Keserin Mine

Keserin Mine, by Richard Luschek
Copyright © 2013, Columbia Games, Inc. and Richard Luschek

I just finished the newest Columbia Games article- kind of last minute. This article was ready for art last month and I was supposed to be done early in the month, but I had a few setbacks. We still hope for it to be printed  and shipped in February, but of course there are only three more days left of this month. Too bad this isn't a leap year.
A bit about Keserin mining camp:

Keserin is an isolated forest hundred in Rethem’s Parachshire, where heavily forested foothills meet the low rocky spurs of the Rayesha Mountains.
This is the site of a mine held by the Order of the Red Shadows of Herpa, an Agrikan fighting order based in Menekai.
The mine nestles in a deep ravine carved by the white waters of a tributary of the Gomisen River. A small settlement clings to a level plateau of waste mine rubble, beyond which rises the rough-hewn timbers of a high stockade around the mine. Outsiders are not encouraged at the mine.

 It is a dark and nasty place of smoke filled air, polluted waters, sitting in a barren, clear cut locale. Add to that the fact that with the Agrikans in charge run the mine like a prison camp.
The geography of the camp was a bit tough to imagine, so as is my usual practice, I dropped the map into Google Sketchup and did a very rough model that I could look around in. One interesting fact that I figured out, that not even the writer had envisioned, was that the mine entrance itself is forever in the shadow of the rocky cliffs above, adding to the gritty feel of the place.

Birds-Eye view of Keserin Mine, by Richard Luschek
Copyright © 2013, Columbia Games, Inc. and Richard Luschek

View from Gomisen trail of Keserin Mine, by Richard Luschek
Copyright © 2013, Columbia Games, Inc. and Richard Luschek

North west View from across the river of Keserin Mine, by Richard Luschek
Copyright © 2013, Columbia Games, Inc. and Richard Luschek

View from high ground across the river of Keserin Mine, by Richard Luschek
Copyright © 2013, Columbia Games, Inc. and Richard Luschek

I decided the last one offered the most useful view of the camp. It has good look at the smelting furnaces, most of the working buildings and the the important features of the landscape- including the mine entrance. It is also a view that would most be used by scouting Kuborans or Garguns preparing for attack. As you can see the model just offers a very rough idea of placement and lighting. Some artistic license is needed to get a pleasing image for the article.
This article is a bit different from the typical locations that have been published on Harn. I could see an entire campaign run in or around this mine. Of course I was only able to illustrate a few views of the camp, but I hope these Sketchup screen-shots help get you excited enough to torture your PCs in this dreadful place.
To receive this article I suggest you sign up for HarnQuest or wait until it is posted to for PDF download on RPG Now or related site.

Inside Keserin Mine, by Richard Luschek
Copyright © 2013, Columbia Games, Inc. and Richard Luschek

Thay- Now Get to Mapping!

Thay, view from Poleryn Square,  by Richard Luschek
Copyright © 2012, Columbia Games, Inc. and Richard Luschek

I just finished the illustration for the upcoming Columbia Games article on Thay. Should ship in a few weeks.
"Thay is a seaport at the mouth of the Horka River in the mainland part of the Kingdom of Melderyn."
We were all getting tired of the same old distant castle view across the river that often appear in these articles. Rob, one of the writers, suggested a view past two major buildings looking towards the castle. I also thought an early morning scene of the town waking up with workers walking to their respective jobs would be interesting.

I find it pretty tough to illustrate a believable scene that matches the maps, without some sort of physical reference. I select a portion of the map that will be in the view, create a jpeg that can be imported into Sketchup. I always make sure I include the map scale so I can enlarge the map image to the scale in Sketchup- To do this I just make a block that is 50 ft (you can type in exact dimensions), and then enlarge the map until the scale matches.

