Carlos Ezquerra Colouring Book

I recently discovered this freebie gem via Slaine and Ro-busters creator Pat Mills website.

Carlos Ezquerra's 2000AD & Judge Dredd Colouring Book includes 5 free sample images of classic 2000AD characters for you to print out and colour in.

You can also purchase a printed book or a PDF copy of the full version of the book which contains 50 of the late great 2000AD art droid's most iconic renditions of characters like Judge Dredd, Judge Anderson, Strontium Dog, Wulf Sternhammer and Durham Red.

Carlos also has a facebook group (Colour like Carlos) where you can upload your completed images for all the world to see.

Zarjaz!!

Colour with Carlos - Judge Dredd, Judge Death & Johnny Alpha

H.R. Giger - Biomechanical Genius

It seems like only yesterday that I was celebrating the work of a visionary and here we are again...

Hans Ruedi Giger (1940 - 2014)

H.R. Giger

A legendary Swiss artist who is most famous for creating the monster for the sci-fi horror classic Alien (1979).  However, his art spans a period of almost 45 years and many different mediums.  To really appreciate the breadth of his talent, I heartily recommend you buy one of the Taschen Artbooks which feature his collected works.

Films

He worked on a number of films over the years mostly in creature design applying his signature style of monochromatic airbrushed biomechanical to a variety of costume and set pieces.  

One surprising design was his radical reimagining of the Batmobile for the movie Batman Forever (1995) which would have seen Val Kilmer cruising the streets of Gotham in a nightmarish twiglet.

Batmobile by H.R. Giger

Album Artwork

He worked with many bands creating some pretty iconic album covers,  Most famously depicting Debbie Harry on the cover of the album "Koo Koo" and giving Emmerson, Lake and Palmer's "Brain Salad Surgery" and Industrial edge before Nine Inch Nails were a glint in the milkman's eye.

Notoriously the Dead Kennedy's used his painting Landscape #XX as the inner gatefold image for the album "Frankenchrist" and the ensuing obscenity lawsuit almost bankrupted Jello Biafra's label Alternative Tentacles.  You can see a high res version of this image on the Rolling Stone website.

The action arose at the same time as the infamous PMRC founded by Tipper Gore (The wife of Vice President Al Gore) and Susan Baker (wife of Treasury Secretary James Baker).  The famous "Tipper Stickers", which fearful record execs agreed to add to the album sleeves, had precisely the opposite effect to that intended.  In fact in the 80s you couldn't call yourself a serious musician unless your latest release sported its badge of honour.   

Bubble Babies

My personal favourite Giger artwork is his disturbing Landscape #XVIII one of a series of baby landscapes

Landscape XVIII - H.R. Giger

The Giger Museum

If I ever get to visit Switzerland I will not be visiting the cuckoo clock factory instead I will be soaking up some culture in the Giger Museum in Gruyères.

Big Box Project - Part 3 - Happy belated Aliens Day!

Can you believe that it's 34 years since the release of the movie Aliens!!  Man I feel old.

The Bugs Won

Unfortunately due to the current lockdown all non-essential stores are closed which meant I couldn't purchase the black paintpen needed to complete my UD-4L Cheyenne Dropship noseart and I missed publishing this on #AlienDay.

However, it has come on leaps and bounds in the last few days and I am on the homestretch.

Cutting out the Stencil

This was a bear of a job and makes me yearn for a stencil cutting machine or a laser cutter.  Being a complete idiot I didn't think about printing the stencil on my 3D Printer.  Once this is over I will design one and put it on thingiverse and save everyone the tedium of hand cutting a stencil.

Airbrushing the Graphics

The original artwork is a bit flat and I wanted the elements to have a bit of a 3D feel to them.  Once each base coat was dry I shot the eagle with a lighter brown in the middle, then both text ribbons got a darker bottom shade of blue and red respectively and the beak got a light yellow highlight.  I did not highlight the boots, soles or the bullet casings as these were relatively small areas of colour and could not be masked easily.

Peeling off the masking

I asked one of my similarly aged work colleagues "What is the most fun you can have with a bottle of Copydex glue?".  I was not dissapointed when they responded with the answer "peeling it off your hand like it's rotting skin".  This was a a rite of passage in the 80s.

The act of peeling off the masking gave me the exact same satisfying feeling mixed with the rush you get when you open a mystery present or solve a really hard puzzle.  The results exceeded my expectations.

