Hello dear readers!
October is upon us! The haunting season has begun – as well as my birthday month. A time for the leaves to slowly turn amber and red, a time for wearing an increasingly cosy number of layers and a time for watching lots of horror films. It is my favourite time of the year, and I think it’s off to a pretty good start.
Game Design On Hold To Avoid Burn Out!
Yes that’s right. About a week after publishing my last video – in which I drew and talked about some NPCs for my planned Stravagante adventure module – I have decided to take a break from designing TTRPGs.
While a factor, Stravagante: Gigante just barely missing its final itch-funding goal was not the main reason for this decision.
My main motivation was simply that I was feeling tired. I have been creating games and associated adventures/supplements almost non-stop for almost 4 years now. That is on top of my regular art-based work. I’d like to say this was only because I was full of inspiration and joy for the medium, but I feel that’s only part of it.
I’ve always felt like I was lagging behind in some kind of TTRPG-designing race. The problem with following so many game design peers is that my email and notifications feeds are basically constantly full of newly published games. Rather that remembering that it’s many creators, each one publishing a new game every so often, my brain goes into a panic: “I must also publish as many games as quickly as possible! That is the standard!”
Needless to say, that’s not very healthy.
I shall return to the Quest for Turtle Keep and tinkering with my Passkey System one day. For now, though I am putting aside my roll tables and rule books.
In their stead I have decided to focus more on my art and return to an old hobby of mine: fiction writing!
Artistic Experimentation: A New Project Begins!
About a week ago I stumbled across the art of Alexey Gorboot – I believe he is only on Instagram but I did find this article that showcases some of his art. It has a really evocative retro fantasy style, but the main thing that piqued my interest was the use of vibrant colours combined with harsh black line shading. I have seen this style referred to as being similar to blacklight posters. As I already enjoy using that type of shading, I thought I’d have a go at emulating that use of colour as well.
While searching for a subject to draw, my mind turned to one of my most recurrent muses: minotaurs. Specifically, minotaur women. Big powerful ones.
Along with unicorns and gorgons, minotaurs have been one of my favourite “monsters” or fantastical creatures. Not that long ago I read and quite enjoyed two books by Richard A. Knaak, which both feature a minotaur hero – one of which as a protagonist! There was a female minotaur in the latter book, but I was disappointed that she didn’t have much to do besides exist.
With these various nodes of inspiration in mind, like Inigo Montoya and the spirit of his father, I let them guide my sword – or rather pen.
The Birth & Evolution of Mirona!
Pictured above: “Mirona of the Maze”, my first illustration in an emulated “blacklight” style. Also visible is my new signature/symbol, which is meant to be a stylised upper case “P” and lower case “i”. If you flip it upside down, it looks like an overlay-ed “T” and “F”, which are my initials!
Originally I thought this character could be the forgotten twin sister of Asterion, the Minotaur from the famous ancient Greek myth. As I tinkered with the design, I decided that while she should still be inspired by that legend, her origins and story should be detached from it.
After discarding the name “Asteria”, I scoured my usual name-finding haunts – Behind the Name and Fantasy Name Generators – until I came up with the name Mirona.
While Mirona’s story begins in a maze, I was already imagining her free of it and traveling across fantastical lands going on great adventures. This lead me to draw her again, this time wearing more suitable adventuring gear, in an illustration I am calling “Mirona Ascendant”.
Pictured above: “Mirona Ascendant”. I had fun combining and contrasting more vibrant shades of colour, as well as adding an aged, granular texture to the background.
Writing Begins: An Outfit Change!
By this point, I had already started writing Mirona’s story. I did not and still don’t have any kind of fixed plan in mind for the plot, save for a general idea of an ending.
While fleshing out her character and motivations, though, I realised that it is a bit incongruous for her to be wearing any kind of leather armour, as she seems to be in the above illustration. As a result I changed her armour and clothing into an all fabric-based outfit, which you can see below.
Pictured above: Mirona in her new threads. The padded armour and quilted tassets are all meant to be fabric-based, perhaps with sheets of linen or silk, layered with resin or wax.
I have no idea if I will be able to finish writing her first adventure or not, but I know that I am enjoying writing it a little bit at a time, when (and only when) inspiration strikes.
