Mowrer Art Steampunk Frankenstein and more

The Aether Bandit

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Mowrer) — Wed, 28 Aug 2019 23:08:00 +0000

After a very long absence from this site, I'm back! Took a long road down developing a business using 3D printing for creating collectible one of a kind collector pieces. Learned a lot but did not achieve take off speed. The technology just wasn't up to the challenge yet. Time to pivot.

My original concept for Vyctor's lab was to make the weapons modular and have the audience choose the parts and bits as well as the deco schemes.

Now I've moved to making bespoke designs of very low volume. The modular approach was exciting but also meant that there were certain accommodations and modularity that all parts of the designs had to conform too. Bespoke means being able to just pursue the design result as a singular expression.

I've taken a significant amount of time reworking three key designs for steampunk weaponry and will be sharing those with you over the next few months. Ultimately, I'll start with one of the three and go to a crowd funding system to get the prototype carefully made and the silicon production molds as well. Then I will go live with less than 50 of each weapon.

The first of these bespoke weapons is THE AETHER BANDIT. Stay tuned for more imagery, details and all the story that goes with it as it is part of the Frahnknshtyne universe and does indeed come from Vyctor's lab.

Cheers my friends and huzzah to the Society of the Gentlemen Scoundrels!

First Ride of the Gyrostator

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Mowrer) — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 18:25:00 +0000

Hello Friends
Just completed the illustration of Vyctor's first explosive ride on the Gyrostator he invents. To keep things away from prying eyes, he's located this project in the long abandoned carriage house of the L'cole he is attending. Upon firing it up, its power was more than he anticipated and he bursts from the doors into the night roaring down into the sleeping town of Travaille.

First Ride of the Gyrostator painting

I also wanted to play a lot with glow, mist and wet brick and rock. Here's a closer shot of those elements.

Detail of mist and gyrostator

I had a lot of fun painting this on many levels. It involved some pre-modeling of some of the elements in 3D as a quick underlay guide and then lots and lots of layered painting into it. I've always been a huge fan of the work of john Atkinson Grimshaw and his ability to paint those haunted night skies and wanted to have that kind of atmosphere in this painting.

John Atkinson Grimshaw (inspiration)

Cheers, Kevin

Steampunk Pistol 3D printed Prototype parts: It's alive!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Mowrer) — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 16:26:00 +0000

Hello friends
The first test parts for one of the steampunk pistols you can make on Vyctor's lab at maykrlab.com have come in for inspection. I chose one of the more difficult designs to print because of all the working parts. It's a steampunk hand cannon (the likes of Hellboys pistol) with a wild huge barrel, a transparent chamber (lights to be installed shortly) and high detail grips (soon to come). I am thrilled at the result! Even unpainted, the pistol is exciting.

Steampunk Pistol 3D printed from Vyctor's lab

These parts are engineered to snap together and these first parts did just that. In addition, the main frame of the gun has a pivot lock at the top that also assembled first time and soundly locked and unlocked the frame.

Steampunk Pistol 3D printed parts from Vyctor's lab

Steampunk Pistol with frame lock from Vyctor's lab

There's still a few parts to come in such as the handle grips and the final bit of the rotating chamber (yes it really rotates).

Steampunk Pistol partially assembled from Vyctor's lab

I'll be posting the update once those are in and the prototype moves to painting and final decoration.
cheers, Kevin

More Steampistol components for Vyctor's lab at maykrlab

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Mowrer) — Thu, 05 Feb 2015 02:00:00 +0000

Hi again folks
I've continued working on the componants for the different elements in the steam pistol generator in Vyctor's lab that is soon to be featured on maykrlab. Our best estimate is that the lab is going to go live within the next few months so its important to us to have plenty of rich, well designed parts for you to play with. Each of the main sections of the pistol (barrel, frame, handle, trigger, hammer, chamber) will have at least 5 unique options that can be combined with any choice in any of the other sections.
The latest parts just completed are below.

Vyctor Steampunk pistol with bale handle and clockwork frame

The first is a bale handle that connects directly to the back of any of the frames. It sits higher than the other handles kind of like a miniature gunnery grip. It really changes up the look of any of the other parts.