I do a rough layout, using some smaller models I have already built and saved- like castle walls, towers and a few medieval looking houses. Then I tackle the fancier buildings. If I can find a real world reference I will model off of that. Often in the Sketchup Warehouse, you can find a model that has already been built which is close to your needs. I will load that model into the image and place it on the map. Harnic building are usually smaller than those on Earth. So I usually have to scale them down, and often need to reduce the height. The temple on the right of the image, is based off a real-world Greek orthodox church. I was using it for a Peoni temple, which are described as simple in design, so I had to alter and delete a lot of the fancy parts off the original model. I push and pull the  model until it fits the map. Then I can basically walk around in the model looking for the best view.

Rough sketchup view

Here is the view I selected. I now can use this image to draw from. I approximate the drawing from this image of the model and then use a lot of artistic license to make the image interesting. Moving window and doors and changing some proportions and even placement, but at least now I know what will and will not work. In all honesty, it is not so much about exact accuracy and slavish following of the map, but making sure I will create a pleasing image that gives the feeling of a living breathing city. A cold computer model does not do that.
I thought I would post a few other views  to tease out some fanon map projects. Hint, Hint!
If anyone wants to mess around with these, feel free to email me and I will send you the Sketchup model.
It would be awesome to see a few maps done for the Palace of Kerpyne and the Peoni Temple.

I have been busy, also color art for The Silver Way, Menekod, Dyrisa, Telumar, Lia Kavair, and Dunir.

New Classic Harn- More Calories- Same Great Taste

Thought I would post a Harn Classic update I was pretty happy with.
The December Hârn Classics I had to update were as followed:

• Nurisel Castle
• Gelimo Chantry
• Qualdris Castle

Using the art from the old, out of print articles, each of which was a black and white image by Eric Hotz,  I was trusted to update and color all the art. Some needed parts added or adjusted to fit the new layout, but mostly I am just coloring them in. I occasionally add my own twist- like adding a flag with the castle heraldry and a few birds as was done for Nurisel.
The Qualdris Castle was drawn from a high view point and I thought it would be nice to add a wispy bit of background to it. Using the map as reference, I did my best to make up what I thought would be a good looking background. Using some photographic reference and a few laid in textures, I was able to rough out the distant landscape. Some of the image had to be cropped out in the document, so I thought I would post the whole thing. I like early or late day scenes so I can get some contrast and interesting lighting.

Qualdris Castle, by Eric Hotz, Colored by Richard LuschekCopyright © 2012, Columbia Games, Inc. and Richard Luschek

Below is the original illustration by Eric Hotz.

Qualdris Castle, by Eric Hotz, Copyright © 2012, Columbia Games, Inc. and Richard Luschek

Characters in Silhouette

A client for whom I  had recently drawn a few characters in his game saw the intro image I did for the Night People article.
The image was a silhouette with a colored back ground. He asked me to do a scene of the Knight, his squire and a pack animal  traveling through a cold and wintery scene late in the evening.

For these images I generally do a pencil sketch on drawing paper, draw the outline in pen and ink- filling in the big areas with a sharpie marker. I scan the work into photoshop. As is usually needed, I can select individual areas and move the shapes around to position them better in the space. The pen on paper can be a bit hairy so I clean it up digitally in photoshop going back and forth between digital brush and eraser. I have digital brushes that do a pretty good job of looking like pen and ink.

Sir Fulke and Squire, pen and ink and digital.
Copyright © 2012, Columbia Games, Inc., Richard Luschek

I then create a layer under the line art and paint the color under it. All the color is done in photoshop. I drop in some textures and collected images to layer it up for a deeper look.

Melderyn- the Wizard's Isle

I just finished the art for the Columbia Games new release of the Melderyn Kingdom module. It should hit the presses very soon for  HarnQuest subscribers.
This one was tough for me. For some reason I had an easier time getting into the mind set of the Rethem Kingdom module- not sure what that says about me. For one thing, Rethem is anything but subtle. Melderyn is a bit more mysterious and subtle with influences from many sources on Ketheria and beyond. I did my best to sneak in those influences without it being to high fantasy and over the top.
I am having a great time adding more color to Harn releases. The following image from page 3 of Melderyn is one such example.