I also know that if I am able to complete it – preferably as a short story – I want to give it a fancy illustrated cover and print it.
Latest Set Of Art Assets Published: Halloween Theme!
As well as exercising the old creative muscles by writing and drawing Mirona, I also put together October’s set of art assets for my Patreon. I tried to give this set a halloween theme – ’tis the season, after all – so they include a skeletal pumpkin knight, a vampire hunter, a battle witch, a reanimated barbarian and even an Edgar Allen Crow.
Pictured above: “The Gourd Knight”. This asset is available to all paid tiers of the Patreon. Like the full pack of assets – available at higher tiers – it is intended for both personal and commercial use.
If you aren’t already, please consider becoming a Patron and supporting my work: you’ll get a set of art assets like these every month, along with any other projects I feel moved to share.
New Seasonal Section: Horror Film Recommendations!
Before I close this issue with the usual media spotlight and cool links to share, I thought I would recommend you some of the spooky films I have watched over the past fortnight. You can skip this section if horror isn’t your thing, no judgement here!
So I have watched quite a few horror films lately, but there are only three that I would heartily recommend. I’ll list them below in ascending order.
#3: Dagon (2001, Stuart Gordon & Dennis Paoli)
A very good adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” – despite being named after much earlier story by the same author – this film is set in modern times and moves the location from Massachussets to Spain. Innsmouth is renamed “Imboca” but retains all its dank, eldritch atmosphere. There are some good make-up effects, some terribly dated CGI, and a bit too much gratuitous nudity for my taste. The film is a tad too long: it could have been about fifteen minutes shorter and stronger for it. There are – as in the original story – references to rape, but thankfully Lovecraft’s racism-driven fear of interracial relations feels much less evident. I think its greatest strength is its capturing of that classic Lovecraftian feeling of unease and hopelessness.
#2: The Resurrected (1991, Dan O’Bannon)
An even better modernised adaptation of a Lovecraft work, this time “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward”. This film goes up there with The Empty Man (2020, David Prior) in being one of my favourite cinematic representations of cosmic horror. The noir-style framing device, the detective story structure, the growing tension and feeling of dread… it all comes together in a great horror package. The score is suitably dramatic and there are some top-notch gory special effects and make-up. All the performances are great, particularly Chris Sarandon as Charles Dexter Ward. Like Dagon, The Resurrected is a bit overlong, with the third act dragging a bit. Nonetheless I enjoyed it a lot and will be adding it to my yearly halloween movie marathons.
#1: Session 9 (2001, Brad Anderson & Stephen Gevedon)
This film was a wonderful surprise. Its low budget, single filming location and small cast all actually work to its benefit, enhancing the story’s themes of constraints, mounting stress and madness. Arguably part psychological thriller, part ghost story, Session 9 sees the four members of an asbestos abatement team take on a job at an abandoned mental asylum. I don’t want to share any more that or I’ll spoil it for you: if you’re a horror fan, give this one a try!
Honorable Mention
The Raven (2012, James McTeigue)
Of the other films I watched, this is the only I care to mention. It’s a delightfully silly romp that sees Edgar Allen Poe (played by John Cusack) help track down a serial killer whose murders are all inspired by Poe’s works. It’s well acted, well paced and doesn’t overstay its welcome. Worth a watch if you fancy a detective story with a gothic horror twist.
Media Spotlight!
- A surprisingly wholesome new episode in Wigglewood’s animated series: The Quest.
- Louie Zong’s annual halloween tradition continues, with Ghost Waltz.
- Andrewism’s latest video is about how we would protect ourselves from bad people in an anarchist society.
- Fathom analyses “Let’s Do the Time Warp” from the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
- JimmyShelter just published “Boat Ride to Valhalla” a short-and-sweet adventure for his game Pine Shallows.
- Check out Emiel Boven’s DURF Expanded preview (now funding on kickstarter).
- And of course, some Positive Leftist News from September!
That’s all for this week!
As always, thank you so much for reading.
One last reminder that if you feel like supporting my work, you can buy something from my website or itchio, join my Patreon as a paying member, or commission me.
If none of the above are doable for you, please consider spreading the word about my work to your friends!
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Until next time,
– Penflower
