Spare Time?

What do I enjoy in my spare time? Aside from watching Science Fiction or Anime (about sci-fi) I have been playing Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures by Fantasy Flight Games.

I haven't been serious enough about it to play competitively. I don't think my skills are that good. But it is a fun take on turn-based combat. I particularly enjoy the non-linear aspect. Players can choose where to go based on the maneuvers of other ships on the board. Out maneuvering your opponent for the best attack with Star Wars themed ships and weapons is amazingly fun. 

I love being able to share stories of flying a tricked-out B-wing through an asteroid field to attack an Imperial Shuttle and its escorts. 

What I have also discovered is that it is fun to paint the miniatures too. Like this Jolly Roger-themed B-wing. The miniatures are only a few inches long (most are 1/270) so the level of detail is impressive and painting is a challenge.

I have a few other ships that I have painted as well but those are for another post. 

Seems I am never far from my strength!

Star Wars Fan Art

"The guy just ran into me!"

Not long ago I read the Star Wars novel Lost Stars by Claudia Gray following the story of two people in love and on opposite sides of the Empire. It is a good read and as such, several times I found myself wanting to grab a pen to sketch the imagery I was seeing in my imagination. The best books can be like that for me which can also be a little aggravating.

One of the strongest scenes for me was one that took place immediately after the destruction of the first Death Star. One of the main characters is tasked with retrieving Darth Vader in his damaged Tie fighter and she gets a first-hand look at the destruction.  

The scene makes Vader seem more mysterious and dangerous than any of the movies ever did. But what really stuck with me was the image of Vader sitting patiently (perhaps meditatively) waiting for the Gozanti carrier to arrive. 

This was executed using Adobe Illustrator and a lot of reference imagery from production models and film stills. I am not normally prone to make fan art or imagery from established franchises but this case was a very good opportunity to test a few techniques. 

Most important was the slow, methodical building of layers and texture. I am most happy with the lighting as the shadows fall around the ball section of the fighter.

The Towers

The latest art to come out right now is this piece based on a sketch I was working on a few weeks ago. The premise is some sort of abandoned power station on a faraway world. The foreground textures were a challenge but turned out well. I am not sure that this is the final iteration as there are a few things I would like to clarify but the textures and techniques I used please me.

Big Day

It has been a busy month with the preparation of my manuscript and dummy for the first trip to a publisher. There are no guarantees that anything will be published but as an extension of the conference I recently attended, Chronicle Editor Melissa Manlove promised to look over each of our manuscripts and make comments.

It is a little like getting an audience with the pope and having him say, "Hey, how about we go out for drinks?" (This is a humorous way of saying that it is hard! I don't even know if the pope is allowed to drink anything but sacramental wine. But I digress...)

Editors are some of the busiest people in the business. They are also inundated with submissions on a daily basis so any chance to avoid the slush pile is not to be missed. I plan on making a copy of the book available in PDF format to my blog's Three Readers as soon as I figure out a way to make the file manageable.

I'm looking for an appropriate way to celebrate this milestone beyond marking it done in my time management app.

Today also marks the last launch of the Space Shuttle Program. Atlantis launched at just before 11:30 this morning and unfortunately, I had to work. I did get to watch the launch while streaming on my iPod. Something I never would have dreamed of when I was a kid.

I remember getting up early that morning and, with my parent's permission, I turned on the TV before the sun came up in California. I don't remember if I got my sisters up or not. They generally weren't as excited about such things as I was. But I especially remember thinking about the exciting future when shuttles would launch every two weeks and space flight would be routine.

Obviously it didn't turn out that way but it was still fun to imagine. Because of the shuttles we have great technologies and understand out world better. And because of them we understand that space flight is not as routine as we were led to believe. I will always remember where I was when Challenger exploded and when Columbia broke up. Columbia especially since it was my birthday and it seemed that she tried so hard to keep her passengers save. Read the accident report and you'll understand.

Now that the program is ending I understand why but I still wish the magnificent vehicles were not obsolete. It's hard to watch something I loved, end but I think the future of spaceflight looks even more exciting.

We're not going to hang around in low earth orbit anymore. We're setting our sights on the asteroids and Mars. The shuttles were never designed for that and they have become too expensive to keep flying while trying to get to these new destinations.

So now I say farewell to the shuttles and thanks for the great ride!

Columbia
Challenger
Discovery
Atlantis
Endeavour

Whole Lotta' Updates.

Sorry to not have written here in a while. I have been working up a few things including my children's book and more illustrations for the Ruins site. I've also been working up my Illustrator CS5 skills. I found that I really enjoy the program more than I anticipated. I think it is because I can create a more finished product more quickly.

One feature that I can't say enough about is the strangely-named "Blob Brush" It allows me to create shapes more like I paint. The precision of the tools also gives me a fine edge that I so enjoy.

There was a time when I was less than happy about creating digitally. I felt it wasn't ready for the type of imagery I wanted to create. Now, with the suite of art programs I have, I feel like I can create the images I want.

For example:


This image went through a few shading changes before I hit upon the dramatic back-lighting. I can say I am rather pleased with the results.

In a few weeks I will be attending a children's book conference. After that I may post a few images from it. I am reluctant to give too much away since I have had copyright problems.

I have also started a Facebook page for Jouan Illustration to give more immediate results on my everyday work as well as links to pages I find useful. Click over and join up for the latest.

Of course, the primary portfolio website is due for an update but I don't foresee that being accomplished before the conference. However, the latest art has been posted to my deviantART page.

-Jouan Illustration on Facebook
-Jouan Illustration on deviantART

Going Back To Move Forward

I have decided to go back and rework a painting I did a couple of years ago because I wanted to make use of a few techniques to see if they really helped my process.

