NG: Card Game Art, Cyber Monday

Here is the artwork for a couple cards more from the Nordguard Card Game, in specific, “Distress Flare,” “Avalanche” and “McKay”!

 Each piece is about 3×4″ in watercolor and acrylic, and was made specifically for the Nordguard Card Game earlier this year. You can get more information on the game itself right here!

By the way, Sofawolf Press is having a 20% sale this weekend, until November 26th! It’s a great deal if you’ve been waiting to buy! They have Nordguard: Across Thin Ice in both soft and hard cover, and the Nordguard Card Game is in stock, and makes a great stocking stuffer!

Click here for more info!

ComicCon, Sofawolf Press & Free Stuff!

ComicCon International in San Diego begins in just a couple of days!

We're always excited for CCI, especially this year. In cased you missed it, Teagan Gavet, the author/layout/penciling half, has been nominated for the Russ Manning Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her work on Nordguard: Across Thin Ice. The nomination in itself is a huge honor, and competition is steep, but we'll be keeping our fingers crossed this Friday at the Eisner Award ceremony when the winner of the Manning award will be announced.

Where We'll Be:

Every day of the convention, you'll be able to find us sporadically at the Sofawolf Press booth #1236 (which is in the Webcomics section of the dealer's room.) Sofawolf Press will have Across Thin Ice, free 8-page previews of the second Nordguard book (Under Dark Skies), the Nordguard Card Game, copies of Dog's Days of Summer, Art of Kenket books, plus all of their new summer releases and the bulk of their full catalog! Come check it out!

We are more than happy to sign any of our books, so feel free to watch @screwbald on Twitter to know when we'll be at the Sofawolf Press booth! You can also follow @sofawolfpress on Twitter to find out when other Sofawolf creative will be on hand to sign books, such as Kyell Gold, Lynn Hogan (author/artist of Prydwen), Mandi Tremblay (author/artist of Peachy Keen,) and Kamui, the cover artist for many of Sofawolf's publications.

Free Stuff:

Aside from the free 8-page preview of the next Nordguard book, Under Dark Skies, Sofawolf will be giving out different buttons on different days of the convention, featuring either Pi, London, Nickel from Nordguard, or Diego and Bayshore from Dog's Days! Supplies will be limited, so stop by or follow @sofawolfpress for the heads up on free stuff!

There's also going to be a free preview of Spain Fischer's upcoming comic, Caterwall!

Also, when we're at the Sofawolf table to sign, we will be giving out a special, collector card for the Nordguard Card Game, the "White Bear!" event card! This card is not included in the original decks, and this will be it's first release! If you are unable to get one from us at CCI, we'll have some with us at other conventions throughout this year and the next!

So, once again, feel free to follow us @screwbald on Twitter to know when we're signing/giving out stuff!

Have a great week!

Cheers,

-Blotch

Nominated for the Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award!

Now that it’s up on the ComicCon International Website, I can make the announcement! I’m one of the five nominees for the 2012 Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award, for Nordguard: Across Thin Ice!
Here’s some more information!

It’s really exciting, I can’t even. Wow. I get a grin ear to ear whenever I think about it! 25 top comic creators, film producers and other industry folk judge the awards, and will see and read our book. Just that alone is awesome. Being nominated and recognized for the story telling and layout of the book is a real honor to me.

The awards are given at the Eisner Awards ceremony in July at ComicCon International in San Diego… so, wish me luck!

With that bit of awesome news, it’s back to the comic-mines, and more work on Nordguard book two, Under Dark Skies!

Under Dark Skies!

We’re happy to officially announce the next Nordguard book—UNDER DARK SKIES!

The book will pick up right where Across Thin Ice left off, and if everything goes to plan, will be out in 2013. According to the current rough layouts, it will be a little bit longer than Across Thin Ice, and in the neighborhood of 80-85 pages.

You’ll be able to pick up a free 8 page preview of Under Dark Skies at AnthroCon in June, and of course ComicCon in San Diego, as well as all the other conventions that Sofawolf Press attends!

Here’s the cover for the preview, as well as the first two pages of the teaser!

 
And that brings us to…

Thank you, you guys are awesome!

It’s been really great to hear from people who’ve walked to comic book shops in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, London, Amsterdam, Helsinki, Melbourne—even Cape Town—to find Across Thin Ice on the shelves!

A huge part of that is because people have asked their local stores to carry it. Creator-owned comics are underdogs in the comic market, and it’s really difficult to make even the slightest impact. You guys have really helped however, by taking the initiative to ask for the comic, talking about it, and getting stores to keep copies on their shelves. So, thank you all so much for the support, for helping spreading the word, and your continued effort to! Every book that sells helps us to keep making more comics, and more artwork.

It’s been a pretty good first year for the Nordguard. That is to say, we can afford to eat, buy beer, and pick up enough paint and paper to launch right into work on the next book! So far this year, we have been pretty busy working on Under Dark Skies, and the summer promises the same.