Vyctor steampunk pistol with canister center frame and trip-barrel

The other two new parts are shown here. The first is the canister center frame. It's really one of the more "out there" center frames with a very sic-fi twist to the steampunk and Vyctor theme. Also seen in this image is the tri-barrel front option as well. These barrels are shorter but have a very muscular look to them.

Stay tuned as I'll be posting the next development parts over the next few weeks right up until we go live.
Cheers, Kevin

Vyctor's lab at maykrlab.com

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Mowrer) — Sat, 31 Jan 2015 21:27:00 +0000

Hello friends
Over the past year, I've become involved with a very interesting startup called maykrlab. It is a company working on the forefront of consumer created goods. Specifically, maykrlab is a web based site (soon to go live) where maykrs can imagine, design and then make amazing objects using bits and parts from their favorite fantasy worlds.

It works like this. If you are into steampunk (and if you're reading my blog you likely are), you go to maykrlab, sign up as a user, open the steampunk toolkit of parts and mechanisms to create with, and simply begin making choices and putting together your own design using the parts available from guest creators on the site.

I am the first guest creator and the first toolkit will be to create steampunk pistols for collecting, cosplay, larping, display or whatever tickles your fancy. The design elements are pulled from the Aesthetic and world of Frahnknshtyne, the story I've been writing and illustrating on this blog. The toolkit within maykrlab is called Vyctor's lab (named after Vyctor Frahnknshtyne, the inventor hero of my story and world).

Steampunk pistol made from parts in Vyctor's lab

I chose pistols first because most of us into steampunk have had to make due with kit bashing nerf guns and the like to achieve something worthy of good cosplay.

Steampunk double flintlock from Vyctor's lab

maykrlab is definitely next level stuff using a fully engineered system where any choice you make fits with any other choice and many of the bits and bobs actually work! Triggers pull, hammers cock and chambers spin!

Custom steampunk pistol from Vyctor's lab

It's all free to show up and play, save and share and that, in and of itself, is great fantasy grist for illustrations, screen savers and the like.

But that's just the beginning. If you want to hold and use the steam pistol you've created, the system lets you choose materials and the design is 3D printed, one-of-a-kind, to show up at your front door in just a few days!

I'm super excited to be part of this big step in enabling all makers and hope you'll drop in and sign up to stay tuned in to the progress as the maykrlab's first entry into the market, Vyctor's lab, marches towards beta and then full launch.

As always, I'd very much like to hear from all of you to tell me what you're interested in. This is being done for you so help us make it really great.

I'll be posting very regular updates on this blog to keep you up to the minute.

Cheers, Kevin Mowrer

Featured in Steampunk Graphics

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Mowrer) — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 23:09:00 +0000

Hello all
I've just received my advance copy of Steampunk Graphics from Graffito. It's a beautifully art directed and edited book full of new Steampunk art from many of the movements well known artists. I had the honor of being invited to write the forward in the book as well as having a number of my pieces of art featured. Here's the cover art and below I've posted the forward. I hope some of you will pick it up and enjoy its content.
Cheers, Kevin

Cover of Steampunk Graphics

The book's forward:

There is no past that lies beyond the reach of steampunk’s capacity to create alternative histories that reveal tomorrow’s possibilities, shaped by the rogue maker within us all.”

Steampunk... the word conjures up fine gentlemen and cultured ladies, captains of  the air,

rascally rogues and streetwise waifs, adorned in Victorian or Western garb, outfitted with all manner of Jules Vernesque contraptions. Gears abound, steam hisses, technology

that may be part paranormal, part science-fiction, lies embedded in brass and leather right alongside pistols, swords and walking sticks.

For the general public, discovering steampunk may feel like a fresh concept, but the truth of the matter is that steampunk has long since arrived. What began as a movement in speculative literary fiction has now established itself as a broad, persistent, artistic subculture, regularly feeding and inspiring worldwide creative participation. For decades now, its mechanical, neo- Victorian, sometimes post-apocalyptic aesthetic has heavily influenced major motion pictures such as Sherlock Holmes, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Hellboy, and has seen a generation of gamers grow up on retro-futuristic classics like the Final Fantasy and Bioshock series.

Steampunk has its own legions of followers and participants ranging from the curious to the joyously committed makers and movers of the movement for whom grand adventure and artistic freedom is to be found in reimagining things that others have discarded – gadgets, technologies, ideas. If you’ve ever attended a steampunk event you’ll have found individuals of every type and from every walk of life you might imagine – all greeting each other in crinolines and goggles of their own design, toting their own hand-crafted ray guns and clockwork contraptions.These steampunks are deeply engaged in their own personal expression of a living narrative and delighted by the pure inventiveness swirling around them. It’s Cosplay meets Maker Faire, yet so much more.

