Blood, Sweat and Jeers!!

Let's face it! Sometimes in Illustration, you just have to take matters into your own hands. Costumes, props, a tripod, a digital camera, what can I say? It's an expensive hobby, but as one of my illustration teachers quoth: 

"You're only as good as your photo scrap." 

Right now I don't feel very good, 🤣 but I know I've made imagery I posed for with a timed camera work before. 

These sixteen black and white thumbnails, modest and in most cases hilarious they may be, are a tiny portion of the result of about and hour and a half's worth of effort. 

These I'm confident I can work with, because it's not about competing with the photo itself, but what you can make it look like, or some sh*t like that. It was the first thing that popped in my head. 

I think I like the one with the blue frame the best!! Thanks for reading. And viewing. And guffawing. 

😂

SLiM

Progress is Progress

At this point I can honestly say I feel I've got a good chance of getting at least a remarkable chunk of this done, if not the whole thing. The goal here is to complete everything that one would require to learn, play and run the game: character sheets, maps, classes, races, weapons, armor, player rules, GM rules, adventures, dungeons, maps, dice, the works! So kind of like a basic starter set.

Strangely, however, the hard part has been all the artwork that is needed. I mean, you'd think that would be the easy part for me but lately I've really been dreading all the character designs, creature designs and so forth required. I mean I literally need artwork on almost every single page. That's a lot, but it has to be done. 

I've set a deadline for my birthday in July, just to see how much I could get done, though I think I may have a better chance of project completion  by the end of the year!!!! 

If you are wondering something along the lines of "dude, why don't you just get a Kickstarter or GoFundMe" the answer is that money is not really the issue on this particular project and I'm kind of into getting there on my own steam. Nothing against those that do start one of these accounts. 

Anyway, this checklist (below) represents the bulk of this project, though the item titled Character Sheet Item Descriptions should be under Writing, not Artwork. Sorry about that. Oh, and it should read Weapons and Armor Art at the bottom. I can't type!  🤣 Thanks for playing!!

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SLiM

Steak n Shake Sketching with Foray Rollerball

So just last week, I found myself in the Steak -n- Shake on Kendall drive, Miami Florida not once but twice. I stop by there periodically with my family and friends, and usually for milkshakes. 

Sigh... 

Anyway, last week we happened by and on both occasions I made a cool little sketch on the back of my place-mat. Y'know, that little sheet of paper they sit in front of you that has some nasty looking new 'flavor' of milkshake on it? Lately I think it's...Strawberry cheesecake, or something??!? 

Hey. Each to their own and all that but that new stuff does NOT look appetizing to yours truly, though lately I've been getting a half and half Reese's brand peanut butter & vanilla, and it is just divine! Or at least I think so, but different strokes for different folks! Life is far too short to spend squabbling about how the whole world should see things your way! 😉

Moving on. The following sketches are an improvement for me. Usually I just stare blankly at the back of my place-mat, wondering what to draw. But on both occasions, I thought of an object, and the drawing evolved from there!!

So I wanted to do a take off the ol' scarecrow thang, but as a birdhouse. To begin with, I was actually thinking 'wooden robot,' and the rest just happened. A friend that was sitting with us asked how that idea of all ideas popped in my head. I was more than happy to tell her exactly what I've just told you. It's not often I get to brag about what I do, not that you should brag.

On this one, I was thinking of one of those radios from the 1930s. The ones with the wooden cabinet, and still semi in the style of Art Nouveau. Why does everything gotta be streamlined? I like retro. Hell, I like rustic. Just because the insides are state of the art doesn't mean it's outside have to match!! Live a little, people!!!! I guess this little guy's head is pretty much the radio I was thinking of. I gooned the body. And all of this was done with a blue Foray Rolle Rollerball ink pen. The rest is mostly just making my scan look like something. Cool, huh?? Thanks for reading!!

^ . ^

SLiM

Making Character Sheets

Perhaps this is a little foolhardy, the way I have chosen to share my work, deliberately hiding most of the written word and whatnot, but I'm passionate about what I do and I'm also very protective of my dreams and goals, so there!!

> . <

I got started on this project, this roleplaying game I've been working on...a few years ago? *cringe* I knew I wanted to get as far away from what was considered conventional, and at the same time create something that is a loose nod in the direction of those old school RPG's that I grew up with. But can you play it the way I want to do it, without sitting there all day, whittling  away at one enemy??!? Or will it run smoothly?? The answer to those questions will have to wait. In chronological order, these are my character sheets, progressing from beginning to most recent, though I'm saving the holy grail (the final version) until I'm ready to send it all to Library of Congress. I'm funny that way. :-) 

This one was sort of a wee joke. I especially love the two fists. This was about as no frills as you could get, and at the time I had considered it as a practice sheet and nothing more. Just something to test the gameplay on. That very same gameplay which will need much much MUCH more testing, in the end. Yeah.

This one followed. Still wasn't getting too serious about it, but you can tell at this point that I was trying to be serious, at least. You can tell that, right??

This is where things started to get serious, but I can't tell you all the details. Basically this version paved the way to where it is now, only now it's so much more lavish!! I think. In the original of this version, these colored squares are much more interesting, with something written in each one. I've chosen to leave that out, as it would give away my ideas. Sorry, Charlie! 

This is where I started to get really excited about making a REAL character sheet, but the more things I added, the more I feared people would think I was trying to compete with AD&D. So I deleted some things, and added some other stuff. I especially liked the frame on this one. It's in the finalized version, but I couldn't get the corners to look right, so I just simplified. It's a shame, too. I liked those leaf things. :-) I also like the literal moral compass. A sort of simplified (I thought) version of AD&D's alignment chart. But I needed to get as far away from competing with D&D (or looking like I was) as I could. I'm not sure I succeeded. I hope I did. "Or this is gonna be one short trip."

