Latest Posts

THE BIG TEX TALKS BATTLETECH MACKIE ART DUMP!

Mackie and Asher ( Harasser….Sarna subbed a pic of it for the Asher. )

Greetings y’all,

The time has come! I can now reveal the artwork I produced for the Tex Talks Battletech Mackie episode! I’ve been a long time fan of the BT universe and Tex’s work. As such, I reached out to Tex to offer my services. He and the BPL team graciously accepted my help. What followed was several weeks of Battletech art fun! Now, I will share it with you!

Glorious Jacob Cameron superstar!

This is the first Jacob Cameron piece I produced for Tex. At this point, I had never indulged in creating BT artwork. Had a fun time researching the uniforms and gear. Had to ask Tex about the fancy way SLDF soldiers hold their laser guns.

Charles Kincaid

Charles Kincaid is the first man to pilot the Mackie. Sadly, There is no previous artwork of Charles; not even a description of his appearance. I went with a rather generic, “fresh out of the cockpit,” Chuck Yeager look for him.

Jacob Cameron in his space-cape with a Vincent and Sparrowhawks.
Sans Jacob

This is the second Jacob Cameron piece. I went a bit nuts with the Vincent redesign. In retrospect, I should have stuck closer to the “smoother” original design. ( It looks like it comes from the Expanse show rather than BT. ) HOWEVER, as with a lot of old BT artwork, old designs get associated with all sorts of vehicles. The art I referenced was used for multiple warships. ( The original art has no specific weapon mounts. I suspect the art for the Lola is just the stern view of the Vincent. ) The Sparrowhawks are pretty close to the original designs.

Jacob Cameron touring the Skobel Mechworks factory. ( Skobel logo by
David Allen Kerber
)

The first crack at my “version” of the Mackie redesign. Tex needed something showing Jacob worrying over Mackie schematics and productions figures. Rather than a boring conference room, I thought it’d be more fun to show him on one of those sleazy “suits in hard hats” factory tours. Originally, I wanted throw in some more hoists, lifts, and scaffolding for the BPL team to animate. I had to drop that idea quickly. The composition was already too busy for superfluous visual elements.

I’m overall pleased with how it turned out. Adding space-ridges and straps to future clothes is fun! Jacob Cameron leaves a bit to be desired in my eyes. He has a real Seto Kaiba thing going on with his trench coat and his head, left shoulder, and chest highlight make everything look wonky. ( Personal note: Work on hands! )

An older version of the above art with old book overlay.

I opened the post with the finished version of this art. Thus, I’m going to drop this version in for the fifth piece of art produced for the video. This would be my redesign of the Mackie going forward. I wanted to marry the modern BT aesthetic to the older Mackie “spaceman” design. I actually love the modern, revitalized mech designs done for MWO and the Battletech games. ( Thank you, Alex Iglesias ) But, I also want to honor the efforts of the artists that initially brought the setting to life. So, I kept the front and dodads largely the same. My biggest adds are the separated torso and the suggested feeding apparatus and shell ejection port on the AC-10 arm. ( It’s always been strange to me how mechs can have ammo caches all over their body with no visible suggestion of how it gets from the location to the weapon. As Tex would say, It’s space magic. )

A few more notes about the image. First of all, the book title and overlay. While creating this piece, I reflected on how much it looked like an old paperback novel cover. ( I laugh at dumb stuff like that. ) As a joke, I threw this version together to send Tex. I guess merriment was had. Also, that Harasser up front is supposed to be an older recon hovercraft called an Asher. Digging though old BT lore can be confusing. It wasn’t until this piece was almost complete, that I noticed the reference photo on Sarna was actually that of a Harasser. So, yeah, oh well…..

The calm before the storm. Dreadnought over Tintavel.
A troubles a brewin’
All the nukes.