Telling stories on paper with pen and paint is not just something we love to do; it’s really something we have to do. Art is such a huge part of our lives, there would almost be no life without it. Being able to work at something we love every day, and challenge ourselves with it, and create things which people enjoy is… honestly, really amazing.

Thank you guys so much for enjoying the work we put out, your kind comments, and your support.
You rock, you really do. :]

Now, it’s time to get back to the paint-and-paper mines!

Nordguard Card Game, Cards

Here’s three cards we made earlier this year for the Nordguard Card Game, “Shortcut,” “London,” and “Raiders!” respectively.

The originals are small, each about 3×4, in watercolor and acrylic.
You can see a sped-up recording of painting the London card right here!

This is also a reminder for those that might have missed it–the Nordguard Card Game will come in two editions, Standard and Deluxe. While the standard decks will likely be around for a while, there is a very limited and finite number of the Deluxe sets. Here’s more information on the differences, and how to get your hands on a Deluxe set, starting tomorrow!

Pre-Orders for the Nordguard Card Game, as well as the return of Across Thin Ice hardcovers, start tomorrow (May 26th) at 10AM Central time (That’s Chicago time!)

Nordguard Card Game/ATI Hardcover Pre-Orders!

Sofawolf Press will be starting pre-orders for many of their summer release titles this Saturday (May 26th), starting at 10AM Central time. Included, will be a very limited pre-order for the Nordguard Card Game, and the return of Across Thin Ice hardcovers!

NORDGUARD CARD GAME

[Here's some information on the Nordguard Card Game, in case you missed it!]

The Nordguard Card Game is being released in two editions: Standard ($14.95) and Deluxe ($24.95). Both editions contain the full 130 card deck, which features a ton of new artwork created for the game, and 4 custom six-sided dice etched with the Nordguard logo. The Deluxe edition adds 4 extra dice (for faster game play,) a metallic Nordguard collector's coin, in a black canvas belt-pouch screen-printed with the Nordguard logo, signed and numbered by everyone who worked on the game!
Click Here for the Standard Edition Pre-Order, and Here for the Deluxe!

While the standard sets will probably be around and readily available for a while, there will be an extremely limited number of Deluxe editions. Once the Deluxe editions are gone, that is it! If you want to get your hand on one, you have the following opportunities:

#1 - Sofawolf Press will be put 1/4 of the Deluxe edition (approximately 50) up for pre-orders on Saturday, May 26th at 10AM Central Time (the Chicago time-zone.) Once they are sold out, there will be no more deluxe editions available online until after AnthroCon (see #3 below.)

#2 - Sofawolf will have 1/4 of the deluxe decks (again, about 50) for sale at AnthroCon in Pittsburgh, PA the weekend of June 15-17. As in the past, they will split these roughly into three equal groups to be released each day of the convention, when the Dealer's Room opens in the morning. (So, if you miss out one morning, you can try again the next.)

#3 - Sofawolf will have another batch available online shortly after AnthroCon. They will release these onSaturday June 23rd at 10PM Central Time. Once this batch of Deluxe sets sells out, they will not have any more available online.

#4 - Lastly, the remaining few decks will be available in very limited numbers at conventions through the year, for as long as they last. (Sofawolf will definitely have some for sale at ComicCon International in San Diego, however!)

ACROSS THIN ICE: HARDCOVERS

Secondly, something I know a few people have been eagerly waiting for--Sofawolf Press has ordered a second printing of the Nordguard: Across Thin Ice hard cover books! They sold out really fast last time around, so if you missed out last year, now's your chance!

Click Here for Across Thin Ice Hardcover Pre-Order!

Once again, pre-orders will begin this Saturday (May 26th) at 10AM Central! Check out the Sofawolf Press site for the full pre-order announcement, and to see all the new summer titles available for pre-order, such asHeat #9, Flight of the Godkin Griffin, and The Blood Jaguar!

With that said, I'm back to my short vacation on top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere!

Cheers,

-Blotch

Stray, from the Nordguard Card Game

"Stray"

This was a piece painted a couple of weeks ago, for the Nordguard Card Game. Specifically, it’s one of the “Stray Territory” location cards, featuring a stray Maguruq who thinks you would be tasty to eat.

While the majority of the original artwork for the game is about 3×4″, we liked the thumbnail sketch of this one enough to page it a bit larger. The original is about 8×10, watercolors and acrylic.

Here is the original sketch, and some work-in-progress photographs:

  

 The first step, aside from stretching the paper, is to add masking fluid to the foreground rocks/skull. (I use Winsor&Newton brand masking fluid.)

 

 

 I also recorded a video of the painting on LiveStream. I’ve sped it up and edited it a bit:

blotch on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

Pi, and Ask the Nordguard!

