Expeditionary Artwork

Hey everybody. First day of the rest of my life, hurhur, jk.

So yeah, today turned out very different from how I'd originally imagined it. I got woken up by a pneumatic drill about three hours ahead of schedule, resulting in a very groggy morning, during which I found out that some part of my computer is dying again. I have yet to find out which part specifically, but just to be safe, I moved my regular update ahead of schedule and locked down everything that needs my direct attention.

In theory, assuming the computer dies tomorrow, I'd be able to continue business as usual on the companion - which I guess I didn't announce, so might aswell do it now; I recently managed to acquire a Cintiq Companion for an absolute steal of a price from a friend who was "just getting rid of stuff" - the casual nature of some people's expenses baffles me, but I'm not gonna complain. The thing is in pristine condition and will be a nice alternative as either a back up, or just the ability to spend time on the couch with the mate while also being constructive.

Concerning the changes I want to be making to the patreon, I'm still working out some kinks in the system. Especially pricing and balancing is turning out to be a headache, but I knew that going into the matter X3
A dear friend also made some observations about my upload tendencies, by which I upload multiple things in compacted posts, as opposed to loose images in separate ones, which tends to be preferrable to patrons. In all honesty, I've noticed that as a thing on FA too, so I'm not sure why I limit myself to bulk uploads on patreon, other than it being administratively simpler - expect an improvement on that front in the future. In keeping with what I promissed last week though, this is today's bulk upload :b~

Anyway, enough of my rambling. You're here for the art. You shall get art!

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Now then, in chronological order ...

First we have the results of a doodle session last week. You'll remember this from last week's vote closing post. I realize the Imperial Guard have their Tauros RAV, but since it's been out of production with Forge World and also doesn't have rules anymore (not even in Legends, I think?) I felt it was time for a redesign, or a successor, whichever. It takes a lot of inspiration from super light buggies and FATV type chassis' of today, with a bit of Warthog thrown in for good measure.
While I very much don't enjoy playing against ImGuard due to their rules, I still like their lore and purpose within the wider context of the 40k Universe and I'm happy to draw art with them from time to time :3

Moving on, another 40k piece. This one was also the result of a doodle sessions from last week and inspired by a post on a youTuber's discord channel I sit around on. The idea was for a Space Marine Chapter that has become isolated from the larger Imperium trying to defend some frontier worlds from a Tyranid invasion and having to result to substituting their damaged or lost equipment with Tyranid bits. There's some ideas that were mentioned that didn't flow into this particular image, but the "challenge" that was called out was to build whatever people felt the Chapter Master of such a Chapter would look like. Since I currently lack Tyranid bits (and, to be fair, also Space Marine bits for this kind of thing), I took a stab at it with my 2D skills instead and it was well received.

Third image came together saturday night (though it was more sunday morning at the time). Me and the missus had just been out to a local fur meet for some socializing (dreadful, I know, but one does have obligations if you want people to continue believing in your surface level humanity), and she decided to extend the festivities to a club that is too loud for me these days unfortunately.
So, being at home and having very little to genuinely do, I put a couple' 40k lore videos into a playlist and began doodling. I'd wanted to draw Megaera being consumed in her occupation in what would no doubt be considered an intimate pose in any other context. Originally I would have been satisfied with just sketching it, but the sketch turned out so nice and the mate was still planning on staying out several more hours that I decided to slap greyscales on it. There was an attempt at including red for the blood, but it ended up looking weird and inconsistent, so I abandoned that version - it's still there in the PSD file though, for those of you who care.

And lastly, a study of that very iconic opening scene for Once Upon A Time In The West which showcases beautifully a skill I feel has very much been lost in recent movie making circles - the ability to let a scene breathe and establish both itself and it's lore, just by existing. Granted, OUATITW is a very lengthy movie, and there have been attempts at replicating the self-presence of this scene and others like it from when it was still a thing, but many of them are either clumsy, of pretentious, or both. If I was to point to a modern day director with the abilities needed for that kind of scene, it'd be Denise Villeneuve.
Anyway, leaving my very snooty rant about modern cinema aside, I do enjoy how the study turned out. I was highly uninspired for the longest time and then the windmill sound from that scene suddenly appeared in a bit of music I was listening to in the background while in the call session with Kalahari and gang and that finally gave me the spark I needed. All in all, two hours and change? I think I can be satisfied with the results :3

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On to sketches, then comment answering, then sleeeeeeeep, because I'm wrecked from the day XD