Drawing I
Lane Boeding "Helblaster Volley Gun"
18”x12”, Graphite Pencil, 2020
My drawing is that of a Helblaster Volley Gun unit from the tabletop war game Warhammer Fantasy. The idea for drawing it came from a previous drawing of a steam tank unit and I thought that I would stick to the theme of Empire of Man weaponry and war vehicles. So first I got on a game called Total War: Warhammer II to put the unit on an open field map and I took a picture of it. After that the image was displayed and I took a really rough outlining of everything. Then I fixed up all of the parts, added some shading and smoke and finished it. As for the interpretation of the artwork I think it could be summed up in what makes the Empire great faith, steel, and gunpowder. This drawing quite obviously showing off two of the three of those things. There were a few things that had to be cut from the final drawing. Originally there were going to be four Helblaster Volley Guns in the drawing but due to how small they were and how blurry they appeared on the initial picture. If I had a higher resolution picture and a steadier hand then I would definitely add all four into the drawing. As for the challenges the things I had difficulty drawing were the centerpiece of the drawing itself, the Helblaster Volley Guns. They took a large portion of time to draw in a nice-looking way, I.e. not smudged together lines on the small parts of the machine. The art style is realistic, or as realistic as I could with my skills at drawing. Nothing is abstract or out of this world it all looks like it could be based in reality. And that’s what I like about it, the volley guns themselves are based off real volley guns and revolving cannons, just mad enough to look fictional but still something that seems practical.
Lane Boeding "Saltzpyre’s Dream"
18”x12”, Multimedia, 2020
This drawing was inspired from a little bit of dialogue from a special event in a game called Warhammer Vermintide. The dialogue features the witch hunter Saltzpyre and mercenary Markus Kruber drunk when Saltzspyre goes and tells him that he never wanted to be a witch hunter but instead a steam tank driver. A situation involving a wheelbarrow, alcohol, and a pyromancer ensues and then the dialogue ends. Now, I had already drawn a steam tank before so I had a fair grasp on how to draw the vehicle. First I created a rough outline of the body of the tank making the curves look even along the rims and the body of the tank. Then the main cannon came second it was a pretty quick process just had to get the right size and length. Thirdly came the steam turret on top which was a bit more difficult to put on the tank but I got it on anyways. Lastly came the steam engine, wheels, and stack. Then that was it before I started coloring but I’ll save that part for what was most difficult for me. The artwork in its entirety represents a feeling of power as Saltzpyre, riding atop sword and flintlock in hand with a face of pure joy behind the helmet he’s wearing. Now, back to the coloring that I mentioned before. I don’t like coloring my drawings, it brings out a sense of unpleasantness because I can never get the right colors and I can’t shade in the same way that I can with just a graphite pencil. If I could start over, I would attempt to just do a black and white color drawing. It, in my opinion would look better and I could’ve gotten it done sooner without having to color it. The style of art is surreal as there is no way that a renaissance era empire with which hunters and steam powered tanks could ever exist in the real world. But that’s what I like about the universe of Warhammer Fantasy, it’s based in reality to a point that you could see how the world works and why the nations are stuck in this near industrial age. It’s nice seeing a fantasy world where humanity lives to its strengths of ingenuity and science.