Pics to come soon, but my office/studio aka "nerdatorium" is finally all put together at our new house. I just connected the printer/scanner this morning.
I'm surrounded and I love it! I have 13 maps on 4 walls and no, that is not enough. Yes, I still have plenty more maps that didn't make the cut for limited space. It would be great if I had a HUGE room that I could fill with folding screens so I could hang many many more maps and other inspiring references. I have a new desk and bookshelf to organize all the printed stuff and stacks of notebooks, I have a drawing/tracing table (finally a real one), a comfy chair, and soon to get a nice 24" flat screen monitor. I think the very last thing I need to really put the finishing touches on is a plastic floor mat so I can easily zip back and forth from the "work stations".
Now I can finally get back to what I do best.....wasting time in constructed fantasy worlds.
Tolkien actually had a name for it: mythopoeia. It's actually from the Hellenic Greeks, but most probably wouldn't have even known of the word or concept until Tolkien used it in the 1930s. It means - a narrative genre in modern literature and film where a fictional mythology is created by the writer of prose or other fiction.
There are lots of examples of this beyond Tolkien, but he is somewhat the forefather of it all for his in depth creation of Middle Earth.
The plan now is to get back into drawing and then scan everything into Photoshop for inking, coloring, and overall touch-ups. I would love to churn out things like the pros over on Shadowcore [http://shadowcoreillustration.blogspot.com/] - especially their most recent postings - but we'll have to see how long it takes to shake the rust of the old scribblers.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Vive Coalition!
Back in August I posted a link to Elfwood and made mention of sharing some of my favs. Well I'm finally getting around to it. And I feel I owe it to them.....better late than never.....to plug my Coalition chums. They are as follows:
Natalie J Walsh - http://lil_bit_dizzy.elfwood.com
She was the first to welcome me to "the woods" and she remains a pal even though we don't jabber stories as much as we used to. I've linked to her wonderful writing before, but it is worth a second mention and then some.
Shelley Hobbs - http://www.elfwood.com/~angelface
She is me down unda chum (aka mate) and a ridiculously talented seamstress. Find her on Facebook too and order some stuff....well take a number and be patient, she's a very busy lady.
Brendon thu Magpie McGahee - http://www.elfwood.com/~givinup
I haven't heard a peep from him in a very long time, but I'd still call him a friend. If you check his guest book you'll see that he's a very likable and gracious fellow, although it appears that the world opened up and swallowed him. Either that or his band became famous and is currently touring the galaxy.
And last, but by far not the least
Matthew Makin - http://www.elfwood.com/~mat27177
I found him through Brendon and the guy's talent seriously makes me sick with jealousy. If I didn't like him I'd hate him because I'm not him. His gallery is amazing. Some of the pieces look like they might move at any second.
For thems that wonder, I call them my Coalition chums because for the briefest of moments (before I gave up on translating my stories to HTML to post to Elfwood) I suggested that we start the Coalition of the Woods as a kind of idea exchange. At the time Natalie and I were in the throes of emailing each other daily and swapping stories, Shelley and I were still getting to know each other - time very well spent ;) - and Brendon and Matthew and I were bantering via their guest books. I've always felt bad about bailing on everyone after they were so willing to be in my suggested group, but I felt like I was leeching off their combined genius while not contributing much of my own.
I still have those qualms about the blogs I follow. If I commented as much as I'd like to I wouldn't ever get anything else done and they'd probably get sick of me. By that token I can hardly blame people for not commenting on my stuff. You get what you give. My blog karma really sucks.
Next up, I'll post more Elfwood favorites (I know, I know, I've said that before) a few at a time to make up for the lack of.......well.......a whole lot of nothing lately.
Natalie J Walsh - http://lil_bit_dizzy.elfwood.com
She was the first to welcome me to "the woods" and she remains a pal even though we don't jabber stories as much as we used to. I've linked to her wonderful writing before, but it is worth a second mention and then some.
Shelley Hobbs - http://www.elfwood.com/~angelface
She is me down unda chum (aka mate) and a ridiculously talented seamstress. Find her on Facebook too and order some stuff....well take a number and be patient, she's a very busy lady.
