I got a little gig! Posting spooky project updates.

[Valerie Light]

Some game designer friends of mine are Kickstarting a new D&D style Horror RPG, and they need some interior artwork for the chapter heading spreads and some other incidental stuff. Think Cthulu + Stranger Things. How fun is that!?

This will be my very first paid gig, first printed project, and first time working with an art director. I met with them last week to discuss the project, mood, and palette. They're sourcing artwork from several illustrators, and all working from the same palette to maintain some unity.

I spent a few evenings this week experimenting with the palette and thumb nailing ideas, and I just finished my second meeting with the art director. She liked my thumbs so much they plan to buy 5 of them instead of the 3 we initially agreed on!

They've given permission for me to post my process here as I work, so I'm happy to share! Here are the color thumbnails I showed this morning, and the palette I've been given to work from. My next steps are to enlarge line drawings for C, D, J, and M, and to do a few more thumbnails that combine the ideas in G and I.

[KatrinaF]

@Valerie-Light Oh Wow! These are so cool and congrats on your first gig! I can see why they chose 5 cause they are really good! As thumbs they really pop so final images are going to be amazing. I really liked G and H. Sort of creepy - coming for ya from the ceiling. Ugh. So creepy!

I'll be following your progress cause this is exciting!

Cheers
Katrina

[Holumpa]

@Valerie-Light Congratulations! They really look fantastic, please update us if you are allowed to share the more refinde versions, too!

[miranda-hoover]

@Valerie-Light Congrats! Not surprised they wanted more; these look super cool.

[Valerie Light]

Progress update!

• I'm trying to get 5 full size clean line drawings done by Wednesday, and it's kind of a lot, but I think I'm on track.
• I've worked up 3 more thumbnails for the chapter 5 spread, trying to combine the story of I with the mood of G. (I think E is best and I hope they pick that one.)
• I've changed the spooky seance scene to fit into our 1 1/3 page spread format.

[Valerie Light]

Also, could I get some feedback on whether the sense of space and perspective is working in these two images?

• I feel pretty confident about the hospital scene 3 point perspective, but the person doesn't quite feel like they're resting weight on the bed. Any advice is welcome.
• The Haunted House one: is the sense of space in the foreground fairly believable?
  
  

[lizardillo]

Wow these are great, congrats on the job. I'm not sure what to suggest for you bed query, it is looking ok to me at the moment. The only thing that looks slightly awkward is where the elbow and the bed rail meet. It's a bit of a tangent and I can't work out if the elbow should be behind it or not, or the rail should tilt outwards a bit? Great perspective work in this piece though

[Valerie Light]

@lizardillo Thanks! I think fixing that elbow tangent might help a lot. Maybe if I foreshorten her upper arm?

[lizardillo]

@Valerie-Light or twisting the hand and the grab handle a little. I just held my arm up like the image and my hand was more parallel to my body, rather than twisted so the back of my hand was facing forward like in the image. If I do the pose in the image my elbow is more in line to the ‘camera’. Or I may just be seeing something that is actually not an issue. My anatomy drawing isn’t that good so I feel like I’m making suggestions that may be confusing or a bit incorrect here! I keep drawing characters where their arms and legs are different lengths!

[Valerie Light]

@lizardillo Ah, that might do it! (I'm sitting here now with my arm in an imaginary cast, too.)

[Valerie Light]

@Valerie-Light I'm stuck. I could use some help on making this drawing make sense. I can't decide what the girl is reaching for, and what is in her bag. Some things I'm kicking around are:

• sharp things, like chisels, knives, a circular saw
• A power tool, like a chainsaw or sawzall (but that's tough to fit, compositionally)
• Something with magic power, like a spell book, but why would that be in a tool shed?
• physical protection, like an apron, welding helmet, ear muffs, respirator
• something small, like a key, or a flashlight

What do you think?

[Miriam]

@lizardillo The hospital equipment looks very detailed & accurate.

I agree that the hospital bed rails could be adjusted.

In my experience, the rails don't tilt outward. They are straight up & down (vertical), or against the bed in the down position. (They pop straight outward a little, then push down against the side of the bed, so even when it's being moved, it doesn't lean out at an angle. It's always perpendicular to the bed.)

I would bring the upper rail in front of the elbow (on the side closest to the viewer, with the handle above), but I don't think you'd need to change the arm. If you feel like it needs it, you could add a pillow under it. (I think it'd be fine either way, so maybe don't bother with a pillow.) (I agree with the comment about the hand facing the other way around, so we would see the palm side & fingertips coming over the bar.)

You also might want to make the rails taller, since it looks like they're only a few inches higher than the edge of the mattress (and maybe longer - I've seen different lengths, though).

If she's supposed to be leaning back against the upper part of the bed, I'd add a pillow behind her head. (Hospital pillows are usually flatter than regular pillows.)

If you want really minute details:

• I see the IV bag hanging behind her, but I don't see the line or insertion point. It looks they'd have to use her hand.
  (When it's inserted in the hand, the line is looped around and taped down to prevent the needle from moving or getting tugged on.)
• The hospitals I've been in usually have a solid sheet of linoleum flooring. Not as often, but I've also seen larger tiled linoleum. (Yours looks like maybe 12" tiles, where I've seen maybe 18" tiles. Linoleum tiles have thinner seams than tiled floors, since there's no grout in between the tiles.) Or if it's a newer or remodeled & a nicer hospital, it might have artificial wood flooring.

[lizardillo]

@Miriam Thank you, this has explained a lot better than my attempt.

[Valerie Light]

@Miriam Wow, thank you for the thorough research! I'll post again here once I've fixed a few things. The IV line, especially, is a great detail I didn't mean to leave out!

[PenAndrew]

I really like the feeling you have created here, the colour schemes and the different perspectives that you have used. I look forward to seeing more of your work. Steve.

[Valerie Light]

I'm having a meeting tomorrow to check in with my art director about the line drawings. Hopefully I'll be able to start rendering soon!
Here are the 4 chapter heading spreads (Magic, Gear, Physical Stress, and Running the Game) and one piece of incidental art (the Gibbering Mass of Orifices)

I'm loving this assignment, way more than I thought I would. Gonna have to figure out how to market for this type of work in the future.

[PenAndrew]

@Valerie-Light Will these be card designs?

[Valerie Light]

@PenAndrew No, they're 2-page spreads to open each chapter of an RPG rules book.

[PenAndrew]

@Valerie-Light Sorry Valerie, I wasn't communicating very well, I meant I see these drawings as a kind of card set, like playing cards. They sparked this idea in my mind.

[Kristen Lango]

@Valerie-Light These sketches are incredible! I cannot wait to see them rendered!