A while back I created a painting of the Apollo 11 descent stage on the moon bathed in earthglow. As much as I liked that piece there were a few things I couldn't resolve in the painting. Therefore I decided to borrow a few pages from James Gurney and build a maquette of the lander and light it. Already I discovered a few things that needed adjusting and I think I have a new approach to it.

One thing I've been reluctant to admit is that I sometimes need strong reference to create a realistic image. To that end I have invested in some basic maquette tools and did some research. So far I have enjoyed the results immensely.

Lighted LEM model

I am also learning that as much as I want something to look "realistic" it is also sometimes necessary to embellish a bit to get an image that is also visually pleasing. That's not to say that it couldn't also be realistic. Chelsey Bonestell, in creating images of the moon, knew that the mountains were not craggy and sharp but he also knew that smooth, rolling hills were not part of public perception. He painted what the art directors wanted and not what he knew was right.

Sometimes you have to compromise to get the sale.

Remembering Heroes

It seems that the end of January and beginning of February are just a bad time for the Space program. On January 27, 1967 three astronauts were killed in a launch pad fire aboard the Apollo 1 spacecraft during an rehearsal for the first moon launch. Then, on January 28, 1986 seven astronauts, including the first teacher in space were killed when the Challenger space shuttle exploded 73 seconds after launch. And finally, on February 1, 2003 another seven astronauts were killed when the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated while returning from orbit.

While I wasn't around for Apollo 1, I do remember where I was for the Challenger explosion and when Columbia was destroyed. Columbia will be especially memorable for me since it was my birthday and my wife was out of town at the time.

I also have fond memories of getting permission from my parents to watch the first shuttle launch. It was early in the morning California time and I was only in 3rd grade. I even woke my sisters to watch because I wanted to share the historic moment with someone. Now, nearing the end of the operational life of the shuttles, I am saddened but at the same time hopeful that the local Air Force Museum can procure one of the last remaining orbiters for their collection. Too bad it won't be Columbia...

To their Memory

Apollo 1
Roger B. Chaffee
Virgil "Gus" Grissom
Edward H. White


Challenger
Greg Jarvis
Christa McAuliffe
Ron McNair
Ellison Onizuka
Judith Resnik
Dick Scobee
Mike Smith

Columbia
Michael Anderson
David Brown
Kalpana Chawla
Laurel Clark
Rick Husband
William McCool
Ilan Ramon

They gave their lives in service to their country in the ongoing exploration of humankind's final frontier. Remember them not for how they died, but for those ideals for which they lived.

--Dedication plaque to the crew of Apollo 1

Cassini and Illustration

I know that it has been a while since I blogged. I apologize because I have been working on a big health issue, preparing for a convention and trying to get my picture book finished.

This, I had to write about.... I love when a plan comes together!

Back in 2005, when the Cassini spacecraft reached Saturn, I did a painting called Prometheus Thread. I enjoyed figuring out the perspectives and some of the angles showing what spacecraft could not.


Then today, I saw an image taken from the Cassini spacecraft on August 6, 2008.


It's my painting from another angle! So Cool!

This weekend, I am off to the SCBWI Northern Ohio Conference in Cleveland. I'm bringing along my art and the children's book I've been working on, but I am also hoping to get some networking in as well. I've been writing the book for a couple of years and it's finally ready to go out but now I need to get it published!

Wish me luck!

Happy Birthday

Dear Neil Armstrong,

Happy Birthday! Thanks for inspiring a whole generation of space enthusiasts and artists!



I wasn't around for the landing but I really enjoy all the hardware from the Apollo program. Here's something I did for the Neil Armstrong biography put out by Gale Group in 2002. I'm revisiting the art and working on a new illustration based on a recent article in Air and Space.

Stay Tuned.

Starship vs. Asteroid

Here's a quick post of something I've been working on. I get these ideas in my head of what the future might be like sometimes. And about the things we need to watch out for as we leave earth.

In this contest, guess who wins.

Expelled

When galaxies merge, occasionally the tidal interactions can throw stars and planets far from their parent galaxy revealing a spectacular view. In a few billion years, Earth will be treated to a similar vista as the Andromeda galaxy and our own Milky Way collide and merge.

Here, a planet has been expelled away from its own star to wander silently between the galaxies. Perhaps there are multitudes of stars and planets which have suffered a similar fate. Yet they have escaped being consumed by the violent deaths of their parent stars and will wander the universe indefinitely.

Rings and Asteroids

As always I am fascinated with starships that don't work anymore. This one is parked near another piece of space debris orbiting a ringed planet. The original painting was started years ago and abandoned. I uncovered it recently and decided to give it a couple of hours to see what became of it.

I'm pleased with the result. The asteroid moon was a bit of a struggle and I think I could go further but sometimes it is best to stop worrying a painting and simply let it finish. The colors are sampled from a limited palette stretching from light yellow to deep brown and the brushwork is intentionally loose and suggestive especially on the planet. The main focus is the ship and rock.

Bridge Ruins

Day 13: The Bridge Ruins.

I had been hiking most of the morning in the mountains above the city when I discovered stairs carved into the side of a steep gorge. The steps were slightly larger than the average most humans are used to and I found myself tiring quickly.

I climbed for what seemed an eternity without awareness of where I was going until I paused to glance up. I was greeted by the most amazing sight. Emerging from around a bend in the rock wall, spanning the breadth of the gorge, were the remains of two bridges. The nearer was more intact than the farther but even that was tenuous at best.

I could not wait to reach these ruins and I found my will to climb renewed.

The inspiration for this image comes from a dream I had about giant piston-like, metallic bridges reaching across an open space. The final result differs from what I had in mind initially but I am happy with the end result.