Saturday, October 15, 2016

Making It Rain



Twighlight Rain, Marby Keep, pen and ink-digital color
Copyright © 2016, Columbia Games, Inc. and Richard Luschek
I got a chance to update some illustrations for the latest HarnQuest. If you game with Harn, and are not signed up for the subscription, do it now! What's wrong with you?

The first article was Marby, a minor port in the Kingdom of Orbaal on Hârn's northern coast. The old illustration by Hotz is pretty nice, but I decided for a different view and I usually prefer a view that players would actually see when approaching the place. The birds-eye views are nice for an overview, but not very realistic unless you are looking down from a cliff or the back of a giant bird. 
I believe this is the first wooden keep I've drawn, which is surprising. During my research I was looking at some historic reconstructions of old Russian wooden walled towns and they had these narrow slots rather than crenelations. That made the most sense to me in this situation. The old illustration did not really show this stuff, but its a distant view so I assumed it's there in spirit.

Hotz Marby Illustration , Copyright © 1992, Columbia Games, Inc. and Eric Hotz


As usual I made a quick Google Sketchup model of the place so I could pick the view. Here is a swing around animation of the place.


The other article was Geshtei, the capital of Gerium Province and a stronghold of the Gerium Legion, sits on the Thard River along the western border of the Thardic Republic. The old version, done almost 30 years ago, had a view and illustration I thought would be cool to just expand upon. Despite what I said above and birds-eye views, I did a higher view. It just looked too cool, so don't give me any crap about it.
I had a bit more room to play  with so I expanded the view and showed what is around around the castle. The two outer walls added some interest and power to the castle.
Here is the old illustration.
Hotz Geshtei Illustration , Copyright © 1987, Columbia Games, Inc. and Eric Hotz
Of course I made another model which got a bit more involved than it needed to be, but I had two locations on the map to illustrate for the article so Ill use that as an excuse.

Again, it's a testament to Hotz- on how he got these illustrations so damn accurate without this program. I'm not sure how he did it. I need a model, either digital or physical, to get this proportions and perspective to work out.
I settled on a view and did the illustration.  
Geshtei Keep, pen and ink-digital color
Copyright © 2016, Columbia Games, Inc. and Richard Luschek
For the illustration of the Magistrate Borisir Wytel, I based him off a famous character in American politics. He popped into my head when I read the description.

Magistrate Borisir Wytel, pen and ink
Copyright © 2016, Columbia Games, Inc. and Richard Luschek
Can you guess who it is? Can you?

Hmm, I wonder who?
Please do not discuss politics in the comment section or I will delete this entire blog. I mean it!

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Oops. I made a mistake.

Turns out- I am not perfect.


The Mistake- Sherwyn, pen and ink-digital color, Copyright © 2016, Columbia Games, Inc. and Richard Luschek


The recent HarnQuest was recently released with articles on Sherwyn, Pled some Books and Scrolls and some maps I had nothing to do with.
While I decided to just color the Hotz drawing of the castle in Pled, I decided I wanted to redraw the castle for Sherwyn. It is a very complicated castle sitting on a series of rocky outcroppings off the shore of the town. As is often the case I build a quick Sketchup model so I could get the proportions correct.
Shortly after the release some eagle eyed Harniac was quick to point out a mistake that the drawbridge on the above image is too low.  Of course I thought "How dare you? Do you know who I am?!! Richard Luschek does not make mistakes!"

Then I checked it out and turns out I did make a mistake. I know! I could hardly believe it myself.
First, Here is the model after I corrected it. I did a video fly around so you can see the whole place.


While the product has shipped, I thought I would post the fixed image here. Feel free to print it out and use for your game.

Corrected Sherwyn Castle, pen and ink-digital color, Copyright © 2016, Columbia Games, Inc. and Richard Luschek  
It really just involved me moving the gate up about 15'.
Enjoy this corrected image- now get off my back!

Monday, February 29, 2016

Hot Models

Shipping now is the February HarnQuest made up of:  Arone Keep, Cherafir F5: The Wolves' Den, Coranan D2: Lia-Kavair Guildhall, Coranan D10: Gladiator School, Coranan H3: Palace of Pentacles, Atlas Hârnica F7

Below is a rough overview of some of the art for these articles.
First I will post an image of a creepy new aquatic Ivashu near an unfortunate pilgrim.

In the Brooder Pool, pen and ink-digital color, Copyright © 2016, Columbia Games, Inc. and Richard Luschek
After reading the description I did a few sketches first to see what the writers liked best. They picked my favorite one.

