By popular demand, or, more accurately, by one request, here is a follow-up to our “H.M.S. Stubbington” post. This time we will show some of the early sketches for our official logo, Stubby, the Tor.com rocket.
Before we get to Stubbs, I feel like we should go further back in time. Tor.com was the brainchild of our publisher, Fritz Foy, but despite what the initial proposal said, we pretty much knew the site couldn’t be called “Fritz’s Fantasy.” Naming the site turned out to be the single most agonizing issue over that year.
We were the TheRange.com for a nanosecond.
Torus.com for a few heartbeats. (Get it!? Tor Us!) We were Torus.com long enough for me to threaten to make the logo an inner-tube sticking on top of a mountain, ring-toss style, which means we were Torus about forty-five seconds too long.
We’re happy to announce that The Great Hunt, volume two in Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time, is now available as an eBook from the Sony eBook Store and other online retailers. This edition sports a new cover and has been re-typeset especially for ebook production.
Publication schedule and more information on this series in our Wheel of Time ebook index.
Because some of you have asked: Cover artist Kekai Kotaki has graciously allowed us to offer his artwork as a desktop wallpaper. (If you missed it, you can see a behind-the-scenes creation of the cover here.) As always, you need to be a registered user and signed in to download these wallpapers.
Engine 371: Progress!? Starts off cute and becomes much more than that. Even though you know where it’s going, it's jazzy pacing and beautiful dream-scape design keeps it fast and fresh. (9.7 minutes)
Sleeping Betty: Every frame is funnier than the last in this period mash-up Sleeping Beauty story. Made from 7,000 perfect India ink drawings. So visually clever, you can watch it over and over, each time walking away with a new set of favorite moments. (9.13 minutes)
With The Eye of the World, the first Wheel of Time ebook cover, we wanted something that opened the series with a broad historical look. Book two, The Great Hunt, will release November 17th and now it’s time to dive in and the embrace the genre!
I had been noticing Kekai Kotaki’s work for a while and started working with him on a few other projects. I love his expressive, even explosive, brushwork and dramatic sense of light. He’s a lead video game concept artist for ArenaNet’s Guild Wars. (A company that consistently takes over awards for concept art.) Typically concept artists are so specialized that it’s tough to imagine them working on a narrative painting. Not true with Kekai. His work has epic scale, cool costuming, great anatomy, and is all about movement. And, it turns out, he’s a sweetheart to work with.
I mentioned to Harriet McDougal that Kekai is particularly good with depicting creatures so she suggested the cover be a recasting of the print edition of The Great Hunt cover. Trollocs, a wooded landscape, and Rand in full hero pose—you can’t beat that. When I called Kekai with the assignment I was thrilled to see that he was already familiar with the books: “I first started reading the Wheel of Time series in the 7th grade. I have been following ever since, and was saddened by the passing of Robert Jordan before he could finish his epic. I was both excited and nervous when I was contacted to be a part of this re-release project. I hope my art is able to stand up and be a part of this great fantasy series.”
I asked Kekai to “Save As” often so he could share the progression of the painting with us.
The Gloaming: This office looks way too familiar. By Andrew Huang, who created one of my favorites, Doll Face. (2:56 minutes)
Ida’s Luck: Gotta love the creepy black-eyed girl. “Everywhere Ida goes, misfortune is soon to follow” (20 minutes)
Wow do I love both of these....
Skhizein: An encounter with a meteorite displaces a man exactly 91 centimeters away from himself. I had been waiting to see this for a year—it did not dissapoint. (13 minutes)
Marianne’s Theatre: Three layers of theater. The puppets have their own minds. (15.45 minutes)
Tomorrow we must say goodbye to Steampunk Month, but, surely, not to steampunk altogether. It is time we launch our beloved airship, the H.M.S. Stubbington (full story here) into the world. Download these wallpapers to take her on your own adventures.
You need to be a registered user and signed in to download these wallpapers.
2560 x 1600 — for 30-inch behemoths
1680 x 1050 — WSXGA
1600 x 1200 — Non-widescreen monitors
1920 x 1080 — 1080p
1024 x 768 — XGA
1024 x 600 — for netbooks like the Asus EeePC
800 x 600 — SVGA
480 x 320 — iPhone/HVGA
480 x 272 — PSP
Irene Gallo is the art director for Tor, Forge and Starscape books and Tor.com.
