This was originally published in Watch The Skies, January 2024 issue.
For a couple of years now I’ve focused my written pieces for Watch The Skies on films and television. While that sort of entertainment is wonderful, I feel that we need to shift from film to other forms of art. As a group, science fiction fandom has some of the most imaginative and talented creators anywhere. If there’s a way to create something, they’ll find it. If it can tie in with a favorite book or show, so much the better.
My hope is to get some of our members to show off their creations here in the fanzine this year. I would love to see what other folks are making and how it’s related to their fandom.
I’ll go first! Normally our group sees my artwork on the cover of the ‘zine each month. That isn’t the only form of art I create. I draw, paint, model and craft as well. As part of an online crafting group I was able to enter a contest for the creation of a “magic potion”. Using a bottle and a number of other supplies, I was able to create the “magic potion” Release. It’s a real, full size bottle with sculpted pieces, painted glass and hand sketched parchment. While it didn’t win the contest, I was really pleased with the results.
This Christmas season has had me more out of sorts than normal.
One thing that hasn’t changed is our family tradition of having a themed Christmas tree each year. We’ve been doing our own thing for more than 26 years now. This year, perhaps the grouchy has shown through in what our tree theme turned out to be.
The tree is clearly grouchy too…
Merry Christmas! May all your celebrations be warm and bright… now scram!
Sometimes the fun part of coming up with cover art for the fanzine each month is trying to figure out what an alien landscape will look like. Sometimes that’s the most daunting part as well. What if it’s not described well? What if your vision is absolutely NOT what the author had in mind?
This month Watch The Skies is reading Kaiju Preservation Society by Scalzi.
Spoiler alert – there are different trees in this novel… and I had fun making them. Here’s a background preview of this month’s cover:
We’re closing in on the end of the 23rd year of the fan group Watch The Skies. It’s been an amazing run and I genuinely hope it rolls at least another 23 years or more.
We still publish a fanzine each month and I still get the opportunity to make cover art for the various issues. The August book we were discussing was called Paradox Hotel. I liked the visual concept of various versions of the hotel being slightly out of focus with each other. A blurry filter over the camera lens. I pulled together some images and set to work. Here’s the cover for the August issue:
It’s been some time since I’ve said anything about it, but I do still create graphics (art feels like a strong word for what I do) and put it out there in the world. This is the cover for this month’s Watch The Skies fanzine, without the text.
Inspired by Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
Many years ago I wrote up a post here about this bonkers concept for creating a Dune movie that I’d caught wind of on the net. I went and found the documentary and consumed it. I was enthusiastic about the concept at the time.
In the intervening time it has been pointed out that the creator of this concept brought out some very problematic things about how he created his art. Creating art using rape is NOT acceptable. It is probably a very good thing that his vision never actually made it all the way to the point of filming.
All that being said, I would still love to see the mythical book that was created to showcase the concept for this film adaptation. With all the attention being given to Dune again, one of the ultra rare books has popped up and will be sold at auction.
IF I had the money, I suspect I would have gotten in on the bidding, just for the chance to check out some of the artwork inhabiting that book. Maybe someday they’ll market a digital version and we’ll get a chance to peek at the art from some masterful creators.
It’s a sportsball sounding kind of title, but it doesn’t make it less true. Sometimes when you’re in a slump or you can’t seem to shake out of a rut the thing you need is an easy win. Take on something that’s not part of your regular list, your massive project or the thing you’re blocked on and just do something smaller and less stressful. Take the easy win.
That worked for me. I went out and watched the **ULTIMATE** newbie crash course. I don’t know that I’m a total newbie, but I’m always happy to look at videos talking about basics. The foundation or fundamental pieces that crafters start from are often very different from each other. I don’t necessarily follow all the terrain advice shown in Wyloch’s Armory, but there was a bit in that video that reached me. Quick and easy doors.
I hadn’t thought about doors in dungeon terrain specifically. I’ve got grand visions of foam mountains and elaborate set pieces with months of build time involved and it all just seemed to be a bit overwhelming. I needed to step back and take on something smaller and easier in order to get into the work. Doors. The video series creator has a really great take on using a flat washer and some smaller craft supplies to create these doors. I stopped by the hardware store on the way back to the house one day and dug in.
