This is a digital sketch of a Rifts Coalition vehicle named Death’s Head first presented by Palladium books in Rifts: World Book One, illustrated by my hero Kevin Long written by Kevin Siembieda.
Rifts Coalition "Death's Head" concept artwork
I started with a somewhat messy perspective grid that progressively got worse. I didn’t care too much about the mess because I was working digitally and could erase what ever I wanted to. So I approached it like a block of three dimensional space that needed a good chiseling. This is an exercise that I use, although not as comfortable digitally as I am “pen and paper”, I expect to become more comfortable digitally as I continue to work at it.
The painting was approached in the same matter that a traditional illustration would be. Mask off the ship, airbrush some clouds and atmosphere and use those colors as a pallet to paint the matt finished ship. If I were air-brushing this on a tailgate this is close to how I would proceed. I think that it is allot of fun to see the art as it develops, that is why I have posted as many WIPs as I could remember to save.