The first of a series of narrative pieces created with the intention of animation. This was not originally what I had planned for the composition or camera angle. I really wanted to avoid the old cliche of “BIG SHIP SHOOT DOWN.” After some sketches and much deliberation, I went with this low orbit perspective. ( Get some dimension on those clouds. ) This version would be way easier for the BPL team to manipulate and animate.

I kept the TAS Dreadnought pretty faithful to the old art. ( I tried to avoid going overboard like I did with the Vincent redesign. ) Although, the angle of the old drawing left plenty of unseen space for me to play. The fore of the Dreadnought was a pain to render at this angle.

Yes, I copy pasted all those missiles. Sue me.

What a peaceful day!
Incoming!
Distant Thunder!
Bullseye!

The second narrative piece and the flip side of the warship scene. I’m largely happy with this set. My eyes doth see a few flaws and inconsistencies that drive me nuts looking back. But on the, whole, it’s fine. ( Pro tip for the art kiddies: Know when to move on. Cause most people are not going to perceive the flaws you do. )

I created most of the art for this project using Procreate on an Ipad pro. The problem with this is that Procreate puts caps on layers depending on image size and resolution. Thus, working on these larger scenes consistently became layer management. This, in turn, was trouble because I needed to leave plenty of layers for the BPL team to work with. What a hassle. The price of convenience I guess.

The vintage version of the big Mackie battle.

The final piece of artwork depicting the 801st Heavy Armored Regiment stomping a Draconis armored column on Styx. There are multiple versions of this finished image. ( This vintagey looking one is my favorite. ) Not a lot of info on this battle for the first deployment of Mackies in combat. That leaves a lot of gap filling for me do. The tank designs are rather generic. ( Again, researching old BT lore stuff can be a pain. So, I fudged it. ) I went with red for the Draconis vehicles to make them stand out from the BG and Mackies. The tank crew uniforms are close to what’s depicted in the old material.

Please note the cartoon turtle on the foreground Mackie; I’m very fond of it.

Annnnd….another early joke version!

And that is it for now. Hopefully, there will be future collabs with the BPL team and more BT artwork to come. I hope you enjoyed this glimpse behind the arty curtain.

Until next time!

-Eldon

Weekly update Sept 6th, 2020 Secret Milestone!

Hello peeps,

Astray3 has reached a very special milestone! Although, it’s still unbeknownst to you, but VERY beknownst to me! Yall will figure it out soon enough. It’s going to get a little trippy first.

The cat is officially out of the bag, I’ve been helping out the Black Pants Legion with the next Tex Talks Battletech episode. It’ll be about the first ever battlemech; the Mackie. It’ll be something very special. Also, after the video’s release, I’ll be dumping all the art I created for the episode here. Look forward to it.

And that is all for now! Come back soon for more art and comics!

All the best,

-Eldon

Weekly update August 22nd, 2020 Shhh…it’s a secret.

Hello people who actually read this section,

Well, it’s been a bit since the last update. By the time you are reading this Astray3 Enigma 22 should be posted. I had hoped to increase the rate of page posts for August. Buuut, true to form, that didn’t happen. However, if you visit the Patreon page, you might find a clue as to why the slow down occurred. For the time being, expect a giant art dump around the end of August. ( I’m waiting on permission to post everything. )

This was a short one. Let’s keep those fingers crossed that it won’t take another three weeks to post the next page.

All the best for now,

-Eldon

Weekly update August 9th, 2020 Of comics and sidetracks.

Hello readers,

Another Monday with no comic update! However, it’s on the way. I just completed inking and will be moving onto coloring soon. ETA should be by Friday for page 22. 

In other news, I’m in talks with some fantastic people about helping out with a Youtube series. This will take up my extra art time. So, don’t expect much in the way of misc art posts until I get the go-ahead to post them. Can’t wait until you folks get to see what’s cooking.

That’s all for now. Enjoy some birds in tanks!

All the best,

-Eldon

Weekly update August 3rd, 2020! Oh my, A TON OF ART!

