Book Cover

[daarken]

here is the completed version of the book cover. this was scratchboard technique on clayboard and is 7.5 x 10. i forgot how fast scratchboard is, i might have to do more.

http://www.daarken.com/FlashPage/Paintings/lotrfinalweb.jpg

details

http://www.daarken.com/FlashPage/Paintings/lotrdetail.jpg

http://www.daarken.com/FlashPage/Paintings/lotrdetail2.jpg

[mime]

wow daarken, thats is really nice
i love the large white shape, good use of negative space :)


what do you mean by clayboard ?
i only know scratchboard on those black covered cardboard things ... and for me it is not really fast, or i might have bad tools, but it takes ages to remove all this black ...

[daarken]

there are different types of scratchboard. most people think of the black paper. instead of that you can buy clayboard, which is basically masonite. there is white and black clayboard. i bought the white since i knew i would have a lot of white space in my illustration. then you just put black ink on the white board, and scratch off from there. you have to be careful with clayboard though, because there is only so much you can scratch off before you hit the bottom. i really like working on clayboard though, its also really nice to draw on. i tried oil painting on it one time, but it was too slick for me :P

[Muttonhead]

Nice piece. I wonder if it might be cool if you went in and darkened the sky behind them, like with line-work, so that only the faces and swords are pure white.

-Muttonhead

[deviousg]

heck yah...

insane - great medium.

[MindCandyMan]

great job daarken this is fantastic. I love it man

[grey]

I haven't done scratchboard in a long time but your piece inspired me to give it another shot; reallly nice work man

how did you get the softer blurry edges like around the rocks? was that added digitally or a technique you applied directly to the board

[daarken]

thanks everyone!

grey: nope, no digital. i just left some black as to make it look a little more blurry. also, i dont know if you can tell, but if you scratch more lightly it will be more of a grey, so i used that sometimes instead of going to pure white.

[krayz]

Very nice indeed.

Reminds me of Justin Sweet (don't ask why), but take that as a compliment :]

[ninja noodle]

wow! that's soo cool!!!!

[amphex]

I dont really understand the medium you used, but it sure does look very nice =)

Simple, creative, and well done..I got no crits.

Keep it up man =)

and PS - whats this a cover for?

[Cyrus]

Nice. Reminds me of the wraiths from the Lord of the Rings movie.

[Bud]

Really nice, daarken. Well done. I've never used that technique/medium but it sounds like fun, have to give it a try.

[daarken]

it was a book cover assignment for class for...tada, lord of the rings, so yeah that is why they look like the wraiths, because they are, heh.

[Kortez]

great work as always daarken. This brings back memories, a friend of mine had a really nasty accident with a scratchboard. Jammed the knife he used to scratch the board right into his hand (http://www.rad.washington.edu/atlas/addpollicis.html) . Really, really nasty, so be careful you art lovers :nono:

but to the point: I've never seen detail like this on a scratchboard, this is just a great piece. :chug:

[mtw]

Cool. I'd be interested in seeing how the sky would look like darker.

[MindCandyMan]

Ok daarken.....c'mon man tell us the truth...I know you put ink on your wall and scraped it away to save money didn't you? Not a bad idea actually...

[Carnifex]

i just wanted to say "might that be the ringwraths?" when i read your post.hella good work...get it on:)