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BrettBarkley — Monster Island SourcebookCover

Published: 2008-08-22 23:13:39 +0000 UTC; Views: 1711; Favourites: 17; Downloads: 34
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Description This is the final cover art for the Monster Island Sourcebook for the Champions pen-and-paper roleplaying game produced by Hero Games. This ties in with Cryptic's Monster Island MMORPG. I was very excited to be asked to be part of this project, and hope that excitement came through in my work. I provided the line art and colors for this piece.

Tools: HB Lead Pencil, nib and tech pen, Photoshop CS2

As always, comments and suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks for looking,

-B
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Comments: 16

JamesQartist [2008-08-25 23:48:03 +0000 UTC]

This looks incredible, Brett!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

BrettBarkley In reply to JamesQartist [2008-09-01 21:20:43 +0000 UTC]

Thanks, James! I already see things I hate about it, but I really appreciate the kind words and support!

-B

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

aCleverTitleGoesHere [2008-08-25 22:39:48 +0000 UTC]

Oh my GOSH. When do we get comp copies!?!?!?! I want to see the final, too! Gotta love that orange bar. (I know, such a girly graphic designer - there's a giant dinobot and I'm talking about an orange bar.) Your digital painting has improved a ton over the last year. Keep it up, seriously.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

BrettBarkley In reply to aCleverTitleGoesHere [2008-09-01 21:21:20 +0000 UTC]

I don't know, babe! I'm just excitedly awaiting the related skateboard!

-B

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

mmmmmpig [2008-08-25 20:30:49 +0000 UTC]

This one came together very nicely. I would love to see the "final" final version with all the logos and text elements on it. As a stand-alone this works well, but I would love to see it with some stellar typography as well. It is amazing how sometimes the text elements make it look like all the percieved questionable elements work perfectly. It can also make it look like crap as well

Great pencils, inks, and colors.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

BrettBarkley In reply to mmmmmpig [2008-09-01 21:25:00 +0000 UTC]

Actually, I'd like to see the final version with text, as well. I'll post it when I get the comps (or find a cover online). Personally, I would have liked to have played with the typography a bit myself, but we'll see what they come up with.

Thanks man,

-B

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

mmmmmpig In reply to BrettBarkley [2008-09-05 17:26:23 +0000 UTC]

saw it in stores today! Illo looks great but they should have had your wife do the typography. it seemed a little weak compared to the image

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

BrettBarkley In reply to mmmmmpig [2008-09-06 02:55:10 +0000 UTC]

Thanks, man! I haven't seen it yet. But what a fantastic idea. I should talk to them about having Leslie handle the typography...she would be great with that. Thanks so much, and thanks very much for the huge compliment. I'm aiming to get much better.

-B

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

mmmmmpig In reply to BrettBarkley [2008-09-06 03:42:50 +0000 UTC]

Offer yourselves as a package deal. One stop shopping.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

BrettBarkley In reply to mmmmmpig [2008-09-07 00:25:58 +0000 UTC]

That's a fantastic idea! I'm going to talk to Leslie about it!

Thanks man,

-B

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

93Cobra [2008-08-23 21:45:00 +0000 UTC]

Awesome Brett but I think you sacrificed something by having the blue guy face the reader. I know it was a tough call and some will disagree with me. That Dinobot is killer though and it's still a really strong piece.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

BrettBarkley In reply to 93Cobra [2008-08-23 22:51:02 +0000 UTC]

You know, Chris, I've gotten all kinds of different input on this piece, and personally, I'm still a little torn on it. Originally, I had wanted to go with something a little more along the lines of a montage piece, with the three main characters in the foreground in cool, superheroic poses, then adding the giant mechanoid dino in the background, as well as a bit of the scenery from the book's setting. But they wanted something a little more action-oriented. I played with a number of different layouts, until I realized the dino was supposed to be huge, which kind of worked against all the layouts I had done to that point. So, yeah, it was a tough call, and I believe I do need to work on my layouts more, and really do a better job of pushing it. I tend to look at each of these challenges based on the perspective that there's a perfect (or at least near-perfect)solution. It's just a matter of finding that solution as quickly and efficiently as you can. Hopefully this works well enough that it can continue to get me work, and function as something I can learn from.

Thanks so much for the insight,

-B

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

weird-kitty [2008-08-22 23:49:21 +0000 UTC]

wow!! awesome as always x]
the blue guy's boots are cool i want a pair

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

BrettBarkley In reply to weird-kitty [2008-08-23 22:51:58 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! And when you find those boots for yourself, let me know if that store has a men's size 12 as well. I'd love to have a pair of my own!

-B

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

MichaelLangdale [2008-08-22 23:20:30 +0000 UTC]

Holy dinobot, that thing looks unbelievable.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

BrettBarkley In reply to MichaelLangdale [2008-08-23 23:02:11 +0000 UTC]

Thanks very much, man. He ended up kind of stealing the show on the cover, so I'm glad he works!

-B

👍: 0 ⏩: 0