done differently.