Procreate Practice.

Hello Astray3 readers,

Astray3 Enigma page 21 is now live! Enjoy the brain numbing conclusion to this installment. Hopefully, we won’t be waiting too long for page 22.

In the interim, there has been plenty of practice, Practice, PRACTICE! Enjoy this bevy of fantasy characters in various historical garb!

That’s it for now! Be back soon with more art and comics!

All the best,

-Eldon

Gnoll Death’s Head Hussars

Scottish Centaur!
Soviet Sniper Snek

Weekly update July. 20th, 2020! My how the time flies.

Samurai Hobbit

Hello folks,

It’s been a stretch since the last update has it not? Rest assured the great work continues. ( Even if it is always late. ) I’ve pretty much resigned myself to posting pages when they are done now rather than waiting for Monday’s to roll around. So, keep an eye out on my social feeds to know when the next page has posted.

It’s nigh 3am when I’m writing this, thus, I will end the post here. Enjoy a ton of new art!

All the best,

-Eldon.

Weekly update July. 6th, 2020! Comic updating tomorrow!

Cover art for the next Interstitial artbook!
Gradient map coloring test.

Hello Asray3 faithful,

Well the last few weeks could have gone better. My prediction about the new Astray3 update being on time last Monday proved woefully inaccurate. As a minor excuse, I’m testing out gradient maps for coloring. ( See the above image and the previous Interstitial cover for example. ) Typically, this has not shortened comic production times at all. You’ll see the fruits of this new approach tomorrow. 

In other news, more convention dates have been cancelled and pushed back. That means I’m delaying the artbook production too. Originally, I had planned to have it ready for print by mid-July just in case Kansas City’s Planet Comic-con happened as scheduled. That event has been pushed to April of 2021. The next possible event happens in September. So, look for the book pre-orders to happen sometime in August. 

These super shiny stickers will be part of the pre-order bonus. 

That’s all for today. New comic soon!

All the best,

-Eldon

Weekly update June. 22th, 2020! Finally, comic updates with a ton of art!

Alpha Legion art commission for a friend’s husband’s Bday.

Hello ye olde Astray3 readers,

Finally, Astray3 Enigma page 18 has landed. We should be on track for page 19 to land next Monday. Look forward to it! Lots of big plot points to come!

In other news, work will begin on the second Interstitial artbook this week! Expect a short pre-order campaign about mid July. There will be bonus prints and sticker for early purchasers.

I will leave you with ton of pictures fo art updates! Check out the holographic harpy stickers that will be available on the e-shop soon!

Till next time! All the best,

-Eldon

More experimenting with modern She-ra designs and old school filmation backgrounds.
A carnival themed Macaw Harpy! A test piece for the following holographic sticker.

Weekly update June. 8th, 2020! An unexpected break and lots of photos.

An experiment to combine the Netflix She-ra designs with the old filmation style background paintings.

Hello readers,

Boy was last week crazy for yours truly and the world in general. ( I even got tear-gassed by the Police on one occasion. ) A lot of stuff happened that cut into art production time. But, we’re past all that and a fresh week now lies ahead.

First, the D&D sticker campaign was a success! The stickers arrived last week and were shipped out to all pre-order backers. You can get yours at the online shop! https://astray3.bigcartel.com/ Also, check out these sweet pics of the custom envelope art and final products.

Custom envelope art! Air mail indeed!
Final custom envelopes!
Final stickers all laid out!

And that is all for now. Be back soon with more art and comics!

All the best,

-Eldon

A Saint Seiya inspired lady warrior!

Pre-orders for the D&D sticker set ending today.

Today’s the last day to get the pre-order discount on the sticker set. Follow the link to the webstore: https://astray3.bigcartel.com/product/pre-order-may-9th-to-may-24th-d-d-sticker-set

Otherwise, the project has been funded. Production orders go out Tuesday. Thank you to everyone who contributed.

All the best,

Eldon.