Today I released my latest illustration over at rixxjavix.com the Hecate War Wing poster. The original Hecate illustration used in this piece is one I started working on way back in February and it has been one I've returned to numerous times. In fact, just last week I tried using it in a piece with an explosion I drew.
Mostly I wanted to get better at painting explosions. For a brief minute I thought this might work, but ultimately it started to fall apart on me. I remain challenged by the reality of Eve spaceships and their natural environments, once I start removing them from "space" they tend to fall apart creatively. It's hard to explain, but there is an inherent value in properly framing the ships. Lean one way or the other and they just stop working. This doesn't mean they have to stay in a space environment, certainly the more I do that the more they look like screenshots from the game. It just means that finding the right treatment can be challenging and sometimes becomes extremely personal to each ship I draw.
Ultimately I decided to embrace the "aviation" aspect of the Hecate's design and present it like an illustrator might present a very detailed painting of an airplane. Since the Hecate is clearly inspired by the "flying wings" of the past - this choice felt natural and right. Something the explosion treatment just never did.
About two years ago I sketched a Comet coming out of an explosion in one of my sketchbooks. Maybe that will one day end up as another piece - maybe with another ship rather than the Comet. Who knows?
Until then, be sure to check out the site and all the pieces currently available. And remember we ship Internationally around the globe. These pieces are created at over 30 locations around the world at the location nearest you to help save on shipping, VAT, customs, and other taxes. It is a pretty clever system that the supplier has up and running, which is why I selected them in the first place.
In case you are wondering, yes I am essentially losing money on this - but I'm going to continue creating new pieces and running the site until someone tells me to stop. My multi-dollar empire continues to struggle but I enjoy this too much to quit.
I may be insane.