Merry Christmas!

I've been having a crappy kinda week so far - I know it's only Tuesday, so I guess it's been a lousy couple of weeks, but anyway.

To cheer myself up and try and banish this overly dreary mood I've been in, I decided to have some fun and threw together this little piece.  

My little gift to all you who have been keeping an eye on my progress over the past few months.  I love you guys!

These were done in Illustrator - I've been working on a Christmas card with a similar "cartoony" theme and started messing around until I had all of these.  Anyway, I hope they make you smile.  I did when I was making them.

Happy Hols!  

S&C Poster Concept

Here it is! Goal 1.5 for this weekend reached!

This was the unanimous design choice here at the Silkwood house.  It's just a mock-up, but the idea isn't going to change much.  Let me know what you think!

The Beginnings of an Airship Crew

Goal 1 of 3 - DONE!

What's steampunk without an airship and it's crew of fan-freaking-tastic characters?

• Elle - The owner of a small, varied fleet of airships.  She performs a hodge-podge of services like shipping and delivery, long distance message running, sight-seeing, etc.  She's slightly spastic and usually stressed about something or other, but with her driven work ethic and the help of her crew she's developed a reputation for excellence and getting the job done - no matter the circumstance.  
• BT - Elle's engineer.  She's competent, capable and she can build or fix anything - out of anything - before you can spit.  All without chipping a nail.  She's kept Elle's ships flying through circumstances that would have crippled bigger and newer ships.  Her inventive offensive security measures have made many a merchant glad that Elle and her crew haven't turned to piracy, and many an air-pirate wish they hadn't.  
• Sun - an accomplished medic and Elle's younger sister.  She's a little spitfire - and her mouth is sharper than the needle she'll use to sew you up.  She's amazingly shrewd and she can ferret a secret out of anyone - if she has to.  If it's advice you need, she's the one to ask, because ten to one, Sun's already thought of it. 
• James - a kind of Jack-of-All-Trades, he's Elle's primary helmsman.  A fantastic pilot as long as you're not wanting to, well, dock or maybe land.  But you know what they say about any landing you can walk away from.  An eternal optimist, he can see the humor in anything and he's always ready with a joke.  He's one-half of a rather dynamic and fantastic duo with his friend Shep. Nothing is impossible with the two of them on the job.  
• Shepherd (Shep) - very much a renaissance man, Shep knows a little of everything and a lot of other things.  He works the communications systems for Elle, and he'd like to see anyone do it better.  He's a visionary with grand dreams.  If you have a moment to give an ear, you might find yourself caught up in his ideas, too.  Just don't get sucked into one of his and James grand and intricate schemes to track down the fabled and elusive Granny Mede's Shack of Snacks . . .

More Photo Reference

I had another impromptu photo session last night when I got back from my business trip.  The lighting was horrible, but the extreme contrast between the shadows and the light gave me an idea for a Silkwood & Co. poster!  I got really excited - because I'm a geek and art is what I look forward to at the end of the day right now.  Sad, I know.

But anyway, here's a little "tease" for ya!  The final will (probably) not be this pose.  But the general idea is the same.

See what I meant about bad lighting?  I was lucky Elle (another of my sisters, you'll be introduced to her later, too) was there to mess with the settings on my SLR.

I really need to take a photography class.

Anyway, as far as "real" art goes, you'll be getting some this weekend (I know, I know, I've promised that before).  I plan to upload at least 2 character sheets as well as a post to start the airship crew introductions.

Airships, Steampunk, and Photo Reference

This probably doesn't matter to anyone else, but I sometimes wonder (as an illustrator) how artists direct and coordinate photo shoots for reference.  I see things in my head, but I have a hard time telling people what I am trying to accomplish in a picture.  For example, if you take three random people and tell them to look contemplative you'll probably get three very different interpretations of contemplation.  


So here is a little glimpse into my (albeit random and disjointed) "process".  Doesn't that sound swanky?

I hated asking people to pose for photo reference for me in college.  You would not believe the lengths I went to to try and get reference without having to ask anyone for help.  Now, that said, I did get some people together this weekend (mainly instigated and accomplished by my very organized and no nonsense younger sister).  I had ordered a few various props and costume articles, and since a few of them arrived just before Thanksgiving, I had mentioned to said younger sister that I might want to get some of the group together to take pictures.  

Now, you have to understand that Sun - this is her character's name, you'll be introduced to her later - is kind of like a force of nature.  Mentioning to her that you might possibly in the near future like to do something is like saying and your very existence depends on your being able to do whatever it is that you mentioned.  Nothing is impossible in her world: if you want to do something, you just do it.  

So, not an hour after mentioning that I wanted to potentially take some reference with the new props, a mass text has been sent to nearly all of Silkwood & Co. and I find myself having to figure out a time to meet and what people should wear/bring and trying to figure out where we can go to take pictures, etc.  At the same time, I'm driving my mother around (on Black Friday) so she can pick up the one or two things she's picking up for other people, running to the grocery store and trying to get back on time for everyone to show up.  By the time I get home, everyone's there and I still have no clue what exactly I'm hoping to accomplish with all of this.

I scrounged around the house for a few more costume articles and then we headed out.  Much hilarity ensued.  I had some worries about the light, it was rather overcast for about half an hour, but the pictures I took during that time didn't turn out to bad.  By the time the sun came out the angles of the shadows were kinda perfect.  So everything actually turned out pretty nice.

I ended up taking over 500 photos, and I'd say about 300 of them were "usable" in some way or other.  In other words if you think this is all there is, you're wrong.  I'm saving the best for later!

When we got back to the house, the doorbell rang and the mail man was there with the rest of the steampunk props - the best ones!

Why couldn't he have been 2 hours earlier?!

I'm drawing as fast as I can!  Hopefully I'll get 1 or 2 character sheets up by the end of the week.  But really, with so much awesome inspiration, I don't see a problem with getting something up!

Wish me luck!