Wi(very slow)P

Jeez. End of August already? 

Here's a WiP for a character commission.

Quartermaster General

So the past couple of months I've had my nose to the grindstone working on a new game, Quartermaster General, by Griggling Games. It's a World War II board game, and it's a hell of a lot of fun. It plays very fast and is easy to pick up right out of the box. But the game play gets really interesting as the game proceeds. Look for it this August.

Anyway, here are some card illustrations I did for four of the basic card types. I was heavily influenced by all the great propaganda art of the period. And explosions. Lots of explosions.

Four cards for Quartermaster General

And here's the box art.  (I designed the logo too.)

Quartermaster General box art

Frost Giant Sketch

While reading Conan Volume 1 by Kurt Busiek & Cary Nord, I doodled this frost giant. Still loving the blue pencil!

Boxing Day Sketch

Something from yesterday. Non-photo blue pencil is a lovely way to begin a sketch: I see now why so many people swear by them.

This is from a 9x12 ecru sketchbook with cold press paper, which provides some tooth. The initial figure pose was roughed out in blue pencil, which helped me "discover" where the pose should be. Then the darker lines went on top, finalizing "suggestions" made in blue. Darker lines are in my trusty Micron .5 HB lead technical pencil.

I found myself paying particular attention to how her gear wraps around her body, and focused a lot on edges of things. Edges are crucial, and I don't think that's stressed enough in art instruction. Where one thing meets another really defines the material and structure of the objects, establishes overlap and lighting direction, and describes form.