Perhaps it’s this flurry of creativity and imagination that has caused designers like Prada to jump on the steampunk bandwagon, and catapult its aesthetic into the stratosphere of high fashion, and, by extension, the global mass market. For some, there is concern that IBM’s 2014 announcement that steampunk would be the world’s Next Big Trend may have sounded the brassy death knell for a beloved subculture, taking its ticking heart and cheapening it through mass market usage with little meaning or commitment to its underlying ethos.

As with any artistic movement born on the fringes, authenticity is critical. However, steampunk’s strength and armour lies in the siren song it sings to the maker within us all.

That call is the promise of the power of continually shifting artistic remix and, by definition, its soul belongs to each individual artist, not to a school or organization. It borders on being an ideology, not a format or defined rule-set. Steampunk is far more resilient and indestructible as a result. For those of us who have found that promise to be true, steampunk is not about an aesthetic subculture that needs protecting from posers, hipsters, bad movies and memes. It’s about the next possibility: ideas and outcomes that our creativity brings to life, often leap- frogging on the shoulders of work others are contributing to the movement, as well as up- cycling what mass culture contributes, rather than being diluted by its participation.

Steampunk’s graphic art is an excellent example of this constant evolution that is baked into the DNA of the movement, demonstrating the genre’s expanding scope through innumerable, newly imagined worlds.This is graphic art which more often than not has a visual and conceptual mechanicity. Infused into steampunk’s nature is an industrial quality brought to life by industrious minds. Its affinity for the Victorian era is not accidental. The late 1800s was a time when men’s minds thrilled with the notion that the unknown was knowable, and theories modelled on emerging industrial knowledge imagined the universe, large and small, to have a clockwork nature. Today, we have smooth boxes that don’t reveal their workings and in a sense, steampunk contains a rebellion against hidden function and agendas. In a digital age, it delights in exposing the mechanisms that run our world, or the world that may have been, based on our imaginings of a different future for our past.

With so many living edges to the art and ideas that are called ‘steampunk’, there’s often robust and passionate debate within the community over what is steampunk and what isn’t. Is ‘real’ steampunk strictly neo-Victorian, and all other notions of alternate histories faded copies? Or is steampunk an artistic recombinant superpower, free to be evolved and redefined on an individual basis? Across all the various formats, and categories of expression, it is within the world of fantasy art that steampunk’s expansion is perhaps the most nuanced and self-aware. Originally, the ‘punk’ in steampunk was meant to identify a group of writers or ‘punks’ who were generally creating the steam-era speculative fiction that became the energy and ideas that drove the movement. Now, the term ‘punk’ has evolved to become an alternative technology modifier, applied to ages or genres of art and fiction, limited only by the imagination of the artist. Dieselpunk, saddlepunk, vampunk, cinopunk – on and on. Some of these explorations have brief moments of interest and then fade into the background of the bubbling explorations of the broader steampunk movement. Others, dieselpunk for example, stabilize and come to represent a growing and distinct variation on the original movement’s core.

It is steampunk, though, that continues to undergo constant expansion and metamorphosis, like a visual meme being altered and co-opted over and over through the connected sociosphere. What began as a movement in speculative fiction has enthusiastically grown and expanded into virtually every major form of creative expression, with constantly changing sub-genres appearing almost monthly. The artists in Steampunk Graphics reveal the sheer wealth of aesthetics that the visual arts aspects of the movement today encompass, yet all, somehow, remain viscerally connected to steampunk’s core.

Kevin Mowrer, Providence, Rhode Island.

Steampunk Assassin's Medallion Prototype!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Mowrer) — Fri, 23 Aug 2013 17:39:00 +0000

Hi All
I just got the parts back from the rapid prototype service for the assassin's medal from the design of the order of the Aether Assassin's. It's like Christmas! I love when prototype parts show up in the mail and they simply snap together just the way you designed them.

I was going to buff out the slight stepping from the metal sintering process but I decided I liked the rougher industrial quality it gives the medallion.

