Elven Revel Dance

Another illustration from my game work with "Gamelords." In "Thieves' Guild," the object of the role-playing was, basically, to steal stuff. The writers created scenarios where you could strategically rob various situations or groups. In this scene, as I dimly and probably wrongly remember, the Elves hold a big dance and are all occupied in partying hearty. Meanwhile you and your companions sneak in while they are distracted and you make off with jewelry, fine fabrics, and money from their coat pockets. But do be careful, elven valuables are sometimes protected by a hidden curse!

Black ink on illustration board, 11" x 4", January 1983.

Kabbalah Not So Moderne

Though the client approved the second sketch I did for the Kabbalah cover, I wasn't satisfied with it. So I cleaned up the "floor" of the design and added in the black and white checkerboard pattern which is commonly described  in the book. I made the angels more "angelic" and shaped the central "Tree of Life" into a two-panel shape reminiscent of the "Ten Commandments" which would make a good match with the Ten Sephiroth. I also added curtainlike shaping to the starry blue background. This ought to do it and then I can go to final on this piece.

Photoshop on main system, 7" x 10", January 2017.

My Cabinet Choices

When it comes to picking Cabinet choices, I want the very best. So I go to my advisors at Winding Road Cellars where I can find quality appointees who will perform well at state dinners as well as daily briefing sessions and working lunches. Unlike the current occupant of the position, I take a more dignified and presidential approach to my nominees. I welcome Ms. Viognier for Department of Commerce, Mr. Frank Cabernet for Department of Defense, and especially Mr. Chambourcin, with his combination of French and American roots, as Secretary of State. These and others are fit for service at the Winding Road Lodge where I can spend a Saturday tasting and evaluating my cabinet ideas and plans.

Sepia brown tech pen ink on sketchbook page, 7 1/2" x 7 1/2", January 27, 2017.

Gameworld Marketplace

Back in the game world of "Haven," life goes on. The player enters into a busy marketplace in a town square, where just about everything is for sale. A trinket vendor approaches from the left, while a matron in a black shawl orders her hobbit servant to carry some of her purchases. Living in Italy for some years I visited such places daily, coming home with fruit, cheese, and a modern-era bronze statuette of a Goddess, which I still have on my "mythology" book shelf. This piece was done for one of the gaming manuals for the long-gone company "Gamelords."

Black ink on illustration board, 11" x 4", January 1983. Klikonit for a larger view.

Golden Angel colored pencil version

You saw this golden angel rendered in Photoshop here some postings ago. Now I'm back with an all-analog, no digital version (except for scanning), done in colored pencils. I like this one  better than the first one. I have so many resources. I have four "studio sets" full of a variety of colors - sometimes more than 120 pencils in a set. And then I also have "field" sets where I put pencils in special portable caddies and drink wine while drawing at a winery. I guess you could say I'm an obsessive collector of markers and colored pencils. But I don't just look at them and not sharpen them. I use all the colored pencils I have, and this neat package will be part of my next on-site artistic endeavor. That is, if I don't use the iPad or the Cintiq. The Cintiq has not yet been tried on site. If I don't take the gadget, it's back to the colored pencils. Angels do not count as "on site."

Markers and colored pencils on sketchbook page, 8" x 4", January 2017.

Artists and Models in Wayland, 1980s

During the early and mid 1980s, a network of artists and art associations evolved in the affluent suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. They occupied unused buildings (legally and legitimately) and carried on their work in art studios made from old offices and classrooms. My mother was a member of "Arts Wayland" and later on, "The Center for Art in Natick" ("TCAN"). The Wayland group used an old school, Loker School, as their studio space and headquarters. (The artists had to move out of the school when there were more children who needed it.) In her Loker studio my mother would paint larger pictures and also do a lot of drawing from live models both nude and clothed. The classical model image you see above was one of these models, photographed (with her permission) in 1982 though except for the color it could be an "arty" photograph from 1882. When I was clearing out the old house in Natick I found hundreds of these drawings and photographs. My art-loving cousin Mitchell gave away the best of them but I have not figured out who would want the color slides. I have digitized a large batch of them and am processing the best ones in Photoshop. Here's another which gives an idea of what the studio environment was like for artists and models. This reminds me of a French "post-impressionist" painting.

Arts Wayland is still going strong, and TCAN Natick is a major element attracting people to the lively arts in my old home town.

Photographs by Esther Geller, 1982, restored by me in Photoshop, January 2017.

Kabbalah Moderne

Here's something I'm working on for an esoteric book cover. I mean the text and images are esoteric, not the cover itself. It's probably going to be an e-book cover so just like the Stasheff series it has to be visually understood at postage-stamp size on the screen. Some of you readers will recognize the "Kabbalistic Tree of Life" which I have placed in the center. I painted  this mystical diagram for a commission in 1986. With the magical powers of Photoshop I can retrieve my old work and incorporate it into a new one. The gold-colored things at the sides are supposed to be angel wings and if the client picks this sketch they will be more explicitly rendered.

Photoshop on main system, 7" x 10", January 25, 2017.