Shuffling

Moving things around, bear with me. Rawr

Great Pen and Ink: 3- Edward Gorey

Edward Gorey: February 22, 1925 – April 15, 2000

I have always loved E. Gorey’s whimsical sense of all things morbid. His style is simple as are his figures, but his images tell such stories.

Read all about him on Wikpedia (I am no biographer, others write better): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Gorey
I can show you art though….

The Gastlycrumb Tinies= awesome
The whole alphabet list is here(http://takalak.narod.ru/gorey/) and it is wonderfully macabre.

See a catalog of his works here at Goreyography:http://www.goreyography.com/

Great Pen and Ink: 2- Keith Witmer

Today we have a currently active artist on the market named Keith Witmer.

From his website Bio:
“After receiving his B.F.A. from Otis/Parsons School Of Design, Keith launched his career into the world of advertising and publication with a commanding presence using Pen & Ink and Scratchboard mediums. Keith has addressed every project with absolute professionalism, uncompromising attention to detail, and a passionate dedication to representing his client’s vision. With over twenty years of experience, Keith has developed several traditional and digital Line.”

Since he is living and working there isn’t much more I can tell you about him, but check out his site: http://keithwitmer.com/ Well done and meticulous work that is one of the hallmarks of pen and ink.

Great Pen and Ink: 1-Virgil Finlay

I am going to do a bunch of posts showing the great work of the past. Too often we take art for granted in this world, especially now that we have computers that can simulate any style of art. I want to showcase artists who do it all by hand, from past to present (in no particular order). I am starting with my favorite guy, Virgil Finlay. Since I am not a very wordy person, I am going to show their works and include quotes with links to biographies.

Virgil Finlay: 1914-1971
Very good and short Bio here: http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/finlay.htm

“much of Finlay’s best work was for pulp magazines like Weird Tales and Amazing Stories which paid a pittance and printed his finely-hatched scratchboard drawings on the cheapest paper. The advantages to this work, such as they were, came in the access to a huge and appreciative audience, and the chance to provide the first illustrations for what would turn out to be classic genre stories”
-from John Coulthar: http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/2006/10/30/the-art-of-virgil-finlay-1914-1971/

-from the scratch-board blog archives: http://www.tanianault.ca/thescratchboard/2008/04/14/virgil-finlay-master-scratchboard-artist/

“Virgil Finlay was one of the greatest science fiction and fantasy artists. He started working for Weird Tales in 1935 and continued to work for that magazine and others for over 35 years. He was a prolific artist and created more than 2,500 images… Finlay worked in a combination of hatching, the use of small lines to create tone in pen and ink, stipple, the application of hundreds (or thousands) of tiny dots to create an even smoother and almost photorealistic tone, and scratchboard, the application of ink to a clay-coated white board which is then scratched away with a sharp instrument to reveal white lines.

Many artists would work in any one of these techniques; Finlay’s unique approach was to combine them in the same drawing, giving him the ability to utilize an extraordinary range of tone and texture. He was noted in particular for his beautiful and elaborate stipple work.” -from the lines and colors blog: http://www.linesandcolors.com/2006/02/17/virgil-finlay/

On this one you can see more of the details, he did amazing work and if you ever get the chance to see some in person or even a nicely printed book with his work I recommend taking the time to study it.

More art here:http://squirreltrap.blogspot.com/2010/10/virgil-finlay-plugging-me-in-even-more.html
Or look up Virgil Finlay in a google image search, eye candy galore!

The Ascendants: part 9

A rogue is a rogue… Here is Rudy:

“Little is known about Rudolf Randolf Randhearst (“Rudy” to his friends), beyond that he is an Ascendant, he is charming, and, despite being unable to level cities, conjure armies or even fly, he can be very, very dangerous.

Rudy’s reflexes are fast enough to be described as supernatural. He can hide anywhere, pick any lock, dodge any bullet, find vulnerable spots in the thickest armor, and hit those spots with any weapon that comes to hand. Their entire potential concentrated into one brief, shining moment, the weapon used typically crumbles to dust immediately afterward.

Born to a life of leisure, hunted by a past he’d prefer to forget, Rudy has wandered all over, looking for something that was truly worth having. And now that he’s found it, can he hold on to it?

As luck would have it, Rudy met Lily while she was on a date with another man. The Second Lord of Seven Gables had just run off in a terror, abandoning Lily to the rampages of a troll. Since one does not bring one’s mechanical suit of armor to such things, Lily was caught quite unprepared. Things might have gone very badly, had Rudy not arrived.

