Castles & Crusades Isometrics I

I attended Gary Con in February and it was a very good time. I posted before some of the sketches I did during my time there, well now I figured I would post up some of the work that came as a result of my trip. 

I met with +Jeff Talanian who perused my portfolios and he gently nudged me toward +Roy Snyder. Thanks to Roy, I showed my stuff to Castles&Crusades front-man Steve Chenault. Steve really like the Isometrics (Norwind Arms Exchange, Proudfoot & Archer, Roving Eye Tavern) I did for & Magazine. A sweet review is here by OSRToday writer +Jason Paul McCartan. 

After a few months, Mr. Chenault contacted me and we were working together to create 9 Isometrics for the Lost City of Gaxmoor Kickstarter. 

I previewed The Black Feathers here in sketch form, and Steve posted it up to the Kickstarter updates page. 

Here is the final results of The Black Feathers Mercenary Villa.

Copyright Del Teigeler 2015. Licensed by Troll Lord Games 2015.
"Right Clicking and clicking open in new tab will give a larger view."

This one was one of the bigger isometrics I have done. Two floors, two basements, and a roof profile. It comprises one of the larger villas within the City of Gaxmoor, is the home to a prominent band of mercenaries, and has a multitude of rooms. 

There are bedrooms, an indoor garden, a wine room, several dining rooms, studies, and kitchen. These are only a few of the places of interest within this huge building. 

After talking with +Ernie Gygax I got a better idea of the nature of the Lost City, and went with a pseudo Roman/Greek architecture styling mixed with some of my own creations. 

You will find statuary, plants in vases, various weaponry and other sundry items all sketched in to help the Castle-keeper with his/her tasks. 

I hope you enjoy this one. There will be more, as this was completed several months ago, and I am nearly done with all 9 isometrics on order. 

Thanks for looking, comments always welcome.

Snake Feather Dragon and Rachava

Matt Hargenrader approached me again to fill out some more artwork for his "Dwellers in the Dark Places" monster manual for old school games. 

He gave me three illustrations to complete, and these are the first  two of those three. He also wants me to illustrate a worm called an Inkrassa. That should be fun, and is on the drawingboard soon.

Until then, enjoy the Sanke Feather Dragon.

Copyright Del Teigeler 2015. Licensed Matt Hargenrader 2015.

This guy is a sort of cross between a dragon and a Couatl. 

I wanted him aloft, and looking to dive on something below. It was difficult to get it all right, and those feathers took a bit of work to get right. He has six "leg" which is unusual for a dragon, plus the wings, so in order to get them all in I had to give him sort of an elongated abdomen with multiple sets of pectoral muscles. His hind legs are long and gangly  and I like the airborn look of them. 

I actually did about three sketches of this one before deciding on the pose, size and form. Overall I am pleased with how it turned out. 

For the next one, I posted a preview of it on G+ and am showing the final one here now. 

This is a Rachava, sort of a small thorn creature. He is only 6"-1' in diameter according to the write-up but a constant thorn in the err shoe for adventurers. 

Copyright Del Teigeler 2015. Licensed Matt Hargenrader 2015.

For this one, I was given a decent sketch of the creature to look at, but the sketch didnt quite capture the look and feel I had imagined when I read the details. If this thing was to blend in with his surroundings, he needed to look like brambles and thorns. His open rib cage can capture small prey, and he bolts around on two over-sized feet. 

Of course when I showed my wife, she called it a Furbie! Go figure. 

Thanks for looking, comments always welcome. 

#Drawlloween Pumpkin Headed Satyr

This entry into the #Drawlloween art mixer is totally inspired by a conversation that +Vincent Florio (used without permission, but I think Vince is a great guy and wont mind so much) and the +RollForInitiative Podcast crew talked about several Halloweens ago. It has stuck in my head for all that time until this moment. 

Here with out further ado the Pumpkin Headed Satyr!

Copyright Del Teigeler 2015.

If you would like to use this for FREE in your RPG or fantasy module or supplement contact me, I will send you a high resolution digital copy of this one in PNG or TIFF format. 

Thanks for looking, comments always welcome.

& Magazine Character Studies IV

The fourth and final of these illustrations for & Magazine was perhaps the most interesting couple I had to draw. 

Here we have a smallish male (Jorma) and a half-ogre female (Casady), an odd couple to say the least. 

Once again these were drawn separately and then merged digitally. I wanted to make Jorma very demure for a male, slightly handsome and slighty roguish. 

For Casady she had to have that half-ogre look, but what human male would really go for an ugly half-ogre? While there are probably a few out there who would, I didnt think Jorma would be one of them. So she had to be slightly brutish, but have a subtle "prettiness" as well. 

When I first submitted this one to +Bryan Fazekas he reminded me that Casady was a half-ogre, as I had drawn them roughly the same size, they didn't fit the article. Well, that is what good editors do! I had totally screwed the pooch so to speak. A human and a half-ogre the same size. Jeesh what was I thinking?

Thank god that I had drawn the two separate and then joined them in GIMP. It was a time saver in the end. It was a simple fix to crop them out of their odd pairing and then re-size Casady to fit the actual size of a half-ogre. 

Here is the result. 

Copyright Del Teigeler 2015.

For these Character Studies, I really concentrated on the facial shape and hair. I really wanted to strive for realistic sketches of the characters, rather than the comic-style black and white that I typically work in. For Jorma that mean that I gave him a slender fave, with stout nose and a bit of a pouty look. (He is married to a half-ogre after all). His hair I gave that 80's feather with a bit of a mullet, and some scraggle of a beard, tho not full like his father.

He wears a light linen shirt with a simple stitch pattern, and his eyes show a bit of his father with the squint. 

For Casady, I gave her straggly Ogre hair, but I made sure that it was kempt, (again I had to make her suitable for a human male). I gave her a broad ogre like brown and wide nose, dotted with either a wart or a nose piercing (viewer's choice.) Her eyes are soft, non-ogery (if that is a word) perhaps harkening back to her human progeny. 

I gave her a woolen sweater with broad collar, because thinking about it, what else would a female half-ogre wear. I am not thinking many seamstresses sew dresses in her size!

Well, there you have all four couples (eight characters in all), happy simple sketches and the whys and where-fores of their designs. 

Hope this was interesting enough to hold your attention. 

Thanks for looking, comments always welcome.