Brendon thu Magpie McGahee - http://www.elfwood.com/~givinup
I haven't heard a peep from him in a very long time, but I'd still call him a friend. If you check his guest book you'll see that he's a very likable and gracious fellow, although it appears that the world opened up and swallowed him. Either that or his band became famous and is currently touring the galaxy.
And last, but by far not the least
Matthew Makin - http://www.elfwood.com/~mat27177
I found him through Brendon and the guy's talent seriously makes me sick with jealousy. If I didn't like him I'd hate him because I'm not him. His gallery is amazing. Some of the pieces look like they might move at any second.
For thems that wonder, I call them my Coalition chums because for the briefest of moments (before I gave up on translating my stories to HTML to post to Elfwood) I suggested that we start the Coalition of the Woods as a kind of idea exchange. At the time Natalie and I were in the throes of emailing each other daily and swapping stories, Shelley and I were still getting to know each other - time very well spent ;) - and Brendon and Matthew and I were bantering via their guest books. I've always felt bad about bailing on everyone after they were so willing to be in my suggested group, but I felt like I was leeching off their combined genius while not contributing much of my own.
I still have those qualms about the blogs I follow. If I commented as much as I'd like to I wouldn't ever get anything else done and they'd probably get sick of me. By that token I can hardly blame people for not commenting on my stuff. You get what you give. My blog karma really sucks.
Next up, I'll post more Elfwood favorites (I know, I know, I've said that before) a few at a time to make up for the lack of.......well.......a whole lot of nothing lately.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Lazzaretti vs. Disney
I realize that my last post was a bit lacking since I didn't have any kind of visual reference to illustrate how astounding Rob Lazzaretti's maps are. This is what I'm talking about:
http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/tags/maps
Start at the bottom of the page and go up to get to the goodies.
I love how simple and colorful the maps are without making things appear too cartoony. I want my adventures to take place in medieval/fantasy towns and villages, not the Disney theme park version of a medieval/fantasy town or village. I like the ambiance of dwarves and halflings wandering about with brigands and sell swords, not Snow White and Mickey glad handing 5 year olds.
http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/tags/maps
Start at the bottom of the page and go up to get to the goodies.
I love how simple and colorful the maps are without making things appear too cartoony. I want my adventures to take place in medieval/fantasy towns and villages, not the Disney theme park version of a medieval/fantasy town or village. I like the ambiance of dwarves and halflings wandering about with brigands and sell swords, not Snow White and Mickey glad handing 5 year olds.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
A good week to be a geek
Can you believe it? Another post within a week of the last one? I'm a little surprised my own self. Guess I got a bit used to splashing something only every other month or so. Anyway, just thought I'd share another of my faves and brag about the new awesomes I got (yes, the awesomes mentioned in my last post).
A week ago I spent a doosie of a hangover at the local "game and geek", it's a brick and mortar hobby shop known by the name of Hastur Games and Comics. Except for the occasional rattle of dice from one of their many tables and a raucous burst of laughter from geeks enjoying their sanctuary, it was rather quiet and pleasant. I was even surprised and impressed to see females in the store - I guess geekdom knows no gender bias. And why should it, really? Anywho, I grabbed a pile of 5 or 6 Pathfinder and D&D books to flip through at a corner table and stumbled across some Pathfinder Map Folios on the book rack. I consider myself a bit of a wordsmith, but I honestly cannot convey how spectacular these maps are!
I was gaping at the artwork/cartography of Rob Lazaretti just on the plastic wrapped covers. I swore to myself that I would return Friday when I got paid. Being a huge map geek I didn't even wait until I got off work Friday evening - I went over on my lunch and nabbed them! It's a good thing too, the nice cashier (another female) said they'd just got them in the previous Friday and she was amazed they'd lasted as long on the shelf as they had. I of course opened them at work and showed them off to another writer/geek friend of mine. I think I got a few concerned glances when I oohed and aahed at what must have appeared to be a multi-panel centerfold to folks who couldn't see anything other than the glossy back of a poster. I think they were especially surprised when my bud Megan came down and agreed at their amazingness and laughed stating she'd never seen me so happy and excited.