I have designs I'm completing now for the ribbon pins that attach high on the vest collar to suspend this large medallion just over a cravat. I've included a screen shots of that design before I send it out for prototype. Can't wait to get those and assemble the whole thing. the latin on the collar pins reads "only the deserving when there is a life owed." The assassins in the book don't just take jobs for hire. The target person has to be someone deserving of being ended. This sets up an interesting secret organization that has to have a doctrine and must do excruciating sleuthing work to insure they aren't assassinating an innocent.

I used an oil stain on the plastic and it worked quite well to give that aged ivory look to the carved skull.

I'm also working on a design for the cane handle for an aether assassin as well, all from the world of my book.

Having fun bringing it to life as I write.
Cheers to all, Kevin

Steampunk assassin's medallion

Steampunk assassin medal

Steampunk assassin collar pin

Vyctor Sunglasses Steampunk

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Mowrer) — Sun, 04 Aug 2013 15:49:00 +0000

I've just gotten back the first of the metal prototype parts for the collar bars and Cravat bar from my last post and I'll be posting those in progress shortly. While that was underway, I've been designing the glasses for my main character Vyctor. I wanted them to be fully functional as I intend to also prototype these for myself.

The temple angle, lens width, ear hook location and nose pads are all functionally adjustable. There's also two small wire bales at the outside of each lens rim for attaching the tooled leather side screens I'm also making. Very practical and I like the way the function gives the glasses the look I wanted. The miniature thumbscrews at the brow adjustment and the star cinch at the temple are details that dish up the working aesthetic I like. Too often I see glued on gears and no function and that's nice for a collage approach but not what I want from my art and design. I especially wanted these to be nicely industrial, so they are masculine, with a touch of victorian brass work.

I'm researching some of the high detail metal rapid prototyping processes to get the fine detail in the design without the typical striping. I've found some that do medical equipment prototypes using laser sintering and it's remarkable. We'll have to see what the price is...

I've sent these out to a few friends to look at and already have requests for purchasing some pairs.
Now all I have to do is source the flat (authentically victorian with no curvature) precision ground polarized lenses.

Because the design allows for the lower half of the rim pivots down once you open the capture screw on the outside, I can, in theory, have interchangeable lenses (mirrored lenses, dark lenses, clear lenses).

Vyctor Steampunk Sunglass design front view

Vyctor Steampunk Sunglass design side view

Making cosplay jewelry for steampunk costume

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Mowrer) — Mon, 08 Jul 2013 18:50:00 +0000

Hi All
While continuing to work on Frahnknshtyne, I am also working on doing a really custom costume for the steampunk events this coming year. I decided to stay in the visual themes of the world I've been building and use my ability to design and model in 3D to get some of the hard bits rapid prototyped in metal and other materials. For my character I've decided to be a member of the secret society of Aether Assassins. Lacette from my story is one herself.
I've started by designing and modeling both the high collar bars and the cravat bar as well. I've always loved the machine-like decorative quality of military medals so I've used that to inspire me. Here's a few shots of the parts. I'll post the actual pieces once I've gotten them back and gold plated the right parts and assemble them.

Steampunk cravat bar 1

Steampunk cravat bar 2

Steampunk cravat bar 3

Steampunk cravat bar 4

steampunk collar bars

The steampunk flying palace

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Mowrer) — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 13:22:00 +0000

Hello Friends
Today I'm posting a sneak peek of a building that figures prominently in the story. I can't give away it's role nor any of it's many secrets but I really wanted to share the broader view of it with you. As you can see, it's a grand structure that flies aloft with the help of four vertically oriented airship bodies. I can just imagine the view from up this high! The only thing I can tell you about it without giving away any story spoilers is that it is a secret and is one-of-a-kind.
Enjoy and cheers, Kevin

Steampunk flying palace

PS - forgive the constant use of "steampunk" in post titles and image titles. It's one of the unfortunate realities of adhering to search engine optimization so that people can find the work during searches.