Blacklining 

As I mentioned above the blacklining needed a thin black marker and all the shops are shut due to the lockdown, so this had to wait until I made an "essential" shopping trip a few days later.  I managed to get two sharpies a fine and ultra fine twin tip and a fine tip for just £2.  The process of lining was pretty simple and I'm sure you will agree it makes the world of difference.

Panel Lines & Rivets

The piece de resistance in this artwork is of course adding the panel lines and rivets, after all this is supposed to be painted on the side of a USCMC Dropship.  I followed the excellent Youtube tutorial from Airbrush Asylum and I think it turned out okay.

Video

For those interested (probably not very many) I did put together a little montage of the stenciling part of this project.  Enjoy...

Big Box Project - Part 2 - The Flap and Preparing to Stomp Bugs!

Work on my Mobile Painting Workstation continues

Installation of the Flap

The bottom section of the box is pretty innacessible and therfore lends itself to long term storage of the compressor, rotary sander, hot glue gun and other larger items such as brush boxes and palettes.  I also wanted a second shelf so the obvious answer is to make a flap.

Keeping the cost low, I used some sections of laminate flooring made from Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF).  This is good enough.

A little pull tab cut from an old lanyard was glued to the bottom of the flap with some 5 minute epoxy.

More Exterior Decor

As I mentioned in Part 1, Aliens Day is just around the corner (April 26th) and I wanted to get the iconic Bug Stomper noseart added to the rear of the box.  I found a suitable graphic but I didn't like the black centre so I fired up GIMP and removed it.  This is now my stencil.

The paint scheme of the UD-4L Cheyenne Dropship is a predictable military green.  However, you can't get a tester pots of emulsion in military green so I went for the nearest I could get, Wilko's Jungle Green Emulsion.

I didn't have a reference image to hand and this colour in hindsight is way too light but that can all be fixed later.

This was liberally applied to the back of the box in two coats.  Coverage was surprisingly good.  When I painted the sides of the box with automotive paint there was some kind of chemical reaction and it didn't want to stick to certain parts of the box.  No problems with the emulsion and it went on quickly.

Next job was to cut out the badge from the center of the paper giving me 2 masks.  One to paint the white circle backgound and one for the details inside the badge. 

Careful measuring and marking in pencil will ensure that the outer mask is aligned so that the hole is directly in the centre of the box.  I used some Repositionable Mounting Spray to affix the mask and the newspaper but you could use a gluestick at a push.

 This is then liberally coated in white spray paint,

Removing the mask and the newspaper leaves a neat white circle the exact same size as the badge.  Take more care than me when masking and you won't end up with annoying bits of overspray like me.  A quick touch up with some Jungle Green and all is well.

The it's time to add the noseart circle.  Same drill, spray on the adhesive and align with the white circle.

I'll be covering the hard part, cutting out all the different areas of colour, in the next gripping installment

The Big Box Project - A Mobile Miniature Painting Workstation

Having gotten back into painting recently I have consequently developed a living space problem...

My dining table has succumbed to The Law of Flat Surfaces and is covered in painting tools and half completed projects.  It has just frankly gotten out of hand. 

I am a a firm believer in the reuse part of the recycling mantra, so when I found a wooden Carpenters Tool Box abandoned on the stairs of my apartment block a few months ago, I had to grab it.  I knew that when time became available it was going to be put to good use and become my mobile painting workstation.

This is no vintage hand crafted thing of beauty.  It's a roughly made carcase of 1/2" (57mm) thick pine with the front and back skinned in thin plywood, the edges of which are splintered in places but the box is solid enough.  The front hinges down to create a sort of sloped shelf.

The plan is to get the majority of my mini power tools and accessories installed into the box permanently.  I want to include a power strip and some form of worklight.  This is not an exhaustive list of what needs to go in their but it's a start:

Power Tools

• Rotary Sander (aka a nail file)
• Air Compressor (& airbrushes)
• Micro Drill
• Anglepoise Worklamp

Accessories

• Paints - A mix of Vallejo / Scale75 / Army Painter dropper bottles and various GW / Tamiya / Daler Rowney pots and bottles.
• Big Bottles - Airbrush thinners & cleaners
• Paint Palettes - Wet and Dry Palettes
• Water Cups - 2 water cups, one clean and one dirty
• Glues - Superglue
• Brushes - a good selection of miniature painting brushes.
• Sandpaper - Sanding Sticks
• Miscellaneous Tools - Pin vice, side cutters, needle nose pliers, tweezers, painting handles, coffee stirrers, clamps, sanding papers and sticks
• Cutting Mat - I'd like this to fit one inside the lid.
• Collapsible Spray Booth - I want this to double up as a spray booth so need to create a stowable cardboard spray shield  

As you can see this is quite the project and fitting everything in the list above into the box would challenge even the best TARDIS designer.  Lockdown is the perfect opportunity for me to get this done. and I have already started to tackle some of the exterior panels.