I looked on Amazon and Google to see what else might be out there along the same lines and I'm very excited to find several other map folios by the same artist(s) in the same unlabeled style so I have much more freedom with them for my own uses. In fact, I ordered another one today.
Anyway, blah blah mappity blah - that turned out to be much longer than I intended, but I seriously cannot shut up about these new funzies!
And to finish things off, here's another fav link:
http://www.rdinn.com
This Red Dragon Inn site is great for just about everything! I love that people take the time to post/keep up resources like this! Many thanks to all y'all.
I mostly use the Armoury's name generators and Sal's Outfitters. I just love how the names sound, especially the dwarf names, and the fact that you can use "Realistic" or "Fantasy" for both given and surnames. The elf names sound elfish without being too touch-twistingly Tolkien. Sal's Outfitters is great for having an established base for gear, tack, weapons, etc. Having a dice roller is great too - especially for those days that you might need to generate a random roll, or several, without wanting the thunderous racket exacerbating your hangover :) To drop a Matrim Cauthon reference on you, sometimes I hate those bloody dice rattling in my head.
A week ago I spent a doosie of a hangover at the local "game and geek", it's a brick and mortar hobby shop known by the name of Hastur Games and Comics. Except for the occasional rattle of dice from one of their many tables and a raucous burst of laughter from geeks enjoying their sanctuary, it was rather quiet and pleasant. I was even surprised and impressed to see females in the store - I guess geekdom knows no gender bias. And why should it, really? Anywho, I grabbed a pile of 5 or 6 Pathfinder and D&D books to flip through at a corner table and stumbled across some Pathfinder Map Folios on the book rack. I consider myself a bit of a wordsmith, but I honestly cannot convey how spectacular these maps are!
I was gaping at the artwork/cartography of Rob Lazaretti just on the plastic wrapped covers. I swore to myself that I would return Friday when I got paid. Being a huge map geek I didn't even wait until I got off work Friday evening - I went over on my lunch and nabbed them! It's a good thing too, the nice cashier (another female) said they'd just got them in the previous Friday and she was amazed they'd lasted as long on the shelf as they had. I of course opened them at work and showed them off to another writer/geek friend of mine. I think I got a few concerned glances when I oohed and aahed at what must have appeared to be a multi-panel centerfold to folks who couldn't see anything other than the glossy back of a poster. I think they were especially surprised when my bud Megan came down and agreed at their amazingness and laughed stating she'd never seen me so happy and excited.
I looked on Amazon and Google to see what else might be out there along the same lines and I'm very excited to find several other map folios by the same artist(s) in the same unlabeled style so I have much more freedom with them for my own uses. In fact, I ordered another one today.
Anyway, blah blah mappity blah - that turned out to be much longer than I intended, but I seriously cannot shut up about these new funzies!
And to finish things off, here's another fav link:
http://www.rdinn.com
This Red Dragon Inn site is great for just about everything! I love that people take the time to post/keep up resources like this! Many thanks to all y'all.
I mostly use the Armoury's name generators and Sal's Outfitters. I just love how the names sound, especially the dwarf names, and the fact that you can use "Realistic" or "Fantasy" for both given and surnames. The elf names sound elfish without being too touch-twistingly Tolkien. Sal's Outfitters is great for having an established base for gear, tack, weapons, etc. Having a dice roller is great too - especially for those days that you might need to generate a random roll, or several, without wanting the thunderous racket exacerbating your hangover :) To drop a Matrim Cauthon reference on you, sometimes I hate those bloody dice rattling in my head.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Oldies, but goodies
I really feel I owe it to the blogosphere (blogger-verse?) to be more on top of posting. It's not like I have a shortage of ideas for content or a limited cache of resources. But it does make me feel a lot better to realize that several other bloggers also get a bit behind....then it makes me feel a lot worse because I realize it's because they're actually producing the content that goes in their posts.