Steampunk Storm Trooper!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Mowrer) — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 21:16:00 +0000

I just had to finish the trio. I tend to be a bit obsessive in terms of realizing something I find inspiring and doing Star Wars inspired helmets in steampunk style has been a total blast. It just needed the storm trooper helmet to finish off the trio.
Oddly, I found this one the most challenging to do. I didn't want to just push parts into one another from a library of pre-existing bits. I wanted it to feel like heavy castings mixed with internal mech that is suggested on the outside. Doing the giant monacle/lens was the idea of Chris, my eldest son. I really liked adding the assymetry. It not only helped to make it unusual but it solidly brought the whole Gestalt into the world of steampunk.
I hope you enjoy. check out The Vader and Boba Fett inspired helmets as well.
Cheers, Kev

Steampunk Stormtrooper

Steampunk Boba Fett

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Mowrer) — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 22:46:00 +0000

Well, I just couldn't do Darth without doing Boba. In some ways, he's even more fun because the forms are more severe. I haven't yet "dirtied" him up as a proper Boba should be but thought I'd share where it is now. He was a one day project.
I've just added a closer detail shot of the antennae set up on the side of the helmet from some email questions I've been getting. Thanks all for the great comments and encouragement. The response and traffic has been way past what I imagined.
Enjoy and cheers, Kevin

Steampunk Boba Fett

Steampunk Bobba Fett helmet detail

Steampunk Darth Vader

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Mowrer) — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 20:46:00 +0000

So, My sons and I enjoy watching Star Wars a great deal. I was taking in episode #4 (the first movie) and had this idea for another take on Darth Vader. I've already done one sketch of him on the blog earlier but this time I wanted to spend time on the leather work and make the eyes much more watchworks and important. There's something so very prussian about his design anyway so leaning into that was fun. I didn't want to do the typical spike on the helmet and opted for a central metal spine instead. I've always enjoyed seeing the various takes on a Steampunk Darth Vader so what's one more...
Cheers, Kevin

PS - I've just added an additional shot with more dramatic colored lighting...just cause it makes him more ominous!

Steampunk Darth Vader

The Colonel

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Mowrer) — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 20:35:00 +0000

Just for fun and to loosen up I did a digital speed sculpt this morning of this animated character I've had in my head. It's not for Frahnknshtyne but then one must change up the diet once in a while to stay fresh. This character is "The Colonel" also known as Colonel Brumphry T. Trenchman. He's long on stiff upper lip and short on flexibility. He came up through the ranks as a drill sergeant and saved the generals dog one day resulting in a lovely promotion. (I always have to think about story before drawing or sculpting, even when doing it just for fun).
He's been sculpted in zbrush. I love realism but I also love true carricature. I think it forces one to boil out the elements that aren't revealing the characters.
Enjoy and cheers for now, Kevin

Steampunk Colonel Trenchman front view

Steampunk Colonel Trenchman lft 3/4 view

Steampunk Colonel Trenchman left side view

Steampunk Colonel Trenchman rt 3/4 view

Steampunk Colonel Trenchman rt side view

Steampunk Motorcycle 3D completed!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Mowrer) — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 18:39:00 +0000

Here it is. The Gyrostator with all the elements on it. I've added the electricals, the hand brakes, the quilted seat and seat suspension and lots more. The drive is complete as well. Now I want to drive it! I've posted a number of angles on it to get a good sense of the form and details.
Cheers for now, Kevin

Steampunk Motorcycle Gyrostator

Steampunk Motorcycle in 3D!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Mowrer) — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 01:42:00 +0000

I've gotten well down the road on the 3D model of the Gyrostator, the illegal invention that Vyctor creates. In Travaille, invention is carefully metered and controlled to keep the structured society stable and in compliance with the Praetor's grand plan.
Vyctor is rogue inventing at night in secret locations and the Gyrostator is as illegal as it comes. He takes to riding it through the darkened city in the middle of the night and it plays a very interesting role later in the story.
The Gyrostator has a locomotive drive and it weighs nearly a thousand pounds. That makes it very rough on the ankles and legs when it's not moving and Vyctor has to hold it upright.
It also makes it one heckuva battering ram.
There are no lights as the windscreen lenses are powered with an energy that acts a lot like night vision goggles.
The rear drive isn't complete yet as it will receive eccentric drive elements to run the valves and such. Still, I felt it was far enough along to start sharing.
Hope you enjoy. Cheers, Kevin

PS - just posted the completed design. Be sure to visit that post HERE!