With the exception of a few things and LOTS of window dressing, this is pretty much how the final version looks. Almost looks like a video game UI, in a way. I dig that!! I love these hexagons too. :-) Heh. Can't wait to disclose that, some day!! I've given myself the deadline of my birthday in July. If I cannot get everything ready for a playable set (rules, custom dice, maps, character sheets, etc), then I'll have no choice but to postpone to work on other projects I have on the back burner. Fingers crossed!!

SLiM

Doing it the Wrong Way, But it's Turning out so GOOD!!!

You ever look at your artwork and you just know you're doing it all wrong, but at the same time you feel overcome with joy because it's turning out so great?? Ah. I knew it was just me! Now the way you're supposed to do this is to take actual continents from an atlas, get them copied, enlarged etc, put tracing paper over them and start improving on nature. That's how you're supposed to do it. That's illustration, baby. 

And that's not what I'm doing. I'm doing it the hard way and because I had to go and do it....the hard way, it's taking a long time to get done. Naturally. Big surprise, right??!? But they look so GOOOOOOOOD!!!!!

You can tell I'm excited, right? Good. Thought so. Have a look, though I've still a LONG way to go, and I have obviously omitted certain things from public view, such as province names, cities, etc. 

Kinda looks like the U.S. doesn't it?? I think that might've been a happy accident. Lesson learned, though. Next time, I will be doing it the right way!! I can hear my illustration teacher in the back of my head!! *looks guilty*

SLiM

My Very Own Voodoo Glow Skull (except it's not voodoo and doesn't glow)!!

Not that anybody asked, but if you are at all interested in a career in the arts, my strongest suggestion is that you make sure you have that little piece of paper that says degree. 
Now I've only achieved an associate's in Illustration but I was there for 8 years, and that was thanks to a particular teacher who taught such classes as Comic Book Illustration, Dimensional Illustration, Mask Making, Fantasy Illustration and 3D Studio: Miniature Set Design. But that's a whole other post that I shall have to make at some point. 
The purpose of this post is to talk about today's sketch. You see, I work with photo scrap, but I also work out of my head. If you ignore the rules (like I do) you're going to get abnormalities and distortions. Though they kind of work for this guy! Currently working on a symmetrical version of this character. I'm currently working on the amped up sellout version of this. I could easily see this guy (last one at the bottom of the post, though finished) on a kid's skateboard!! I just might have to put one on mine, too!! \m/

SLiM

Hero Forge Custom Miniatures

My current labor of love is a self-made original tabletop role-playing game. I have wanted to do this for over 25 years. It's finally happening!

The project, that is. I'm nowhere near even remotely finished. I spent at least a year or two *blush* on the written part of it. I'm actually still writing the written part. The rules, characters, classes, origins, the whole ball of wax. Basically, the project is everything an individual needs to start playing: maps, custom dice, adventures, GM rules, player rules, all of it!!!!

And that's not counting all the artwork I still have yet to do!! I sometimes wonder if my aim is way higher than my batting average. I mean, I'm aiming at the damn stars, here! 

I've set a deadline. The deadline for this project is 7-30-19, but I seriously doubt if I'll be able to make it. The plan is to see what I've accomplished by then. If I'm close to finished, I'll dedicate the rest of the year to the project. If not, I'll have to devote the remainder of the year to other projects I have on the back burner.

I recently discovered something that is making it easier for me to describe my classes, origins and NPC characters. It's called Hero Forge.

Now for those of you who have been living under a rock (like me), it's an online business that lets you design, customize, and if necessary pay for your very own miniature figurine. I so needed this as a kid!

Here are a few of the templates I've made, but let me just say there are SO many more things you can with Hero Forge. These were made back in January, so they're a trifle dated. Here's a link:

https://www.heroforge.com/

From Old Fart to. . . .Goblin. . . .Somethings??!?

Growing up with such things as first edition Dungeons and Dragons heavily inspired me. Black ink drawings littered the pages of my Monster Manual. At nine years old, this was my current obsession. Illustrations by such renowned artists as David A. Trampier, Larry Elmore, Bill Willingham and Jeff Easley had such a big impact on me, as did the general subject of Dungeons and Dragons in 1983. Star Wars (Jedi) could just wait! I mean, there was a cartoon out, there were action figures, some of which I had already owned, and thanks to the efforts of my neighbor Kenny, an attempt to convince Mikey (another boy my age) how lame Kenny thought Strongheart was, I was now pouring over the pages of various D & D manuals and modules. 
I had bought them purely for the imagery contained therein. Sure, I would've liked to play, but I wasn't allowed to play with the big kids next door, and every time I'd buy a new module, I'd rush right over to show Kenny, who would always say something like "sure, it's cool and all, but I can't DM you if I don't have the rules that go with it."  Oh well. It got me where I am today.
This is a fun little project I've just started. Basically, I want to do my own black ink interior image, as sort of a salute those that came before me. I set up my Manfrotto tripod, attached my Sony Cybershot to it and viola! I now have three images of myself I can slip-sheet and turn into...goblins, orcs, human raiders, whatever I want to be:

HA HA HA HA HA!!!! I crack myself up!! This was fun. Now to drag 'em into Adobe Photoshop and play around with them!! By the way, geniuses thrive on clutter. And dirty laundry. :-P Here it is all duffed up, spiffy and dapper looking!!

I so want to say "and that...is why they pay me the big bucks," or something like that. But it's not that great. Anyway, when I print these out they'll turn out a trifle too small to create a decent illustration. Oh sure, I own an Artograph projector, but it's all boxed up since we may move soon. Guess Imma hafta run this'n here up to ye merry ol' library for some copies! I'll catch you cats and kittens later!!

^ . ^

SLiM