Chupacabra de Mayo
It’s hard to believe that April is done and we’re now into May. This year has been a lot busier for me than normal. It’s not a bad problem to have, it just makes putting together new posts a little more hectic. Nonetheless there will be new posts made to keep you all happy :). Most of you seem to enjoy the “art in process” posts so here’s another for you.
With Cinco de Mayo coming up, it seemed like a good time to show a piece I did a little while back, the Chupacabra. It’s for the Call of Cthulhu card game put out by Fantasy Flight Games from the Screams From Within (Asylum Pack).
When I first got the card art brief I knew little to nothing about the Chupacabra so I turned to our friend the internet to gather some info. “Chupacabra” I found out translates to “goat-sucker.” Which made sense since the brief asked for the critter munching on a goat in an open moonlit field.
I started noodling around with some ideas in my layout pad. After doing a few rough thumbnail sketches I came up with one I liked, this one…
Chupacabra rough sketch
After that, I enlarged the rough up to the specified dimensions, transferred it by lightbox, and worked up the final sketch to send over to the art director for this project.
Chupacabra finished sketch
After I scanned and emailed the sketch for approval, I started planning my colors for the piece knowing that the art director’s feedback wouldn’t really affect my palette. So I worked up a small color rough on dark blue Canson paper to make sure I liked how my color ideas would look. I’d show you the rough but I can’t seem to locate it in my studio. I think it may have been purged with other papers the last time I cleaned up.
I recieved approval on my sketch and then started in on the final artwork.
After the painting was done, I trimmed it down to a size that fits comfortably in my scanner bed, and scanned it into the computer. Then it’s taken into Photoshop for color correcting and last minute touch ups.
Chupacabra finished art
The blue frame you see is actually the color of the paper I painted the piece on. After it’s scanned, color corrected, and set to the file specifics the company asked for, it’s uploaded to them for final approval. I got my approval and it’s out of my hands as their graphic design team puts the whole set together.
Sometime later (much later) I got a package in the mail with my sample of the finished product. Digging through the cards I came across cards by a bunch of my friends and………..my own.
Chupacabra game card
I hope you’ve enjoyed this encounter with the Chupacaba and the process that brought him out of my head and onto the game table.
Until next time.
Later,
Prof.
