Dame Ingaria

I apologize for the lack of fresh new art these days but I had to get the art show done and start working on the next Stasheff. I promise you I'll design some amusing material for you as a distraction from the politics of the absurd. This sinister looking lady is sinister. She is Dame Ingaria Colanto, an aristocratic character from the "Powers that Be" game that I illustrated back in 2003. She had no qualms about poisoning her opponents but she was very kind to animals and kept her little lap dog with her at all times. 

This is originally a black and white ink drawing which was colored in with "Painter," a grand illustration/fine art program that I used back then. "Painter" is still around and its 2017 version has just been released. I am wondering whether it will run on my Cintiq and whether it will be free of the extremely annoying pop-up problem that Photoshop has. There is a new version of the Cintiq coming out shortly as well, but I suspect that it would have the same problem with Photoshop. This is all very expensive equipment and I don't feel like sinking more money into over-engineered bug-ridden graphics specialties.

Original drawing was ink on illustration board, colored in Painter 9, 4" x 5", March 2003.

Back from Chessiecon

A note before you read this: Much of the following text was posted to Facebook earlier last evening. I added more for your edification. What does "edification" mean anyway. Something that will instruct and improve your life. Might as well hope so. 

I'm back from Chessiecon and I am happy to report that I sold at least 7 pictures, some of them to my best customers. The prints of my Christopher Stasheff covers dated 2016 show that I am still active as a professional artist and my digital work will attract people.

The art show gallery was crammed into a tiny room which I and others found disappointing, but when the circumstances were explained to me I understood and didn't complain. Seain Gutridge (sorry for spelling) proved himself a heroic administrator for the art show, defying a balky computer and finding a place for my art when I didn't have a registration (because unlike in previous conventions I was supposed to pre-pay and register). This was all taken care of. I was also bemused that all the art had a consistent theme of "composite creatures" and fantasy animals, such as little black mice with monarch butterfly wings. If this was a deliberate theme decision I didn't get the program and my art contained no fantasy creatures except Fess, Stasheff's robot horse. It all was OK at the show's end.

I also had a great time with Friendly Mathematician David and his glamorous lady Gloria. They brought with them two young professional opera singers, a mezzo soprano and a soprano, who filled my party room with music and laughter. There was plenty of wine too.

Chessiecon was very underpopulated, the attendance seems to decrease every year, but they are planning to hold another one next year. It's always a great way for me to see my friends face to face when they are usually just print on a screen. 

The photo above which is of mediocre quality but so was the whole room, is my exhibit. The larger one, the pink sky image, sold to a friend and collector. Another friendly collector bought the one with the black horse head. The green nebula was bought. I also sold three prints in the printshop and one to a gallery administrator before it was even shown. So that makes 7 prints or arts sold out of 12 items that I offered for sale. Not bad for a very underpopulated convention where I doubt there were more than 200 people attending.

Blogging will now Resume.

Horse's End, part 9

After the astral battle the invader wizards concede and give up their plans for the village. Epona and her team of otherwise untamed horses have saved the day. From the strength and amount of power Epona delivered in the fight, they have decided to leave her and the village in peace and not attempt again to take over.

The villagers repair the ruined tower and agree to support Epona as the guardian of the region, together with her herd of magical horses. She will live in the Tower which will be provisioned and maintained for her. Sounds like a good life if you can tolerate cold and are fond of horses. If I had a superpower "being able to talk with animals" would be one of my choices. So she would have friends and protectors out there by the gloomy loch. In my drawings I tried to evoke the dark cloudy rugged rocky landscape of Scotland. Also in the lower right corner is part of the castle ruins with a stone carved with the arms of a great magic-using clan of distant past. In the song it is suggested that Epona was an unknown or  unrecognized offspring of that empowered family.

This brings to a close my sequential treatment of "Horse Tamer's Daughter." Looking at it again after 32 years it doesn't look that bad to me. Interestingly my current assignment also includes a depiction of a horse. But this one is a robot.

Black ink on sketchbook page, 8" x 10", summer 1984.

I'll be at "Chessiecon" convention this weekend, no blogging till next Tuesday. Happy Thanksgiving to those readers who celebrate it.

The Council Chamber

I did the illustrations for a tabletop role playing game, created in the early 2000s. It was set in a kind of modernist Renaissance at a seaport city full of intrigue, corruption, and a bit of weirdness. I did a number of character portraits and action scenes, as well as page border illustrations and some environments and interiors. I've posted some of them here but not this one I think.  This is the grandiose Council Chamber where the powerful members of the oligarchy meet to impose their will and exploit the resources of the city. Just like now, Indeed. I received some money for my illustrations but I also got paid in mathematics tutoring by the game designer. At that time I was still working through my self-training in mathematics. In this portrayal of an environment I had to create the idea of a big space with small art.

"Council Chamber" is black ink on illustration board, 10" x 6 1/2", early 2003. Clickonit for a closer view.

Dyan of Darkover and the Blind Keeper

I apologize for so many Darkover postings but it is that Darkover time of year when "Darkover Grand Council" drew a fantasy-loving Bradley fan crowd. I could fill a whole art display panel with Darkover art and sell it, too. So here's one from a fan publication starring a known Darkover character, the future bad guy "Dyan Ardais." Here he is flirting and sharing magic with a Keeper of one of the Towers, the psychic power stations you are familiar with. She is blind but she can see with her psychic powers as well as read people's minds. Keepers take vows of celibacy like nuns (abstinence is said to strengthen psychic powers) and they dress all in red. Marion B. poured forth many a chapter on the sexual/psychic travails of Keepers who found Love and had to quit the duties of the Tower. Dyan later found a nastier type of Love with young men as a sadistic overlord.

Black ink on illustration board, 7" x 10", May 1985.

Horsepower, part 8

At the exciting part of the tale, Epona the Horse-tamer's Daughter sends forth her group of horses in astral form as fighters against the invading team of wizards. Despite her lack of magical training, Epona and her horses rout the invaders and save the independence of the village. 

The drawings you see here are designed to be in the border. I blocked out the poorly lettered lyrics text, which I didn't write. I still want to do more sequential art, whether Darkovan or not. 

Black ink on illustration board, 8 1/2" x 11", summer 1984. Click the image for a larger view.

Miracle Valley

"Wine Saturday" was spent under threatening clouds and blustery winds. The Wine Team was happy to find shelter in the wine lodge at "Miracle Valley" vineyard in Delaplane, Virginia. We sipped warmed and rich red wines as a shower of winter's first sleet blew outside. I drew this image in one of the tasting rooms. No more outdoor winery drawing till Spring! I met the congenial and lively winemaker and host, Joe, who remembered me visiting from five years ago! I won't wait that long before I go there again. 

Brown sepia tech pen ink on sketchbook page, colored with "Irojiten" colored pencils, 7 1/2" x 5 1/2", November 19, 2016.