Bringer of Storms, pen and ink and digital.
Copyright © 2012, Columbia Games, Inc., Richard Luschek

I did a very rough sketch in the space left to me just to test out the idea.

Melderyn page 3 layout sketch, Copyright © 2012, Columbia Games, Inc., Richard Luschek

After refining the sketch, I then shoot some reference shots. I thought this character needed to be very handsome and powerful, so I posed for it myself. I did find the bald spot to be a bit upsetting. Thankfully, I don't get to see myself from that point of view very often.
I did not have a wind blown cliff overlooking the ocean on which to pose. Since Columbia Games was too cheap to fly me to Ireland for accurate reference shots, my wife's dressing room worked just fine.

The great actor and illustrator- Richard Luschek

 I am pretty excited with how the kingdom came out- probably my new favorite. Of course I say that almost every time don't I?  We even changed the settlement pages with a color heraldry symbol on each page. This was done in Kaldor using the full heraldry symbol- though it was in B&W. This idea was dropped in Rethem to make room for text. This time by using only the shield part of the coat of arms- and some artful layout design by Brent Bailey, we were able to fit the art, heraldry and keep all of the text.
Get yourself a HarnQuest subscription now!

Melderyn page 61 (Zuilos),
Copyright © 2012, Columbia Games, Inc., Richard Luschek

Noron's Keep

The recent set of Harn Classics have just been released. Columbia Games has recently changed the model for these releases. The point of these Classics is to get old articles, some close to 30 years old, back in print. They are being re-edited with new maps. Now we have decided to add more color to Harn. The page one art work will either be a colorized version of art from the old article, or an updated image if we think it needs one.
I have wanted to draw Noron for a while.
Of course we needed to show the keep but feature Noron front and center- well, slightly off to the right.

Noron's Keep, pen and ink and digital. Copyright © 2012, Columbia Games, Inc., Richard Luschek

I had the map and the old illustration by Eric Hotz to work off from. I dropped the map into Google Sketchup and built a quick digital model. I was then able to swing around the model getting the placement I wanted. As you can see the drawing does not follow the model exactly, but it was a helpful aid in determining sight lines and basic perspective.

Rough Sketchup model

From the model I did a pen and ink drawing. Excessive ink likes can be too busy with the color, so a bit less inking saving some of the shading for the color to be added later. I scan the image, open it in photoshop, and then paint it digitally. I am not completely comfortable painting this way  but I am learning- and it is great fun.
The next stage is making sure what I see on the screen approximates what will come out of Columbia's printer. This may take a few publications to perfect that process.

Noron's Keep, pen and ink, Copyright © 2012, Columbia Games, Inc., Richard Luschek

The other thing changing in Harn Products is a switch to a new Harnic Drop Cap (the decorative capital letter that starts off each article). Before we were using a pretty basic one that I thought was bit anachronistic. I thought it might be fun to go with a more medieval / Celtic feel, and when I could- use the Harnic Bestiary to make the initials.

Copyright © 2012, Columbia Games, Inc., Richard Luschek

For Noron, the obvious choice was the Harnic beast, the Nolah. As I make my way through the alphabet, look for a whole set to be available. Let me know what you think and feel free to offer suggestion of Harnic creatures you would like to see for the Harnic Alphabet.

Chivalry and Kids

I just started my next painting for the Demolay International organization. This is the second of three paintings for this commission. I am working on the painting now but thought I would post the image of the charcoal drawing. The drawing is 36" x 24" and has been traced with wax paper and transferred to the canvas.

Protect and Serve, 36"x24", charcoal and chalk on toned paper, © copyright Demolay Int. and Richard Luschek 2012

Wax paper is laid over the drawing, the big shapes are traced with marker and then the back of the wax paper is rubbed with charcoal.
The wax paper is then placed over the canvas and the lines drawn over with a brush handle or dull pencil. The charcoal will mark the canvas like carbon paper.  I then inked the lines with thin paint and then lay in in a value study.
More to come soon.