Wednesday, January 11, 2012

John Carter of Mars

Gregory Manchess





The 100th anniversary of A Princess of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs is here, and to celebrate, John Joseph Adams has edited an anthology of all new adventures of John Carter, set on that seminal planet.



Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom will be released early February. Full of great writers and specially painted contemporary illustrations. This is my contribution to the story entitled, “The Metal Men of Mars,” by Joe R. Lansdale.



Sometimes I tire of the typical, average human height pov used by so many artists when describing tales. It is a very tired narrative angle, so I constantly search for more intriguing places to structure my compositions.



This story has John Carter attacked from above by a steaming metal dragon air-machine. I wanted the viewer to be right there, looking past Carter toward the airship. Fairly straightforward, but it offered a nice way to foreshorten the figure and add a desirable way to lead the eye.





This is Ivory Black oil paint, mixed with Titanium White, on pre-primed linen. I used the white of the linen to break up the blacks and greys, allowing the brain to fill in the holes. I love this sort of thing as it keeps the mind engaged. It’s also fun to paint and stare at.



Io9 will release an article about the book this coming Monday, Jan 16th, or you can jump to John Joseph Adam’s website on Monday which has more information about the book, especially a nice section of interviews of the writers and artists.



Here's a time-lapse video of me working on the finish.....



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