I did the illustrations for Theo Paxstone at the end, when I was burnt out on editing and re-editing and getting help with editing and then editing some more.
I was running on fumes.
That's one of the reasons I went for a rough, light, vaguely scribbly style. Some of them turned out well, some not so much.
This one I rather like.
Laramidia... what a wonderful name for the Western continent.
Fascinating to see the Western Interior Seaway, too.
 |
| Cover of Dragon Garage by James Turner |
Check out my other fantasy book, Dragon Garage:
An imaginative and playful misfit accidentally opens a portal to a fantastical reality in James Turner's graphic novel. Zach Vandermeer's imagination can get the young man into trouble. Zach loves to play role-playing games, and Heroic Journey is his favorite.
One night Zach introduces a new character into the game, one that launches him and his friends into a real world adventure in the realm of Arthea which up until that night was a fictional world created by Zach.
What follows is a page-turning romp brought to you by James Turner, creator of Rex Libris, the world's toughest librarian.
Lots of fun and mayhem ensue when reality and fantasy collide!
 |
| The rescue mission proceeds! |
Even has a lance with plasma feed! What's not to love?
I have a number of other sketches lying around, I may work on them some more in ProCreate...
I did all the drawings for Theo Paxstone at the very end of the process, after spending an ungodly amount of time editing it, over and over and over. By then I was beyond exhausted. I've never been terribly happy with the illustrations, and I've thought about revisiting them, but then, it's usually better to just let go, learn the lesson, and move on.
This one I did rather like though:
 |
| A herald steam knight bearing a locked message signals the King of the Northern realm. |
The imagery that results can be pretty amazing.
I haven't fully explored it yet, and it has limitations, but it's also terribly addictive.
 |
| A mighty front line steam mech, wielding a sword |
 | ||
Steam mech with large viewing window in the helm for the pilot, allowing a clear field of view of the battlefield. It is, however, a point of vulnerability.
|
These models are larger model steam mechs, part of a new breed of machines created in Alandia by the renowned machinist Gregor Malachi.
*Some minor editing done to the MidJourney images in ProCreate. All four images were created from a single prompt.