Today’s wallpaper is from Greg Manchess:
The painting is based on a well known piece by Abbott Handerson Thayer. I was developing a character for a children’s book of a female inventor, an aviatrix, in the style of Jules Verne I liked so much. I had no idea in 1990 there was a growing sub-genre of admirers of the trend, more broadly known later as “Steampunk.”
You need to be a registered user and signed in to download these wallpapers.
2560 x 1600 — for 30-inch behemoths
1680 x 1050 — WSXGA
1600 x 1200 — Non-widescreen monitors
1920 x 1080 — 1080p
1024 x 768 — XGA
1024 x 600 — for netbooks like the Asus EeePC
800 x 600 — SVGA
480 x 320 — iPhone/HVGA
480 x 272 — PSP
Irene Gallo is the art director for Tor, Forge and Starscape books and Tor.com.
When we decided to make October Steampunk Month we thought it would be a good idea to print calling cards for us to hand out to... whomever. Designer Jamie Stafford-Hill showed me the comps and I made the mistake of telling our publisher, Fritz Foy, that they would look great as a letter-press broadsheet. I was joking. He took me seriously.
I emailed the only letterpress printer I know, Ross MacDonald, and asked what would be involved in getting the posters made. And then I told him the bad news: If we went through with the project, we would be driving up to his Connecticut studio to “help.”
Jon Foster’s Boneshaker wallpaper in two great flavors: goggle-ishous plain and Cherie Priest deluxe. Between Jon’s illustration and Jamie Stafford-Hill’s type design, this is one of my favorite covers this year.
Enjoy the wallpaper.
[For the curious, here are a few of the sketches that Jon did for the project:]
As announced, Tor is releasing the Wheel of Time ebooks—one a month, starting today. Each book will feature new cover art by a different artist while utilizing a continuing design template to unify the series. Why? Mainly because we thought it would be fun. I suppose there should have been a better corporate reason to start-out with but, really, it just came about as a conversation over coffee about cool stuff we could do on the site. The original idea was to simply commission twelve Wheel of Time paintings as a kind of “WoT of the Month Club.” As the ebook program evolved it became a natural fit to slide the idea over there.
Right away the idea was to hire different artists, with very different styles, and have them address the source material in their own voice. I wanted to pick illustrators that were known to fantasy fans and others we do not typically think of as genre artists—giving us fourteen new interpretations of Robert Jordan’s world.
I heart these super cute, super simple, super heroes from Andy Awesome. And now Batman and Robin are my iPhone wallpaper.
(Via Drawn.)
Irene Gallo is the art director for Tor, Forge, and Starscape books and Tor.com.
The Mascot: Before there was Jan Svankmajer and Quay Brothers, there was Vladislav Starevich, the first to make stop-motion animated films with a plot line. The Mascot tells the story of a puppy doll that gets lost in the city. If you need convincing, skip to part two for a few minutes. It begins with Starevich’s famous “Devil’s Ball” sequence where various bits of street garbage, bones, and insects begin to swirl about in a sudden midnight wind, take shape, and walk into a laughing devil’s nightclub. You’ll quickly want to go back and watch the whole movie. And, if you’re like me, you will not quickly forget it. (26 minutes, in three parts)
Attack of the Giant Vegetable Monsters: For lighter fare—edible monster movie madness!! (6 minutes)
For a Halloween bonus, I’ve also attached last year's Halloween picks:
The Tell-Tale Heart: Poe writing, James Mason reading , UPA animating equals classic. (7.47 minutes)
The End: Scarecrow on trial for befriending a crow. (6.12)
Chainsaw Maid: Zombie attack. Gratuitous violence...and funny. (6.52 minutes)
Next up for steampunk wallpapers, Thom Tenery’s illustration for Tim Pratt’s story, “Silver Linings.” After reading the story, I knew Thom’s atmospheric, almost liquid style would be perfect for a story set in the clouds. Check out more of Thom’s work on his website and in the newly published concept art book, Alien Race, and our interview with Thom.
