Eco Mofos!!

Almost There!
20 days ago – Sun, Apr 21, 2024 at 10:36:03 AM

Ahoy there,

As we enter the final furlong in this project we thought we’d drop you a quick update before getting back to the work of proof ready, design flourishes and illustration tweaks.

The book and adventures are, for all intents and purposes, in the bag and now we are in the final polish stages. We're including in this update, a collection of the finished spreads.

 Dan has drawn his fingers off and David is more layout machine than man, now. This project has really deepened our collaborative process, and we both agree that we are intensely proud of what we’ve made.

Alongside making the book we’ve been liaising with our printers and distributors. We initially reached out to these partners during the Kickstarter campaign and since being funded, we had been finalising the relationships.  

Our main challenge has been in securing the best value shipping and distribution for you. During the Kickstarter we reached out to a number of providers and we are now receiving their quotes. Ultimately we are confident that your books will reach you in time and at a fair cost.

We’ve ended up putting way more work into this project than we had planned; it’s been a total joy to do and a shared labour of love. In addition, the adventures we’ve received from our project partners are all larger and more expansive than we ever dared to imagine they’d be. As a result the finished book is coming in longer than we originally anticipated and slightly heavier, 450g/16oz. This may have a small impact on delivery prices.

Right, we better get back to work. We're chomping at the bit to show you this book in full and in print!

All the best,

Dan and David

ECO MOFOS!! Ashcan
about 2 months ago – Fri, Mar 15, 2024 at 11:38:01 AM

Why, hello there,

We've been super busy this end, David receiving and acting on feedback to the text and Dan churning out full-colour illustration, after full-colour illustration. The book, in it's different editions, and the pamphlets are almost there. We're feeling really proud of what's happening this end and we're so excited to share it with you.

In fact we're also curious to hear your feedback on the project, whilst it is still a work in progress. So we thought we'd offer you the chance to take a look at it while it's still fairly rough around the edges. To that end, please follow this link:

https://danulocke.itch.io/eco-mofos-ashcan

And using the password:

weirdhope

...You will be able to download a black and white ashcan edition of ECO MOFOS!! You can use this to play a game and if you'd like to offer it, we'd love to hear your feedback.

(What's an Ashcan, we hear you say? Here's little definition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashcan_comic )

Right, we can see that deadline fast approaching, so like these birds in Dan's recent illustration, we'd better fly (back to the studio).

Best,

Dan and David.

Peeping at Partisans
3 months ago – Sun, Feb 11, 2024 at 02:14:44 AM

Hi all,

We hope you've had a nice week. 

Following on for the themes of recent updates we thought it would be fun to take a close look at the way in which one of our large colour images for ECO MOFOS!! has developed and been created.

This is the finished picture. It shows a group of Ratlin partisans taking a break in their basic dugout, as a pair of Punks sneak up on them.

Like all the images in this book, Dan made it with pen and ink on paper, then processed and coloured it in Photoshop. This still has the rough border and large bleed area but when in the book it will be an edge to edge, double-page spread, covering the lower half of the pages.

When Dan sat down to make this image he set out to tell a story that would show one of the game's monsters during a quiet moment. As a kid, Dan always wanted to know what the bad guys were doing when they weren't being bad. Everyone needs some downtime, right?

So, in this image Dan casts the Ratlins as a group of partisans engaged in a war of attrition, full of moments of boredom and idle chat. This line of thought set Dan looking for reference amongst images of soldiers during WW1. Here's the photo he stumbled on that inspired him:

Instagram, like all social media is weird, isn't it? At once a horror scape and a source of fantastic inspiration. There is something so everyday about the postures of these figures and their inter-relationships, that is brilliantly domestic but acutely contrasting with their surroundings. 

Here's Dan's initial sketch. He made this to explore the idea and to share his thinking with David:

As you can see, the tarp in the original photograph has become a partisan banner. Dan has changed the ratio and added a bit of techy nonsense to the foreground, and a horizon in the distance. This drawing was made, like all of Dan's work, in his A4 sketchbook. Dan's favoured way of sketching is with cartridge pen and spirit pen.

Dan's sketch was then developed into finished line art:

It was at this final part that it occurred to Dan to add the Punks. They literally snuck up on him, just as they attempt to sneak up on the peaceable Ratlins!