Ormanoam, pen and ink-digital color, Copyright © 2016, Columbia Games, Inc. and Richard Luschek

The creature is near an old Ilvirian temple, Ormanoam. The temple is surrounded by standing stones and earthworks.
Here is my very rough model for this illustration. Each of the models below at some point will feature the view I ended up selecting to use as reference for the final art.



Nearby is Arone is a small seaport on the southeastern tip of Orbaal. Along with the nearby thrans, Arone is isolated from its neighbors to the west by the vast Arone Marshes that form the northern edge of the great Anoth Delta. The keep sits on a low basalt headland overlooking a fine natural harbor that offers refuge to seafarers from the stormy Sea of Ivae and the pirate-infested waters of the delta.

Arone Gate House, pen and ink-digital color, Copyright © 2016, Columbia Games, Inc. and Richard Luschek
 Below is a view of the model to get a good idea of layout.

Finally, I did illustrated the fine palace in Coranan.
The hall of the Coranan chapter of the Mangai was built in the mid-5th century to house the Court of Pentacles, the economic advisory body to the Corani Imperium.

Palace of the Pentacles, pen and ink-digital color, Copyright © 2016, Columbia Games, Inc. and Richard Luschek

It was fun to add more to the model I did for the updated Coranan article. In this fly around you can see the reference I used for the Chamber of the Red Domes.









Monday, January 25, 2016

I'm In Charge!

The title of this blog post is referring to a book I just illustrated and not my own proud declaration to the world. Though I do try to be in charge when ever I get a chance and think things are usually the better for it.
One of the writers for Hârn, a game I am the art director for, knew about an author- a friend of a friend, who was looking for an illustrator for a children's book he was working on (was that sentence  more confusing than it needed to be?).
Henry Vogel was working an series of stories based on old medieval folk tales. I have wanted to illustrated a book for kids for a while now, so I inquired. After a some back and forth emails, we agreed to work together on this project.

I'm In Charge cover, © 2016, Henry Vogel and Richard Luschek
Henry had 6 stories, and we chose 3 to be in this first book: I'm in Charge, the Seven Silly Brothers and The Three questions.
I would tell you more, but I am going to have you read the description on the Amazon page for the book. Click Here to read and to order piles of books for your family! It is available in print and for the Kindle (PDF).


I worked on the cover and interior art pretty much at the same time. I wanted this book to have an old timey, classic look. I love Arthur Rackham's work and wanted emulate that style.
I sent Henry a quick sketch done in photo shop to see what he thought.
I'm In Charge, digital sketch, © 2016, Henry Vogel and Richard Luschek
He gave me some notes, a few sketches went back and forth and I then assembled my reference. I like to use the best looking and most handsomest models I can find for the money.

I'm In Charge, reference photo, © 2016, Henry Vogel and Richard Luschek
I did a pencil sketch and then inked the drawing.

I'm In Charge, ink drawing, © 2016, Henry Vogel and Richard Luschek
This is scanned into Photoshop and then colored digitally. I usually start by adding some texture to the image- I set a photo of parchment on a multiply layer and did laid a tone in.

I'm In Charge, digital value scheme, © 2016, Henry Vogel and Richard Luschek
I select all the parts out on different layers and start adding color. Using my initial color sketch to select colors from.
I'm In Charge, early color layers, © 2016, Henry Vogel and Richard Luschek
I keep painting and pushing things around till I like it. I didnt like how the spear touched the edge, so I selected it and angled it out to match the shield. I added the Seven Silly Brothers walking by the castle outside on their way to some adventures. The princes hand was a bit too manly and the face too harsh. I made the crown bigger and finished the painting. The text was added and then tweaked a bit by hand, painting around it to give it a more natural look.

I'm In Charge, cover, © 2016, Henry Vogel and Richard Luschek
For the interior art I decided a set of simple silhouettes would look nice.

I'm In Charge, Interior, pen and ink, © 2016, Henry Vogel and Richard Luschek
Here we see the power hungry prince is ordering his friend's mother to jail for not letting them play together.

Seven Silly Brothers, Interior, Pen and Ink, © 2016, Henry Vogel and Richard Luschek
The Seven Silly Brothers are not the brightest lot. They get themselves into all kinds of trouble.

3 Questions, Interior, Pen and Ink, © 2016, Henry Vogel and Richard Luschek

In Three Questions, the princess and her father the king, do not agree on the qualities that will make for a good husband and prince.

No spoilers here, you will have to find out how they end on your own by reading the book yourself or preferably aloud to your kids.
So, go get the book and write some glowing reviews.