You need to be a registered user and signed in to download these wallpapers.
2560 x 1600 — for 30-inch behemoths
1680 x 1050 — WSXGA
1600 x 1200 — Non-widescreen monitors
1920 x 1080 — 1080p
1024 x 768 — XGA
1024 x 600 — for netbooks like the Asus EeePC
800 x 600 — SVGA
480 x 320 — iPhone/HVGA
480 x 272 — PSP
Irene Gallo is the art director for Tor, Forge, and Starscape Books and Tor.com.
It’s wallpaper time at Tor.com!
About a year ago I went to a steampunk exhibit in the Hamptons. The show had lots of interesting work but, to my mind, Eric Freitas’ clocks, beautifully hand-crafted with equal parts mechanical and organic shapes, stole the show—I have been lusting after them ever since. I love their sense of decay and growth, it feels like nature intruding on steampunk.
Eric has graciously allowed us to offer these two close-up shots as wallpapers. Enjoy these and then go check out his website and flickr set. You can easily watch an hour or two vanish by while looking the clocks, process shots, and drop-dead gorgeous sketches and drawings.
You need to be a registered user and signed in to download these wallpapers.
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Wallpaper 1 2560 x 1600 — for 30-inch behemoths |
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Wallpaper 2 2560 x 1600 — for 30-inch behemoths |
Irene Gallo is the art director for Tor, Forge, and Starscape Books and Tor.com.
The Cat Piano: A beat-noir-feline-Poe-ish horror story. Beautifully drawn. Narrated by Nick Cave—it’s as great to listen to as it is to watch. (8.30 minutes.)
The Lighthouse Keeper: Sometimes bugs are the good guys. A Goeblins film. Which means, of course, it’s beautifully designed and animated. (3.15 minutes)
Here is the second half of our “Art of Leviathan” posts. Earlier we talked with Scott Westerfeld about what is was like to be the art director on his own book—the steampunk, young adult novel, Leviathan. Now we have artist Keith Thompson talking about the fifty illustrations that help flush out Scott’s world. Keith did a great job of mixing historical details with fantastical creatures (both mechanical and animal) creating a fun, action packed pace while maintaining the tone of a more formal era.
You did a tremendous amount of drawing in Leviathan, how long did it take you and did it take over all of your working time?
Each book has a year set aside for it, and I go along illustrating it as Scott writes it. It has definitely been the primary focus artistically, though I’ve handled some other things over the course of the year as well. Usually during a batch of research I have plenty of artistic energy to do some work on a movie or game since those jobs are often handled in a comparatively short span of time. It’s nice to have a couple of different worlds I can immerse myself in because I can then switch between them to take advantage of a fresh impression and a new perspective.
This Way Up: This one’s a charmer if you’re up for some gallows humor that’s somehow very endearing. I watched this three times in a row and laughed each time. (8.48 minutes)
The Falcon: A menagerie in camera parts. A techno soundtracked mood piece. (2.50 minutes.)
Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld’s highly anticipated and extensively illustrated young adult steampunk novel, releases today. Whenever I’d run into Scott over the past year or so he’d whip out his iPhone and excitedly show-off the latest drawings by Keith Thompson. After a few of these incidents it became clear that Keith wasn’t just adding a few embellishments to the book but, with fifty drawings throughout, was helping to create the world of Leviathan.
Here is the first of two interviews on those drawings and the process behind them, this one with Scott talking about his dual role as author/art director. Come back Thursday for part 2, an interview with Keith Thompson.
In honor of Steampunk Month, here’s one repeat and two new ones.
The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello: Apologies for the repeat—we put Jasper in ages ago but it’s well worth a re-watch. This is the coolest steampunk animated short that I know of. (Not that I’m an expert.) A lighter-than-air mystery, beautifully designed—every frame is a pleasure. (27 minutes)
The Aeronaut: Throwing caution to the wind...with some insurance. A very sweet steampunk Icarus. (2.07 minutes)
A Gentleman’s Duel: Gentleman callers gone awry. I’ll admit I don’t love the story, but the machines are very cool.
