Showing posts with label Spawn of Dyscrasia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spawn of Dyscrasia. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Glass Blowing - Making an Ornament


The sequel to Lords of Dyscrasia is coming in 2014, entitled Spawn of Dyscrasia.  It features a hero from Clan Tonn who is a glass blower.  My wife empowered me to do some research by signing me up for a basic glass blowing class; the goal being to make a glass ornament.  So across town to Brazee Street Studios (Cincinnati, OH) I went and had a great time.  John Ruzsa (glass blower) guided me through the process.  The below montages summarize:

  1. Gather some glass (Furnace 1)
  2. Manage temperature of the pipe and glass (Furnace 2)
  3. Add some color (colored frit is worked in)
  4. Shape it (molding, blowing, pincing)
  5. Anneal it (Furnace 3, not shown here.  Essentially the glass is equilibrated at a cooler, but still "hot" temperature.)

The ornament is quite robust, and rather heavy.  The blowpipe is the length of an Aikido jo (staff) and could easily be employed in combat.  And the furnaces...wow...they are hot!








Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Ken Kelly - Cover Art for Spawn of Dyscrasia

Spawn of Dyscrasia Coverart by Ken Kelly

The sequel to the horror-fantasy novel Lords of Dyscrasia is Spawn of Dyscrasia.  It is on track for a 2014 release.

The commissioned cover art from artist Ken Kelly (Bio) just arrived.  Expect more posts soon documenting the design process.  If you think you are not familiar with his art, browse his gallery Ken Kelly (gallery); you likely have his coverart in your library.

Two draft compositions of the  Spawn of Dyscrasia cover are below.  Thanks go out to my partner in crime, Heidi, who has a flare for fonts & lettering.  She will be tidying the design as the cover develops.

Spawn of Dyscrasia - S.E. Lindberg / Covert Art © Ken Kelly 2013

Spawn of Dyscrasia - S.E. Lindberg - Covert Art by Ken Kelly 2013
COMP A
Spawn of Dyscrasia - S.E. Lindberg - Covert Art © Ken Kelly 2013

Spawn of Dyscrasia - S.E. Lindberg - Covert Art by Ken Kelly 2013
COMP B
Spawn of Dyscrasia - S.E. Lindberg - Covert Art © Ken Kelly 2013

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Halloween Crafts: Spooky Apple Head Creatures

Crafting Prototype Creatures
image from: Apple Head Dolls & More!
I am designing creatures for the sequel to Lords of Dyscrasia and am exploring possibilities with tangible prototypes.  This process yielded an easily reapplied Halloween craft!

Animating Manikins: The dark hero Lysis reanimated the skeletons and armatures of Doctor Grave's Dissection Theater to form his undead troop, the Red Horde (image below).  Motivated to integrate the mysterious fruit/orchard themes littering the book (the presence of which will be explained in the sequel) with this Horde led me to literally mix (1) apple-head crafts with (2) art manikins.  The results are...

Simple Spooky Apple Head Creatures
Appledolls.org is a nice resource for creating traditional dolls (as seen on Martha Sterwart :)).  Below is my modified method: 
  1. Skin an apple; for a spooky effect, leave some slivers of skin on the face to mimic scars
  2. Carve into a shape such that, when dried, will resemble a head
  3. Ensure it can be mounted to a doll or art manikin; for the art manikin route, carve a hole in the under side of the apple so that it can become a "helmet"--for a tight fit, allow the apple to dry on the manikin head.
  4. Decorate with paint, needles, toothpicks, etc. ; Simple PVA glue makes for good drool!

The Red Horde: reanimated armatures, skeletons, and art manikins from Lords of Dyscrasia
The Next-Generation Red Horde?