Steampunk Motorcycle (Gyrostator)

Steampunk Motorcycle semi-front view

Steampunk Motorcycle front view

Steampunk Motorcycle Frahnknshtyne

Steampunk Motorcycle top view

Steampunk Motorcycle Gyrostator

Steampunk Aether Rifle on tripod!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Mowrer) — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 22:30:00 +0000

Wow! it was quite a wrestling match with my computer to get the final models together in one document and get them rendered off but it's finally done. Here's the images showing all the details. I'm planning on making this into a poster for mounting over mantles like it is a real rifle. I've also gotten a number of inquiries about duplicates of the quarter scale model when it's done. Drop me a line of you have any interest and I'll look into the economics of it. I'll let you all know when that's done but for now, I hope you enjoy the results so far. more to come.
Cheers, Kevin

Steampunk Aether Rifle Lacette's moment

Steampunk aether rifle tripod

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Mowrer) — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 00:09:00 +0000

The design for the tripod that supports the immense Aether Assassin Rifle is well underway so I thought I'd share some of the images with you. It has to be built quite sturdy to steady a rifle that is shooting from almost two miles away with lots of ability to adjust it. It's also an artisan item, fully handcrafted and a one of a kind design. Lacette has very strong beliefs and specific rituals she adheres to as she prepares to take a life and that obsessive attention to detail is seen in all the unique tools of her trade as well.
Best, Kevin

Aether rifle tripod

Aether rifle tripod raising mechanism

Aether rifle tripod crank handle

Aether rifle tripod attached plumb bob

Steampunk Aether rifle new stock

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Mowrer) — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 01:25:00 +0000

It's interesting how sometimes, there's a single detail that makes a design really take on life. I had always intended to add extension to the tips of the butt stock like some of the marvelously decorated moorish flintlocks of the 1800's. I translated the whippet-like extensions into brass hardware and just added them to the design today. I am very excited about the effect it's had on the whole design and gesture. Now it is finding it's steampunk unique identity.
There's still more to go so keep checking back and I'll keep posting as it develops.
Enjoy and cheers, Kevin

Aether rifle side view new stock

Aether rifle gear detail

Aether rifle three quarter view

Aether rifle new stock close up

Aether rifle stock extensions

Aether rifle stock closeup

Steampunk Aether Rifle Video

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Mowrer) — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 20:53:00 +0000

I thought I'd add a flyby video of Lacette's Aether Assassin rifle. It's fun to get a sense of just how outrageous a six foot long rifle that can harvest a man's life force from over two miles away is. This is definitely not a handlheld killing tool. It has to be used with either the monopod or the tripod (that is being developed next).
The rounds themselves are fun because once the prongs pierce the skin, the lifeforce of the victim is rapidly drawn off into the round. Then when Lycette arrives, she transfers it into an Aether containment vial for transport and gathers up the round leaving little more than four small holes and a bruise on her victim,
As I had covered in the earlier post showing the development illustration, there is no gunpowder being used here. Once she has sighted you in on the glowing scope, she has your aether signature and pulls the first locking lever near the trigger. Once the trigger is pulled the targets own lifeforce shoots a carrier bolt of energy to the gun and the round rides it to the victim. Just before the round hits the target often swoons and feels dizzy as they are supplying the force of the hit.
Hope you enjoy. Cheers, Kevin

Steampunk Aether Rifle in 3D!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Mowrer) — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 18:34:00 +0000

Hello all my friends.
I've been updating this post with new images and details of the Aether rifle. I've been down a rabbit hole lately with several projects. Even so, I've been able to work on bringing Lacette's Aether Rifle design to life as a 3D rendering. It's been so much fun doing this because once you can move around something and really see it, ideas and opportunities to evolve the design and add to the idea just start exploding. Now it's a proper assassin's rifle!

It isn't done yet but its far enough along to share with you. There's more details to come yet on the gun itself as well as the ammunition and its box for storing the life force of the victims. I'm also designing a tripod for those really long distance shots where the fold out monopod just isn't enough. There's more adjustments to come on the Aether scope but for now, I can show it both turned on and off.

In modeling this, I didn't want to take the approach of just making lots of gears and bits and then free form placing them about to "kit bash" a design together. That's a valid way to work but for the designs in Frahnknshtyne, I wanted everything to have that strongly grounded sense of visually being "purpose made." There's an industrial integrity liberally mixed with a sense of victorian exquisite handcraft that is important to me. Every knob, hold down, ferule and finding is custom designed on this rifle. I'm even considering doing a rapid prototype of it to see what it would look like as a nice 24 inch long model.

