Of Gaslights, Questions du Jour, Line Drawings & Google Alerts

Heya! HAPPY 1/11/11 to everyone!!  Emily and I had a "Question du Jour" session last night... No it's not some french pastry that you have in bed with your lover... (Although... hmmmmm.) It means, "Question of the Day."  So here's your question du jour:  "What has been your proudest moment so far?"

I jumped into Google Alert a few days ago and it's really pretty cool, I have to say.  It allows you to monitor the web for interesting new content.  You can check it out here.  So when I type in something like, "Art Nouveau", it sends me all of the articles, blogs, etc. that talked about Art Nouveau today.  It's extremely useful for my business but it's also a HUUUUGE time sink.  (Must... resist... the.... shiny.....)  As if I didn't already have enough trouble staying focused.

Working from home is hard.  That is all.

I've been talking to Steve about some of the rules for his new game called, Gaslight Underground.  He has to put on quite the balancing act in order to please so many gamers who would like the game tailored to their style of playing.  The questions that come up: How do you please everyone?  Can you please everyone?  Should you try to please everyone?  I say make the rules fair and make the storylines AMAZING.  The rules don't matter as much when people leave the game going, "OMG! Who'd have thought that the librarian was actually a dragon stuck in human form?!?  See?  The adventure is everything!  Awwww Yaaaaa.

Creating a fun game for everyone is hard.  That is all.

Speaking of Gaslight Underground... let me introduce you to another artist on the GU project - her name is Magpie Bones and not only does she draw extremely well, she also does the website, makes awesome costumes and she sculpts!  Magpie's like the Michael Jordan of the art world!  You should definitely check out her stuff.  (By the way - you can click on her name to go to her portfolio... just sayin'.  Do it... Do it now then come back.)

OK now back to me!  Here are some line drawings that I've done for the rulebook's interior... I'm kind of pleased with them and junk.  :)

You should be able to click on these to see the larger image.  I'm off.  Feel free to comment.  Thanks to everyone who's been reading the blog - you guys rock!  That is all.

- Chaz -

Buy my art here:
Look at my art here:
Listen to my band here:

Of Steampunk Games, Krakens & Being Kind to your Engineer

Good Morning!  How are you guys today?  

I feel fantastic and I can't wait to embark on a weekend of gaming!  I play in a really fun D&D game run by my bandmate Rion & his wife, Sarah a couple of times a month.  Right now we're trying to beat up a bunch of evil dwarves who have stolen, among other things, huge amounts of cheese from the surface villages and towns.  I assure you all that my being lactose-intolerant will not quench my heroic fire one little bit.

I also run a steampunk/fantasy game about twice a month called RookeMare.  I've been GM'ing games for a number of years now, but they have always been fantasy-based.  I'd been dying to run a steampunk game but I'm having an interesting time of it.  I have to keep reminding myself that the setting is Victorian!  Here's an example of a typical encounter:  "You see before you a really mean-looking orc! Ummm yes... it's got a big 2-handed sword... oh, I mean rifle!  Yes... a steam-powered rifle.  With gears on it... ya... and ummm, he's wearing Victorian-styled armor and a bowler hat - ya, that's it... a bowler hat!  Oooh - and he's wearing goggles..."  It's a pretty new game and we're all having fun, it'll just take me a little while to shift gears.  Oooh - didja catch that?  "I said, "Shift Gears!" ha ha ha... never mind...

My girlfriend, Emily, her sister, Sarah (different Sarah) & I all went out to Mimi's for dinner.  (Mimi's jambalaya is amazingly good!)  Sarah had just gotten back from a biology conference in Salt Lake City and she was telling us about the various lectures she attended.  Really fascinating stuff, especially the knowledge that there are life-forms we have yet to lay eyes on because they live so deep underwater.  As you can imagine, being an artist, this really began to fuel my imagination. What if things like the Leviathan and the Kraken are still swimming around today?  Because no one really knows what lives down there, no one can say with any assuredness that those kinds of "fantasy" creatures don't exist!  Remember that the next time some silly muggle says, "Dragons aren't real."

Now for some art!  Yay Art!  I did a piece called, "Steampunk Sally" a couple of years back and while I loved how the figure came out, the muse was off eating a sandwich when it came time to do the background.  This year I vowed to do up a new background for her and I finished it Thursday night.  So here she is - all dusted off and ready for the new year!  Incidentally, you can purchase this piece here!  Let me know what you  think.  :)

And remember - always be kind to your engineer and other members of the support team when you're bounding about on your adventures! Saving the cheese is rarely a one-person job. 

- Chaz -

Buy my art here:
Look at my art here:
Listen to my band here: