The A.T.T. - Part 1 - The Sketches

The Automated Torque Telegrapher, or the A.T.T. for short, is a "little" invention that the great Dr. Mortimer J. Torque created circa 1889. The A.T.T. had a unique way of receiving code and translating messages into hand written script via an automated mechanical arm. Considering the technology of the time, such a device was unfathomable.

I've found that trying to formulate ideas for things that do not exist in our world, without making it look too much like something that has already been done before can be quite daunting. Over the course of the next few posts, I would like to share some of the process of how I came about designing the A.T.T.

It all started with this tiny thumbnail. When I scribbled this, I kind of had a lose idea as to things I wanted: a fancy table-like base, an arm, and some cogs & steam for good measure.

Seems pretty easy right? Wrong!

I literally drew dozens and dozens of sketches and scribbles before I found a shape I liked. Below are a few of the "better" ones. At first, I was digitally drawing interesting silhouettes and then chipping away until I found something I liked... no dice.

I even did some traditional sketches in the ol' sketchbook. There was still nothing I liked, but I felt I was getting closer to the essence of what needed to be there.

Next, I tried a really fun method of mashing up photos just to see what would happen. In using this method I didn't find exactly what I was looking for... although I did get just enough information out of the exercise to move back to pencils and continue fine-tuning what I had going with a fresh concept.

Now at this point, I liked what I had, but felt I could do better. I had just bought James Gurney's book, "Imaginative Realism," and after seeing what he does with maquettes, I really wanted to try my hand at building one-especially since I knew I would be drawing this bad boy from multiple angles for more than a few panels, it just seemed to make sense to build one!

On the next post I'll show you in which direction I took all these jumbles of chicken scratch and how the A.T.T. came to be in maquette form.

Until then, Stay Classy.

-b

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- You can view the A.T.T. in action in the

Apparition Abolishers webcomic

- Visit James Gurney's blog - GurneyJourney, for some of the very best

tips and tricks of illustration and great art in general.

¡Dia de lo Nachos!

Well! It's 2011 now. 2010 was one of the worst financial years of my life... so far. But not to fret, I have made many plans and projects to hopefully make 2011 a much better year.

One of my goals (not resolutions, those are bogus) is to really try and make a regular posting scheduale here on my blog. Hopefully with doing that it will help keep me "accountable"

I think i might start tomorrow with a little Abolishers insight and an update of how things are going on that front.

Happy Halloween!

First attempt at carving a pumpkin. It only took four hours!




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ApparitionAbolishers at GMX

A few shots of our booth this past weekend at GMX. We had a blast and I personally am very thankful to who came out and supported our fun "dress-up group" by purchasing shirts and posters. In doing so, your contributions help us to fund future Apparition Abolishers endeavors.









And then there is this guy.. Just because.




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Rusty Koontz: Design Poster

Here is the finished poster design for the Rusty Koontz. These posters are limited to only 50, signed and numbered by yours truly. You can stop by the Apparition Abolishers booth at GMX this weekend to pick up one while they last.

See you there!

Rusty Koontz design diagram

This weekend at GMX I'll have a few Apparition Abolishers prints and shirts available one of which is the "Rusty Koontz Design Diagram" Here are a few sneak peeks of the drawings. Enjoy!


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New projects on the horizon.

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. I have many projects I want to share on here and will be posting updates in the next week or so, so bare with me.
-b