I'm going for that distressed WWII Warbird meets Cyberpunk aesthetic.  For the back I think I'll have to have a go at painting the "Bug Stomper" noseart from one of my favourite 80s films "Aliens".  I should have it done in time for Aliens Day on the 26th April 2020.

Progress on the interior has begun with a shelf and a storage flap in the base.  The exact configuration of the interior is likely to be very moveable flexible as I learn what works and what doesn't.  For starters that shelf needs a lip because as soon as you lift it up, anything unsecured falls off the shelf.  Don't ask me how I know...

Ennie Award for Best Cavern Map goes to... Fire Ants.

One of the staple RPG tropes is the "Bug Hunt", we've all done them.  There are some pretty cool bug hunt tunnel maps out there, but even the best human cartographers can't come close in complexity to these real world Fire Ant Colonies.  These stunning aluminium casts are the work of anthillart.com

Fire Ant Colony #45 - 18.5"x12.5"x13" (HxWxL)

Carpenter Ant Colony #31 - 16.5"x4.5"x8" (HxWxL)

The artists YouTube channel has some interesting videos showing the whole casting process which inevitably causes the destruction of the colony.  I'm rooting for Hicks and Hudson on this one and prefer to immortalize the work of these pests rather than go down the "nuke it from orbit" route.

The Droste Effect: Has anyone used it in a game?

After downloading Tiles of the Dead: Games Room (Crooked Staff Publishing), I'm now thinking about running a one session game devoted to the Droste Effect.

Packaging for Droste Cacao

What is the Droste Effect?

Simply put the Droste Effect is a particular form of recursion when an image appears within itself.  It is named after a Dutch brand of cocoa powder which used the effect in it's advertising but has been used by artists from M.C.Esher to Jan Van Eyck for hundreds of years. 


Scenarios which use a Droste Effect are largely going to be dependant on the exact characters in the game but everyone needs at least two things:

• A Focus - This is essentially a portal to each level of recursion, deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole.  The floorplan I mentioned above has a typical RPG table (complete with character sheets) which acts as its focus, but this could just as easily be a photograph (or a woodcut) on a mantlepiece, a window or even the PC's own shadows cast in their torchlight. 
  
  Whatever you choose, as soon as the players notice the Droste Effect in the image then they should feel that the world has gone a bit wonky for a moment.  How long it takes for them to work out that this a'int Kansas anymore depends largely on how obvious you make the differences between realities or how quickly the next recursion happens.
  
  
• A Pivot Point - The Droste Effect revolves around it's pivot.  Locate the pivot point within the scenario and the players just have to work out what the correct outcome is and "hey presto" the Droste Effect will resolve itself and the world resets with no lasting effects on the PCs.  Get it wrong and you need to find the focus again and enter the next level of recursion.

Some Scenario Ideas

Mirror, Mirror - A great way of introducing a Droste Effect into any game is to use a mirror as portal to a mirror universe.  PCs will find that adventures in a mirror universe will have a peculiar set of complications; backwards writing, driving on the opposite side of the road, guns with ejection ports on the other side throwing hot casings into your eyes, you can see where I'm going with this.

Evil Kirk - Throw the players off by replacing one of their PCs with an Evil version of themselves.  To make it harder for them to spot, just replace one of their personality traits with it's diametric opposite.  Your normally grumpy or pessimistic Dwarf, becomes cheerful and eternally optimistic, just see how long they can last before they drag him kicking and screaming back to where he came from.  The pivot for this could be that all the PCs have to become Evil for the Droste Effect to collapse.   A more sadistic DM would make sure that injuring your Evil counterparts had some sort of penalty like reflective damage.

Uppa, Groundhog Style - Whatever the genre, the groundhog day scenario forces the players to repeat their actions until they hit on the right solution (aka the pivot).  This could become tiresome for players until they work out what the pivot is, so make sure that you let them fast-forward through the non-relevant bits.  This is probably the closest to a traditional Droste Effect as each day is one level of recursion.

Everyone is Everyone Else - When the PCs encounter the Droste Effect, make each of them pass their character sheets to the player on their left.  They must now try to play the character in front of them in the style of the characters owner.  Best played in an established group where no-one takes themselves too seriously.  Each time they encounter the Droste Effect they pass their character sheets to the left until everyone has had a turn, the pivot for the scenario is simply that everyone must play everyone else until their original character sheets come around.  Of course once they work this out they will try to quickly resolve the Droste Effect by "Goal Hanging" so you make it harder by moving the focus around making it more of a treasure hunt.