I did not stick to the pure basics as shown in the video, but used the simplicity of the design concept to push forward a series of doors that I could use to advance a story. I was really happy with the result and at the end of the afternoon I had nine pieces I could add to my terrain library for future use. I didn’t grab pictures of all individually, but here are a couple of my favorites:
The Collection
Rusty Cell
Rotten Core
If you’re stuck or have writers block or can’t figure out what to paint or build or whatever your hobby is – sometimes it can really help if you take the ‘easy win’! What sort of things fit this description for you?
I’m still sitting clearly in the amateur section when it comes to my miniatures and crafting hobbies. It has taken me longer than it really should to make any sort of tangible progress, but I am in fact making progress. I’m also learning and enjoying finally digging into my giant pile of shame (all those unpainted minis that have been sitting around for sooooo long).
This fine fellow will likely be raging out of the earth during some Dungeons & Dragons campaign in the near future:
As this week winds down we’re closing in on the end of the nomination period for the Hugo awards. For the past 20 years Watch The Skies has been publishing a fanzine that is eligible for the award. For each of those fanzines, cover art is needed. I’ve done a bunch of them.
Lately I’ve started to move back toward creating art that is NOT strictly digital. The cover art for this month’s edition actually started as an acrylic painting. Yes, I needed to get a picture of it and add some digital things like a border and title, but the base is still a painting.
When I say in my bio that I’m a fan, author and artist… it’s not always in that order. I know I’ll never win any awards, but it’s still important to create. Here’s the painting with out the border or text (high res photos do my no favors – this actually looks better in person).
Yeah, yeah, yeah… patience. How long does that take?
That’s one of my favorite quotes. It comes from a comedy sketch by a group called the Frantics (Boot to the Head). It has become something of a constant call back in this house. Having and expectation of being immediately good at something and the reality of how good you actually are at something are two circles of a Venn diagram that don’t always cross.
I’ve had some longer posts recently about things that are depressing, particularly those related to fandom. I was not actively seeking out “feel good” posts, but found one anyway. I watch a number of different YouTube channels that involve painting, miniatures, crafting and table top gaming. I have some favorites and some that I only glance at from time to time. All of the ones I watch have a level of professionalism that I admire, right along with the actual skill connected to what they’re showing.
Here’s the feel good part: this artist saw a fellow gamer that was being forced to sell the miniature collection related to his hobby. His heart went out to his fellow gamer. He decided to recreate this army of minis, paint them and give them away. It was a cool video if you want to watch the whole thing, but that’s the short version of it.
Check it out here:
That’s a LOT of miniatures!
Back to the patience thing (see how waiting can pay off?). I took note of what the creator said in this video. He’s a pro, meaning this is how he pays the bills. I did a rough estimate based on a typical work week here in the US. I figure 8 hours per day would be considered a “work day”. The paint job being done in the video above took about 16 days. After the 5th day, an assistant joined in. I have no idea how long the helper worked, but let’s say it was 4 hours each day for 10 days (because I like easy math). Adding it up: 16 (8) hour days = 128 hours + 40 hours of helper time. That’s (checks calculator) 168 hours of prep and painting time.
How does this related to patience I hear you asking. Well, sometimes I get frustrated that my miniatures don’t look quite as good as some of the pieces I see online, as painted by the pros. Shocking nobody but myself – mine don’t look as good. I don’t have the hours in the chair that they do. Sure, maybe over the years I might come close to a reasonable total, but painting and crafting is an active skill. It’s something to be maintained and worked at. If I get, let’s be generous and say 4 hours each week where I can sit and really dig into my hobby, it would take me (goes back to the calculator) about 42 weeks to accomplish what they did for the video. So a couple months short of an entire year. Even a year from now I’m betting I won’t have that many minis painted.
Decidedly NOT like the pros.
I need to learn patience and practice. IF you’re creating something, don’t get down on yourself. Keep doing what you love. It will come around. Even if you never “go pro”, you’re still doing and creating something you love. If you get really lucky, you’ll find a way to share that with the people you care about.