As such I shall spoil y'all with these 2 (that's right, count'em, 2!) links to more of the awesomes from my favs list:
http://conceptships.blogspot.com/
This is one I came across forever ago while browsing http://conceptart.org/. All in all a fantastic site with a horde of remarkable talent, but I always get lost while cruising. Or I'll find a really awe inspiring piece (like ALL of them!) and it will get stuck in my brain, but I can't remember which insanely good artist did what, how, where, etc. It's maddening!
http://www.planetside.co.uk/content/view/51/81/
This is another treasure that I found whilst obsessed with landscapes as keys to inspiration. Can you believe these aren't actual places? They make for incredible wallpapers.
Maybe this will keep us all satiated for a while since my computer will not be available from approximately 10/18 - 11/2. If I can find it buried within my tattered soul maybe I'll get something else up in the next week or so. I'm getting some new toys/marvels tomorrow night, but there's a good chance they'll distract me and come 10/19 I'll think to myself "Damn and blast! Why didn't I post while I could and save the new goodies for 'no compie' time?!"
As such I shall spoil y'all with these 2 (that's right, count'em, 2!) links to more of the awesomes from my favs list:
http://conceptships.blogspot.com/
This is one I came across forever ago while browsing http://conceptart.org/. All in all a fantastic site with a horde of remarkable talent, but I always get lost while cruising. Or I'll find a really awe inspiring piece (like ALL of them!) and it will get stuck in my brain, but I can't remember which insanely good artist did what, how, where, etc. It's maddening!
http://www.planetside.co.uk/content/view/51/81/
This is another treasure that I found whilst obsessed with landscapes as keys to inspiration. Can you believe these aren't actual places? They make for incredible wallpapers.
Maybe this will keep us all satiated for a while since my computer will not be available from approximately 10/18 - 11/2. If I can find it buried within my tattered soul maybe I'll get something else up in the next week or so. I'm getting some new toys/marvels tomorrow night, but there's a good chance they'll distract me and come 10/19 I'll think to myself "Damn and blast! Why didn't I post while I could and save the new goodies for 'no compie' time?!"
Friday, August 26, 2011
Third time's the charm
So....screw trying to post all my favs links/pages in the same entry. It just was not working. Instead I'll bait you with one each day or so until I run out.
Might as well start at the beginning. This is the fantasy art site that started it all for me. I've always drawn superheroes and the like, but when my sister and wife got me started reading Robert Jordan years ago it was all fantasy since then. Here you go folks: Elfwood! I guarantee you will spend days, weeks, months cruising this site.
http://www.elfwood.com/index.html
In fact I can probably milk this one site for quite a while. Perhaps the next few posts will be some of my favs from my regular Elfwood days. That's right Coalition chums, I'm talking about you.
Might as well start at the beginning. This is the fantasy art site that started it all for me. I've always drawn superheroes and the like, but when my sister and wife got me started reading Robert Jordan years ago it was all fantasy since then. Here you go folks: Elfwood! I guarantee you will spend days, weeks, months cruising this site.
http://www.elfwood.com/index.html
In fact I can probably milk this one site for quite a while. Perhaps the next few posts will be some of my favs from my regular Elfwood days. That's right Coalition chums, I'm talking about you.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
They just keep coming (aka Just-ified)
Cruising cartoguild again and found these:
http://www.cartographersguild.com/album.php?albumid=196
Perhaps I missed these pics before, but I can't figure how I would have. Just look at them! This style just jumps out at me. Great maps, great names, great legends - just great!
I keep telling myself "one of these days I'll post maps like that". Seems increasingly unlikely though, as I keep getting lost in other worlds. I've just been falling away from art and deeper into writing lately. Of course nothing ever gets finished. The loose pages of notes and quickly jotted stories just keep piling up. Oh well.
http://www.cartographersguild.com/album.php?albumid=196
Perhaps I missed these pics before, but I can't figure how I would have. Just look at them! This style just jumps out at me. Great maps, great names, great legends - just great!
I keep telling myself "one of these days I'll post maps like that". Seems increasingly unlikely though, as I keep getting lost in other worlds. I've just been falling away from art and deeper into writing lately. Of course nothing ever gets finished. The loose pages of notes and quickly jotted stories just keep piling up. Oh well.
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