Incantor goes on Kickstarter

So, Moveablecode, the mobile publishing company I'm part owner in and the CCO of, has just gone live with our stealth project that we've been developing for over 18 months. Moveablecode has an amazing dev team we call "the Ninjas" run by Trivikram Prasad, our VP of engineering, and terrifically talented CEO in Nick Napp.

Yes, this is the big project that has been taking a lot of my time and slowing down the writing of Frahnknshtyne but man has it been worth it! If you're visiting please check it out and if you think it's cool, please pass it along to other lovers of fantasy gaming and high fantasy stories. It's a dramatic new gaming format that brings magic into the real world.

I'm a storyteller and maker of fantasies and this has been a passion project for me and the other execs at Moveablecode for quite a while now. We've always wanted to figure out how to game with magic set free from computer screens and cards. Check it out if you get a chance. I'll be posting more Frahnknshtyne soon now that this is underway.
Thanks, Kevin

Steampunk Skull Muscles

Whew! The final image of the Making of Frahnknshtyne's face is finally done.  It is now a completed Triptych. This middle image shows the crafting of the leather straps and support structure that will drive the final skin to move. Like all things Vyctor does, he is obsessive in the detail and art of it even though it will not be seen. I've been enjoying the ironic nature of these images in the sense that they are a form of "still life" and chronicle one brilliant man's attempt at making a new receptacle for life.
More to come in the book.  Cheers, Kevin

Steampunk Skull Muscles

Steampunk skull triptych

And a fun video so you can see how the face builds up layer by layer.

Steampunk Frankenstein's face

Finally, I've gotten to a face for Frahnknshtyne's creation that is delivering the narrative I was striving for. The mechanical man in my story is not about gore or re-animating dead flesh. It is the result of an obsessive labor to create an artful receptacle worthy of holding the minds of the immortals.

Months ago I posted the highly detailed metallic skull (I've reposted it in this post so you can see the finished product on the same bench and in the same position).

The completed head is made from finely tooled soft leather. Each hair has been stitched into place by hand and the leather face is connected to an intricate series of tiny pulleys and leather straps that act like muscles to drive expression and movement. My next painting is the middle image in this Steampunk Tryptych. It will be the image showing the muscles and controls being built on the face. Can't wait to get to it.

For this painting I wanted a mad and complicated sense of Vyctor, bringing all his artisan skills and victorian technology to bear on making this creation of great and subtle intricacy.

I can't tell you any more as I'd like you to read it in the book (which is coming along very nicely).  I hope you enjoy these ongoing glimpses into the world of Frahnknshtyne.

Be sure to see the just completed middle stage of the making of the Frahnknshtyne head. It's the crafting of the muscle structure you can find here.
cheers, Kevin

Steampunk Frahnknshtyne leather face

Steampunk Frahnknshtyne's metal skull

New Steampunk Motorcycle

I've been gone far too long from posting new work on the site.  I guess that's what happens when you are launching a brand new company and getting the first apps to market.
I've also been up to my eyebrows in writing the story and working through all the challenges that entails.
Anyway, since so many of you visit the site to see the art I've done a new illustration. One of the things I truly love is vintage motorcycles. I've already worked on a preliminary design for the Gyrostator that appears in the story and that gets the most hits on the site.  I wanted to envision another bike that would fit in the world I'm writing but would represent a much more refined design.
I want this bike. It would be handy in heavy traffic.  Nothing says "respect me" like fender mounted pistols.
I really enjoy painting rusted, rough and weathered surfaces and really got into the colors and textures on the huge, iron skull buttress and the large hanging pulley beneath it.
I hope you enjoy.  I've posted the whole image and some close ups of parts of the painting as well.

Cheers, Kevin

PS - If enough of you are interested I'll assemble and post the making of video for this as well.
PSS - I've also got an older post with a much more fantasy bike sketch with a locomotive drive.

Steampunk Motorcycle Frahnknshtyne

Pistol mounts on front end

Steampunk skull buttress

New Blog about Steampunk Inspirations

Hello Friends and followers.
While writing and drawing Frahnknshtyne I frequently come across other artists, ideas and thinking that help me in the work I'm doing or are just plain inspiring in a steam punk kind of way. I'm establishing a new blog to share those with everyone else. I invite you to visit and sign up if you like. Hope you enjoy and cheers for now, Kevin

Steampunk Inspirations

Viper Wolf before steampunking

From time to time I go back into older illustrations and add to or rethink them.  This is an image for the skull of a mythical creature called a viper wolf that I never fully completed from several years ago.  The Jaw is articulated like that of a rattlesnake and it hunts using a pit viper's ability to sense heat (since it has no eyes and is completely unsighted).

I'm going to be going back into this older illustration and adding mechanism and detail to it just for fun. I love the idea of an animal experimented on to make it more dangerous for nefarious purposes.  This isn't for Frahnknshtyne but is something I thought I'd share with you as I go just for fun.

I have additional images for Frahnknshtyne but many of them are being held back now as the book gets closer to being completed. I'll still be posting some of those soon (but I gotta surprise you with story and art in the completed book).

Cheers, Kevin

Viper Wolf Skull soon to be Steampunked

The Pinkerton and the Princess: Final

Well, here's the completed image. I had a lot of fun with this painting as it brought out a number of interesting ideas.  One such fun detail is that the rifle is actually a rocket launcher using traditional oriental black powder rockets.
I've included a few detail images so you can see the sculpted face of her sky-train as well as some of the fun detail of the rifle.
Cheers:

The Pinkerton and the Princess

Sky Train

Rocket launcher

The Pinkerton and the Princess

sometimes when I'm developing a story, other stories come to mind that would work in the same world.  I'm doing a quick illustration to capture one of those stories that will happen in the world of Frahnknshtyne called "The Pinkerton and the Princess." Here's a sneak peek of part of the image underway.

Steampunk, The Art of Victorian Futurism

Today, I'm very excited! Korero's book "Steampunk, the Art of Victorian Futurism" has been released and I have received my advance copy! Jay Strongman did a fantastic job authoring the book and has collected quite a compendium of Steampunk art and creations.  I am honored that my Frahnknshtyne art is featured in some very high quality prints in the book in quite a few places. Thanks Jay and everyone else who worked putting the book together and thanks for adding to Steampunk's momentum!

Amazing real pistols

 A friend sent me the link to these amazing real pistols.  Just had to repost the link and share them.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=fd3_1310419871&jwp_version=5