Here is the artwork for the “Pi” character card we did for the Nordguard Card Game. (More information on the game can be found here!)

The original is small, about 3×4, in watercolor and acrylic.

Over the years, a couple people have asked where Pi got her name. Pi is actually a nick name (her real name comes up in the next book, actually…) There’s two stories behind how she got the nickname–one, being that she’s black and white and it’s short for piebald. The other is a slightly longer story from her days of basic training. In searching for an object buried in the snow, she stumbled and tripped, landing directly on the target. She set a new record time of 3.14, hence, the nickname “Pi.”

We’ve been getting a lot of character specific questions, usually in the chat during LiveStreams. We thought it would be fun to set up an “Ask the Nordguard” page! You can ask a character from the comic a question. When we have a bit of free time, or feel like sketching something a little less serious, we’ll respond to one or two of the questions in a quick and sketchy fashion.

So, check it out, and if you have a question for one of the characters–ask away!

Keep an eye on either @nordguard on Twitter, the Nordguard Development Blog, or the News feed for answers!

Nordguard: The Card Game

Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve been working on original artwork for the upcoming Nordguard Card Game.

The game itself has been developed by Tempe O’Kun and Nic Wald, and Jeremia Heupel of ThinkTank Games directed play-testing. They’ve been tweaking and play-testing for over a year now. It’s slated to be released this summer, and will be available from Sofawolf Press.

The card game will feature 50+ pieces of new original artwork we’ve done, plus some artwork from Across Thin Ice, and Nordguard concept art. In total, each deck has 130 cards, plus comes with custom Nordguard dice. The game will come in two editions, standard ($12) and collectors ($25).

There will also be additional artwork from the talented Chromamancer!

You can find more information about the game itself on cardgame.nordguard.com! The site will continue to be updated as we get closer to the summer and the game’s release.

Here’s a few of the new images I painted for the game:

 

 

A lot of the painting for the cards was done on LiveStream. I edited/sped-up a couple saved sessions for anyone interested in the process! You can find more on my LiveStream Channel, but here’s one:

I’ll be LiveStreaming pretty regularly over the next couple of weeks as I work on the preview for the second Nordguard book (the title of which will be announced soon!)

You can follow @screwbald or @nordguard on Twitter to be updated whenever I start LiveStreaming!

On LiveStream!

I've been painting on LiveStream a lot over the past few weeks, all be it a little sporadically. I've compiled a short LiveStream page, with fun things like the LiveStream F.A.Q, and links to saved sessions, etc! Check it out at:

LIVESTREAM.NORDGUARD.COM

If you want to catch a live session, there are a couple of places you can keep an eye out:
Follow @screwbald on Twitter to be notified every time I'm painting on LiveStream, for all projects, or...
Follow @nordguard on Twitter for less frequent notifications, pertaining only to comic stuff.

You can also follow on FaceBook for updates!

Nominate Nordguard for a Hugo!

It's Awards Nomination Season, including the Hugo Awards!

Nordguard: Across Thin Ice is eligible to be nominated this year for the Hugo's "Best Graphic Story" category!

This is really pretty awesome. The category is a relatively new addition to the Hugo Awards, and as such, the "underdogs" have more of a chance of getting noticed and included.

So what does that mean? It means I need you fine Worldcon members to nominate Across Thin Ice!

To nominate, you must either currently be, or have been, a member of either a 2011, 2012 or 2013 Worldcon. (If you are not a Worldcon member and want to become one, you may join Chicon 7 or LonStarCon 3, the 2013 Worldcon, before January 31st 2012 to be eligible.)
The deadline for nominations is March 11th, 2012!

The Hugo nominations are being handled though the Chicon Hugo Nomination Website. You can submit a ballot either online (click here!), or mail-in a paper ballot (more info!).

If you happen to be a Worldcon member and you haven't yet cast your nominations, we would greatly appreciate the moment of your time to include Nordguard: Across Thin Ice on your ballot!


The pertinent information you'd need would be:
Catagory: Best Graphic Story
Title: Nordguard: Across Thin Ice
By: Teagan Gavet/Tess Garman
(For "Magazine," I'd say: Publisher, Sofawolf Press, ISNB 978-1-936689-10-1, www.nordguard.com)

You can put up to five names down for each category on the Nominations Ballot, so you can give all your favorites from 2011 a shot at being nominated this year!


Thank you very much!

It's been a whirlwind kind of year so far. Really, thank you everyone who's gotten a copy of Across Thin Ice, left kind comments, shared the book with friends, penned great reviews, sent nice emails, or simply just said at conventions "I can't wait until the next book!"
Being able to write and make comics is truly a dream realized for both of us. It's exciting, and encouraging at how well the book has been received, both within and outside of the fandom. Thank all of you guys for that! :]

Now, back to sketching the next Nordguard book I go...