How to use this Page

After playing some street fighter at an arcade recently, I just had to recreate this guy! I love Dhalsim! 

Here she is: Piper the elf from jacket art for Escape from Netherworld—about a group of role-playing gamers who are somehow transformed into their characters and transported into an alternate realm: Netherworld.

My pal, the extraordinarily talented Gina Datres, is the book’s designer and she called me in to illustrate the jacket. After some discussion and rough sketches back & forth we hit on the idea of 3 individual images of the gamers going through their transformation. For the 2 guys, Twiggy and Borhai, I drew the gamers in pencil but fully rendered their characters in paint. I work with watercolor (gouache), so I traced some of the drawing with a wax candle. Since watercolor won’t stick to wax, you can see the drawing of the gamer ‘through’ the painting of the character. Piper, the elf-girl, doesn’t change in size enough to make that idea work so I made her hair a magical element that swirls around her as it grows.

If you’d like to buy a copy of Escape from Netherworld just click here.

Author: David Kuklis
Designer: Gina Datres
Illustrator: John Manders
Editor: Nan Newell
Published and Printed by:
Word Association Publishers
Tarentum, PA 15084
ISBN: 978 1 59571 994 2
Available for purchase:
wordassociation.com   —   1 800 827 7903
barnesandnoble.com
amazon.com

As usual, here are the rough sketches, tight sketches, color study and final painting.

More jacket art for Escape from Netherworld—it’s about a group of role-playing gamers who are somehow transformed into their characters and transported into an alternate realm: Netherworld. Yesterday I showed you Twiggy the dwarf. Here’s Borhai the warrior who starts out as a regular gaming guy named Dave.

My pal, the extraordinarily talented Gina Datres, is the book’s designer and she called me in to illustrate the jacket. After some discussion and rough sketches back & forth we hit on the idea of 3 individual images of the gamers going through their transformation. For the 2 guys, I drew the gamers in pencil but fully rendered their characters in paint. I work with watercolor (gouache), so I traced some of the drawing with a wax candle. Since watercolor won’t stick to wax, you can see the drawing of the gamer ‘through’ the painting of the character. Piper, the elf-girl, doesn’t change in size enough to make that idea work so I made her hair a magical element that swirls around her as it grows.

If you’d like to buy a copy of Escape from Netherworld just click here.

Author: David Kuklis
Designer: Gina Datres
Illustrator: John Manders
Editor: Nan Newell
Published and Printed by:
Word Association Publishers
Tarentum, PA 15084
ISBN: 978 1 59571 994 2
Available for purchase:
wordassociation.com   —   1 800 827 7903
barnesandnoble.com
amazon.com

As usual, here are the rough sketch, tight sketch, color study and final painting.

Escape From Netherworld jacket

Hey, gang! Sorry for the interruption in posts—I spent most of last week in New York City visiting art directors, editors and creative directors. Now I’m back and I want to show you something I worked on this summer.

Here is jacket art for Escape from Netherworld—it’s about a group of role-playing gamers who are somehow transformed into their characters and transported into an alternate realm: Netherworld.

My pal, the extraordinarily talented Gina Datres, is the book’s designer and she called me in to illustrate the jacket. After some discussion and rough sketches back & forth we hit on the idea of 3 individual images of the gamers going through their transformation. For the 2 guys, I drew the gamers in pencil but fully rendered their characters in paint. I work with watercolor (gouache), so I traced some of the drawing with a wax candle. Since watercolor won’t stick to wax, you can see the drawing of the gamer ‘through’ the painting of the character. Piper, the elf-girl, doesn’t change in size enough to make that idea work so I made her hair a magical element that swirls around her as it grows.

If you’d like to buy a copy of Escape from Netherworld just click here.

Author: David Kuklis
Designer: Gina Datres
Illustrator: John Manders
Editor: Nan Newell
Published and Printed by:
Word Association Publishers, Tarentum, PA 15084
ISBN: 978 1 59571 994 2
Available for purchase:
wordassociation.com   —   1 800 827 7903
barnesandnoble.com
amazon.com

Let’s start with Twiggy the dwarf. As usual, here are the rough sketches, tight sketches, color studies and final paintings.

1. How many friends do you have? If you answered less than 5, you’re a loser.
2. Do you go to gaming/movie conventions?  If you answered yes, you’re a loser.
3. What sort of parties do you go to?  If you answered gaming, or computer parties, you’re a loser.
4. Do you play World of Warcraft or anything like it?  If you answered yes, you’re a loser.
5. Do you fish, hunt, or anything else of that sort?  If you answered yes, you’re a loser.
6. How many people are in your phone’s contact list?  If you answered 10 or less, you’re a loser.
7. What level are you in Call of Duty? If you answered a number, you’re a loser.
8. Have you ever pre-ordered a game?  If you answered yes, you’re a loser.
9. Are you only friends with people of your gender?  If you answered yes, you’re a loser. 
10. Why did you read this article?  If you answered anything besides you were bored, you’re a loser.

1. How many friends do you have? If you answered less than 5, you’re a loser.
2. Do you go to gaming/movie conventions?  If you answered yes, you’re a loser.
3. What sort of parties do you go to?  If you answered gaming, or computer parties, you’re a loser.
4. Do you play World of Warcraft or anything like it?  If you answered yes, you’re a loser.
5. Do you fish, hunt, or anything else of that sort?  If you answered yes, you’re a loser.
6. How many people are in your phone’s contact list?  If you answered 10 or less, you’re a loser.
7. What level are you in Call of Duty? If you answered a number, you’re a loser.
8. Have you ever pre-ordered a game?  If you answered yes, you’re a loser.
9. Are you only friends with people of your gender?  If you answered yes, you’re a loser. 
10. Why did you read this article?  If you answered anything besides you were bored, you’re a loser.

Hey, Darth Bill, Mysterious Anonymous has sent you a warning! I think you'd better pay attention to it:

Hummmmmmmm! I WILL be watching and reading this Blog. If I have to come back and put you in your place again I will, be you assured of this, Sith! Until then I can depend on other creatures to keep you in line.

Sounds pretty serious to me, Darth Bill!! I wonder what sort of creatures he means? Something like this?

or this?

No, I think he means the Lagormorph!! Better be careful when you taunt Mysterious Anonymous!!!

Well, as Bill says, enough silliness. I've just read two good, short, easy-and-quick-to-read books. One is Gamer by Alan Durant and the other is its sequel, Gamer: Next Level.

In the first book, JP is a serious gamer. He spends so much time with his Z Box that he doesn't listen when his mom tells him he has to read. Yet he's played and beaten all his games--where will he ever find a new one? The answer comes the next day when JP finds a junk store that wasn't there before. There's a new Z Box game in the window! JP goes inside and finds that the owner is a creepy guy with big glasses and a white cone of hair on top of his bald head. The man tells JP that it's not just a game but an experience. In fact, the game doesn't have a title, just a warning! But JP buys it anyway and takes it home. What happens when he tries it out? Let's just say he finds more experiences and danger than he wished for! In the second book, Mia and Zak, her pest of a little brother, find JP's game. Mia starts to play but then sees Zak captured by an octopus and taken inside a sunken ship. Can she save him? And guess who shows up at the end of the story? As I said, these are what you want when you want something that's quick and fun.

All right, take care, and let me know if you've got a copy of The Battle of the Labyrinth,

Carl

(PS--I saw Bill reading The Lightning Thief. Can't wait to hear how he likes it!)