Together, the two of them killed the thing. More well-versed in the opposite sex than he’d admit in mixed company, Rudy was surprised that such a pretty head had so much in it. So stricken was he, in fact, by Lily’s charms, that he wasn’t really listening when she told him where she lived, and which baron’s court she served. This proved awkward when Lily found herself squared off against her handsome savior when Covington’s forces arrayed themselves against Herringsworth.”
-Steve Wilcox

the Ascendants: part 8

So here we have Red:

Red:
“Superior ability breeds superior ambition. Thus, it is no surprise that many Ascendants use their powers to dominate and subjugate, rather than toiling quietly in obscurity out of some strange devotion to the status quo. When the Ascendance first began, news of one of these strange, super-powered individuals emerging in a particular barony was cause for the local nobility to fear. The number of mortal soldiers needed to best even a moderately powerful Ascendant is more than most barons can muster, and even massive armies quail and break once one begin to lay into its ranks.
Many of the more ambitious Ascendants have taken to overthrowing lords, barons, even counts and ruling over them personally. They quickly find, though, that there is more to being a lord than mere conquest. Running even a small fief requires skills most Ascendants lack, and menial administrative tasks bore most would-be warlords to tears.
“Red” recognized this long ago. A powerful warrior, capable raising whole armies of demon-like firekin through human sacrifice, he’s more than a match for any mortal army, and most of his fellow ascendants. All he really wants is to bring order to a world in chaos, but he knows he’s no ruler. He is a conqueror. So, he wanders the land, searching for a king wise enough, mighty enough, and ruthless enough to rule it once it is conquered.
Given his name by Synda after she grew tired of everyone referring to him as “The Demon”, he has a soft spot in his heart for the bull-headed fire-weaver. More than once, he has betrayed his current master to save her, or even merely to please her. Their frequent entanglements, though, always end poorly. “

-Steve Wilcox

the Ascendants: part 7

This is Siri:

“Don’t judge. She has green skin and leaves growing in her hair; Men will look at her no matter what she wears.
Serene (Siri, to her friends) hails from one of those small mountain villages that doesn’t know their lord’s name if they have one at all. She left that village shortly after she ascended, as her powers make wearing normal clothes difficult and the attention she garned was…uncomfortable.

Generous, shy, sensual, and able to manipulate plants in almost any way imaginable, Siri is easily mistaken for some sort of forest nymph or fertility goddess. Her passive nature has frequently been to her detriment in this, as she’ll readily agree to be the servant or herald or avatar of anything, if it makes those around her more comfortable with her presence.”
-Steve Wilcox

The Ascendants: part 6

Today we have Archangel…

“No lord of any standing would be caught on a battlefield without an ascendant to champion their army, and, as champions go, there are few better than The Archangel. As skilled as he is powerful, The Archangel is a master swordsman and tactician, having seen service as a knight in the years before he came into his powers. One of the first ascendants to swear service to a lord, rather than overthrow them, The Archangel is renowned far and wide as a paragon of virtue and chivalry.

But he demands as much from his lord as he demands from himself. He will not serve cowards or liars, and a lord that tarnishes the Archangel with dishonor may find himself quickly bereft of his land, or his life.”
-Steve Wilcox

And some adventures with him can be found here: http://www.elsgames.net/phpBB/viewforum.php?f=8&sid=6bac37d1a13ace7d6a9ea7cb512898c0

the Ascendants: part 5

Fin and Sorrah:

Brave and true, as a boy should be, Fin is a free-spirited sea-kin ascendant. His mortal parents scarcely more than a hazy memory, Fin has spent most of his short life fishing, fighting, and playing with his guardian and best friend, Ogo. A terrifying sight to the uninitiated, Ogo is large enough to swallow a rowboat in a single gulp, or swamp a navy frigate like a child’s bath toy.

Despite his size, though, Ogo is a curious, friendly creature, quite oblivious to the terror his size causes the tiny Fin-shaped creatures that he passes on his way from place to place.

Ogo’s serpentine shape and massive size allow him to travel through the water at tremendous speeds. His curiosity is matched only by Fin’s, and together they have traveled further and seen more of the world than virtually anyone else alive.

The anatomy of Fin’s binary respiratory system makes normal speech difficult. For this reason, in addition to his trusty knife, Fin usually carries the poisonous spine of the Babblefish, a strange creature native to waters so foreign that, apparently, only Fin and Ogo have ever seen one. Anyone stung by the Babblefish, though, acquires the curious ability to understand anyone ELSE that has been stung, so the first trial of friendship with Fin is to be stuck with a needle-like, poisoned barb.

Fin was befriended by Nicho, Lily and Synda shortly before their first battle with the Alchemist. Since then, Fin has made sure to keep in touch with his friends, occasionally providing them with information from the lands beneath the waves, or coming to them to ask for help.”

-Steve Wilcox

The Ascendants: part 4

Here we have Nico’s fiance Violet:
Violet is the only daughter of Reginald Winford, a wealthy silk merchant who lives in the port capital of Covington. A more well-mannered and proper girl a gentleman could not hope for to wife, and Violet has had no shortage of would-be suitors. However, her father will not have his only offspring carted off by the first fellow that manages to put on a matching pair of shoes, so Violet has remained unmarried well past the prime marriageable age (She’s 17 already!).
Add to this minor scandal the nasty, inflammatory rumors that she has been cavorting with gypsies, and it’s no wonder that Reginald and her Stepmother have finally gotten serious about finding Violet a proper husband.