Drawing is a funny slow-motion process, like static animation. And making these types of drawings is almost experienced as a story unfolding as the lines trace their paths across the paper. Ideas pop into the head as a result of need: In this case, Dan needed an extra compositional element to complete and balance the double-page spread. Other times the ideas come about as a result of play as the drawing is made. 

We love how who the aggressors are is ambiguous. Perhaps the Ratlins are cool and just want to left alone. Perhaps the Punks have come upon the Ratlins by accident and hope to sneak past without any trouble. Perhaps your reading is something completely different.

Here's the final image once again.

More again soon. 

Have a lovely week ahead,

Dan and David

2024, The Year of the MOFOS!
3 months ago – Fri, Feb 02, 2024 at 09:10:05 AM

Hi there,

We hope 2024 has got off to a good start for you all. We're well, putting aside a small amount of seasonal illness. We thought you'd like to see how the full-colour artwork is coming. Here's a screen grab from Dan's Photoshop workbench today. 

These are just some of the full-colour images that the book will contain. 

Here we have a couple of double-page spreads, a couple of full-page illustrations and couple of spot illustrations. You can see how some of these images have developed from their original sketches by referring to our last update.

Dan is working on the images in batches. This is for efficiency, but more importantly, to help him create a portfolio of images that work coherently together in terms of colour, texture and overall feel. 

Here's a close-up of one of the spot illustrations:

This image will accompany the magic section of the book. 

And here's one of the images we saw last time as a pencil sketch and finished inks. 

As we mentioned before this image was inspired by a scene from the 1982 version of Conan. Here's the screenshot Dan riffed on:

Dan just loved the aspect and weird geology of this set! 

The reference to brutalist architecture of the two towers in Dan's image, is becoming a bit of a theme in some of the other drawings he is Making for ECO MOFOS!! You'll see more of it in updates to come. We really love the strange forms that architects working in that school were exploring. 

I mean, look at this crazy awesomeness! What do you think? How does the world after look in your eyes?

We're aiming to do another update next week, since the artwork is really beginning to flow off the drawing board now. So stay tuned for more.

Have a great one!

Dan and David

Behind the Scenes and Seasons Greetings!
5 months ago – Wed, Dec 20, 2023 at 09:10:46 AM

Ahoy there!

Well, here we are with the end of the year fast approaching. We thought we’d drop-in to offer you an update and a peak behind the scenes of how the illustrations for ECO MOFOS!! are being made.

Dan has just completed the first batch of finished line art. These drawings will be scanned and cleaned and then digitally coloured but here they are in their raw state; pen and ink on paper, in the pages of Dan’s sketchbook.

We hoped it would be interesting to see a side-by-side comparison of this drawing:

This image, once coloured, will illustrate a double page spread about magical visions. Dan has drawn it in two halves, as you can see, but in Photoshop he will join these halves together allowing space for the gutter. The gutter is the blank space where two pages meet at the binding, when designing illustrations that travel across that space it’s super important to allow enough room to accommodate it.

Here’s Dan’s original design:

Bearing in mind the gutter, it’s clear that a single eye was never going to cut the mustard; most of the pupil would have been lost to the gutter and binding! We think that the final design of two eyes (with weirded out pupils) is far stranger and more compelling. Dan really got into the cross-hacking on this one too.

Here are a couple of other finished line art images waiting to be processed into full colour illustrations:

Just like the 'visions' illustration we’ve been talking about, these two are designed to occupy the lower portion of double page spreads.

Here are the rough drafts for these images.

Finally, here’s a comparison of a single page illustration that will accompany a section of the book that is all about crazy weather. Look closely and you'll see the whiteout and patches of paper used to make corrections. These things will disappear once the line art is scanned and cleaned:

This photograph of some WW2 partisans inspired the rough design. Dan loved the attitude and composition of this image:

The illustrations for ECO MOFOS!! draw on a wide range of imagery for inspiration. Dan finds that 20th century photography, especially from the 30’s-50’s, contains a lot of inspiration in terms of vibe, composition, and as a source of detail, for costumes, environments and technology.

In this rough image, Dan recasts the partisans as members of a group of punks that he calls The Sisters of Tears. But to be honest they could be anyone, it’s all up to the reader!

Before we sign of we’d just like to thank you once again and remind you to fill out that form, if you haven’t already. Also, the pre-order is still live so there’s time yet to buy a copy of the game if you missed out on the Kickstarter.

We hope that you all find sometime in the coming few weeks to take a break, recharge your batteries and enjoy being with the people you love.

All the very best,

Dan and David