Anybody out there up for making a full sized rifle? :-)

Hope you enjoy a bit of gear from the world of Frahnknshtyne. Always good to feed ones own addiction to Steampunk tasties and share with others who like the same.
Cheers, Kevin

Aether Rifle full view

Aether rifle 3/4 view

Aether rifle scope mount

Aether bullet

aether rifle loading chamber

Aether rifle bullet prongs

Aether rifle view down the barrel

Aether rifle declination mechanism

Aether rifle fittings

Aether rifle strap fittings

Aether rifle brass housing

Aether rifle barrel view

Aether rifle scope skull

Steampunk Skull Muscles

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Mowrer) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 14:26:00 +0000

Whew! The final image of the Making of Frahnknshtyne's face is finally done. It is now a completed Triptych. This middle image shows the crafting of the leather straps and support structure that will drive the final skin to move. Like all things Vyctor does, he is obsessive in the detail and art of it even though it will not be seen. I've been enjoying the ironic nature of these images in the sense that they are a form of "still life" and chronicle one brilliant man's attempt at making a new receptacle for life.
More to come in the book. Cheers, Kevin

Steampunk Skull Muscles

Steampunk skull triptych

And a fun video so you can see how the face builds up layer by layer.

Steampunk Frankenstein's face

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Mowrer) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:07:00 +0000

Finally, I've gotten to a face for Frahnknshtyne's creation that is delivering the narrative I was striving for. The mechanical man in my story is not about gore or re-animating dead flesh. It is the result of an obsessive labor to create an artful receptacle worthy of holding the minds of the immortals.

Months ago I posted the highly detailed metallic skull (I've reposted it in this post so you can see the finished product on the same bench and in the same position).

The completed head is made from finely tooled soft leather. Each hair has been stitched into place by hand and the leather face is connected to an intricate series of tiny pulleys and leather straps that act like muscles to drive expression and movement. My next painting is the middle image in this Steampunk Tryptych. It will be the image showing the muscles and controls being built on the face. Can't wait to get to it.

For this painting I wanted a mad and complicated sense of Vyctor, bringing all his artisan skills and victorian technology to bear on making this creation of great and subtle intricacy.

I can't tell you any more as I'd like you to read it in the book (which is coming along very nicely). I hope you enjoy these ongoing glimpses into the world of Frahnknshtyne.

Be sure to see the just completed middle stage of the making of the Frahnknshtyne head. It's the crafting of the muscle structure you can find here.
cheers, Kevin

Steampunk Frahnknshtyne leather face

Steampunk Frahnknshtyne's metal skull

New Steampunk Motorcycle

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Mowrer) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 15:37:00 +0000

I've been gone far too long from posting new work on the site. I guess that's what happens when you are launching a brand new company and getting the first apps to market.
I've also been up to my eyebrows in writing the story and working through all the challenges that entails.
Anyway, since so many of you visit the site to see the art I've done a new illustration. One of the things I truly love is vintage motorcycles. I've already worked on a preliminary design for the Gyrostator that appears in the story and that gets the most hits on the site. I wanted to envision another bike that would fit in the world I'm writing but would represent a much more refined design.
I want this bike. It would be handy in heavy traffic. Nothing says "respect me" like fender mounted pistols.
I really enjoy painting rusted, rough and weathered surfaces and really got into the colors and textures on the huge, iron skull buttress and the large hanging pulley beneath it.
I hope you enjoy. I've posted the whole image and some close ups of parts of the painting as well.

Cheers, Kevin

PS - If enough of you are interested I'll assemble and post the making of video for this as well.
PSS - I've also got an older post with a much more fantasy bike sketch with a locomotive drive.
PSSS - I've also modeled the high fantasy bike in 3d!

Steampunk Motorcycle Frahnknshtyne

Pistol mounts on front end

Steampunk skull buttress

New Blog about Steampunk Inspirations

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Mowrer) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 23:03:00 +0000

Hello Friends and followers.
While writing and drawing Frahnknshtyne I frequently come across other artists, ideas and thinking that help me in the work I'm doing or are just plain inspiring in a steam punk kind of way. I'm establishing a new blog to share those with everyone else. I invite you to visit and sign up if you like. Hope you enjoy and cheers for now, Kevin

Steampunk Inspirations