Steampunk Slums

The vast, compacted slums of Travaille have been expanding as more and more of the population have become paupers.   It is a dark and labyrinthian place where the bones and bowels of industry trespass blindly into the desperately poor makeshift dwellings of those who live here.  As you would expect, down here there is little police presence and for that reason, the Royales, the ultra rich, frequent the brothels and illegal places looking for "entertainment" to break the monotony of their preternaturally long lives.  There are those here who specialize in their terrible pleasures and if they go too far...few notice when a resident disappears.

This image shows one of the hundreds of multi-layered alleys with their connecting walkways and open flame torches burning off the ever present bi-products of industry.  One of the more ancient of the Royales is descending on the right.  A few of the Royales have absorbed so much Aether that they can do humanly impossible things like fly.

There is more work to be done on this image but it's far enough along to post and then update as I go (so check back).

Here is the "making of" video.  I've included some text to talk about how the art informs the narrative process and vice versa.  For me, being an artist and a writer, it is a key part of my process.

Steampunk slums of Travaille

Steampunk slums of travaille making of from kevin mowrer on Vimeo.