One of our PCs is missing - Each time the PCs encounter the Droste Effect one of their number is missing and they will remain trapped in this Droste until they locate the missing PC.  You could rehash another meme (Final Destination), by making the missing PC die in interesting ways just as they are found, thereby triggering a new Droste Effect.  The pivot is that you must prevent the missing character from dying.

Have you tried it?

If you have any ideas, suggestions or experience of using the Droste Effect in your own games, feel free to comment below.

The Arnolfini Marriage
(Jan Van Eyck 1434)

close up of mirror, inscription reads
"Jan Van Eyck was there 1434"

My 10 Favourite Sci-Fi Posters

Thanks to Davis Chenault for his post highlighting the IGN 25 Top Sci-FI Posters.

Here's my top 10 (in no particular order) with some alternate versions thrown in for good measure:


1. MAD MAX

Original Theatrical Poster	UK Poster

I love the graphic simplicity of the original release, but the UK poster (which I remember from my childhood) makes me wanna see the movie NOW!.

2. DUNE

UK Poster

Japanese Poster

The haunting alien vista of the UK poster is infinitely preferable to the car crash of bad airbrush art that is the Japanese version.  Who is Paul Atreides supposed to be kissing, cos it sure doesn't look like Sean Young.

3. BLADE RUNNER

Original Poster

Directors Cut Poster

The crazy angles and harsh edged look to the original composite are given a more sympathetic and dreamlike treatment for the directors cut.  Much better poster IMHO.

4. THEY LIVE

Original Poster

Marc Palm Homage Poster

Rowdy Roddy Pipper eyeballs your "alienness" in the original, but there's a nice subversive edge to Marc Palm's "Hope" version.

5. STAR WARS

Original Poster

Olly Moss Homage

The original is a masterpiece of both composition and oil painting, even if the blasters seem to be firing light-sabre beams.  The Olly Moss homage is an elegant piece of graphic design genius.  I'm officially torn between the two.

6. ALIEN

Original Poster

Polish Poster

The minimalist original has it all, black for space, weird cracked egg with green glowy yolk, scary byeline and alien eggbox landscape.  The poor poles have no idea what they're letting themselves in for with their bizarre blood vessel drawing of what I can only presume is a facehugger?

7. ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK

Original Poster

Special Edition Poster

The Big Apple has gone all to hell in the iconic (if a little cliched) original as the characters are caught in a spot of mid escape terror.  The Special Edition looks like one of Snake Plisken's holiday snaps, posed right after he's brought down the Statue of Liberty in some sort of explosive mayhem.

8. SCANNERS

Original Poster

Italian Poster

In the definitive original, Michael Ironside's about to explode!!!.  But I love the comic book style and vivid fiery reds in the Italian version.

9. GODZILLA VS MEGALON

Original Poster

Alternate Poster

Godzilla is kicking Megalon's butt in the original and classic poster.  In the alternate version The Lost Continent of Mu has been given the boot in favour of a battle on top of the Twin Trade Towers which due to the exaggerated scale makes both these Kaiju look a bit puny by comparison.  Nice idea, poor execution (and the typeography lets it down as well)

10. THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN

Original Poster

Ken Taylor Mondo Poster

The arthouse style original with its dirty steampunk qualities are eschewed by Ken Taylor for a heavily inked composite illustration evocative of a Hammer Horror movie poster. 

An infinite number of humans cannot type Shakespeare

Please accept my apologies if you have been unlucky enough to see sneak peaks of future articles which were inadvertently published in the last 12 hours.  Unfortunately there has been a breakdown in the trained humans used, and this will not happen again.

"Trophies" by Jason Edmiston

Mars Attacks! Bubblegum Cards on Flickr

Call me crazy but I do love a bit of pulp Sci-Fi every now and then, here's a Flickr set of the complete Mars Attacks! bubblegum cards.

Mars Attacks Bubblegum Cards

Most of you will know that these cards were the original inspiration for Tim Burton's 1996 movie of the same name, But

I've never seen the whole collection before or seen the card backs either so set the slideshow to play, sit back and enjoy a bit of nostalgia.

Tintin and Lovecraft Cover Art

I stumbled across these wonderful Lovecraft inspired imaginary Tintin covers by Murray Groat this morning thanks to BoingBoing and needed to share them.  I think this would be a great crossover genre with little or no modification.  In fact I think my next CoC character should be a boy detective.