APOCRYPHA: The Art of Jason Soles

THANK YOU!
about 8 years ago – Thu, Jul 28, 2016 at 09:56:54 AM

Thanks to 255 of you, APOCRYPHA: The Art of Jason Soles will be published in 2017!

In the coming months, we'll be finalizing photography and book layout (laying out a photo book is a lot of work!) and Jason will be hard at work casting enough resin Cthulhu statuettes to satisfy the needs of every branch of the Esoteric Order of Dagon.

We expect to send our files to press in December at which time we will finalize our Backerkit surveys so we can charge shipping and prepare for our estimated delivery dates in March. You will receive these surveys after we receive our printer proof and can calculate the final shipping costs. When you receive the survey you will be charged for shipping and have a final opportunity to order additional add-ons or increase your pledge. We'll have more details on Backerkit and the survey in the coming months, and will keep you posted at every step of production.

In the meantime, we'll share previews of the book's contents as it comes together and some other behind-the-scenes peeks at everything going into this project.

Once more, thank you so much for your support of both APOCRYPHA and Strix Publishing. We couldn't have done it without you!

Thank you so much!

Home Stretch!
about 8 years ago – Tue, Jul 26, 2016 at 04:02:09 AM

We've had a seriously excellent day and are closing in our funding goal! We're now 87% funded and moving fast. And, of course, we just broke 200 backers, which means one of you $45+ backers will be receiving the one-of-a-kind cold cast marble Cthulhu statuette in addition to your other rewards!

Thank you so much to all of you for supporting APOCRYPHA! We have 45 hours to go, which is a long time in Kickstarter terms, especially in the last days when people tend to jump on projects. We hope you'll keep sharing the campaign with your friends and we'll be celebrating the success of the book in less than two days!

Thanks again!

Stygian Mask I - Excerpt
about 8 years ago – Thu, Jul 21, 2016 at 12:43:34 PM

As we start to gather steam in the final week of the Kickstarter, we thought we'd share an excerpt from the manuscript and a sample of the art and concept art to be found within APOCRYPHA. The following excerpt is from Chapter 4: Dis Manibus, and discusses the patina process for bronze work.

"Patinas can be applied either cold or hot, or as a combination of the two. Most patinas that are applied hot begin with a foundation laid by a cold patina, such as liver sulfur or a gun bluing compound, that will provide a consistent dark color to the bronze that can be worked from. Cold patinas may sit on the surface of the bronze for hours or days before being neutralized with water. In burial patinas, the bronze will be packed with straw or wrapped with cloth saturated in a cold patina compound and be left to tarnish, sometimes over a months. The colors achieved in this way can be quite brilliant, and the bronze will carry a pattern from the packing material. Cold patinas can also be applied as mists or vapors that slowly color the bronze through exposure.

Hot patinas involve heating up the surface of the bronze with a torch. Once the metal is scorching hot, the patina compound is applied to it with an airbrush, spray bottle, or brush. I have come to prefer using a brush because it gives me control to hit the exact areas I want to color without much dripping.

Building up a patina can be a long and painstaking endeavor, and once the artist has achieved the finish that he wants, he must anticipate how that finish is going to react once wax is applied. This is an area of the craft in which there is no substitute for experience. 

There is also no rulebook to the patina process aside from a basic knowledge of chemistry. It is useful to know which chemical compounds will react badly over time, the order that layers of a patina must be applied for a particular effect, and how the patina will react to the elements or to sunlight. Some patinas are more unstable than others and may not be appropriate for outdoor display.

Virtually all patina solutions are made up of watered-down acids or other corrosive substances. Wearing protective gear and being constantly aware of your surroundings is a must. As is a shower after a long day of cooking nitrates into your flesh with a blowtorch and a brush dipped in acid.

Once patinaed, the bronze is sealed with wax and burnished.

There is something rewarding and deeply primal in working bronze. Though not a spiritual person, I found ritual in lost wax casting. Steeped in antiquity, it is a process by which the force of human will shapes the classical four elements. "

In other news, we received a nice shout out from a game currently on Kickstarter, Collectors and Capers. You may recognize a familiar face in the game's components...

That's just about all for now, but Jason's talking about writing some notes on his bronze process for an update in the near future. The higher end rewards are going very fast at this point; only 2 bronze Cthulhu statuettes, and a handful of the sculpted cover and resin mask rewards remain. We expect a surge in backers in the final days of the campaign, so if you've got your eye on one of the limited rewards you may want to lock it in sooner than later!

On a related note, we're only 33 backers away from unlocking the one-of-a-kind cold cast marble Cthulhu statuette that will be awarded to one backer after we reach 200 backers total! Keep sharing the campaign and one of your rewards packages will be MUCH more impressive!

Thanks again for your support, we're almost to the finish line!

Rewards going fast and a few other Kickstarters worth your attention!
about 8 years ago – Sat, Jul 16, 2016 at 05:35:04 PM

We had an incredible mid-campaign surge this week! Normally this middle of the campaign is the slowest time for new pledges, but in just a handful of days we gained dozens of new backers and thousands of dollars! Thank you so much to everyone who joined us!

With this influx of new backers, many of our most popular reward levels are becoming thin on the ground. Only 1 slot remains in our $375 reward, which is one of the best values in the entire campaign. We may open 1-2 more slots if we do a little juggling on material costs, but definitely no more than that. If you're interested in the hand-sculpted book cover edition, I recommend acting fast! 

The $300 Mask reward level is also starting to move, and only 3 slots are left for your choice of beautiful resin masks.

In other news, I've come across a few Kickstarters that I think you might enjoy if you're a fan of APOCRYPHA. Community is the key part of crowdfunding and I firmly believe in sharing other Kickstarter when I think they're of interest. I hope you'll take a few minutes to look at these cool projects I'm backing!

 

"Heroes of Red Hook is a collection of cosmic horror tales taking place during the Jazz Era with a very important focus. The protagonists of this anthology are members of the various under represented demographic in Lovecraftian fiction. Our heroes and heroines are the outsiders who are most often blamed (wrongly so) for the actions of various alien horrors of the mythos. Our stories put the spotlight on ethnic and religious minorities, immigrants, independent free thinking women, those with special needs, and members of the LGBT community. This collection features people struggling to overcome not only the horrors beyond mankind’s understanding, but an oppressive society seeking to deny them basic human rights."

"From the depths of R'lyeh emerges the light of insanity! The Light of R'lyeh is a piece of art that presents the great Cthulhu in candle form for cults and rituals, an essential piece for collectors and cultists. The candle of Cthulhu is offered in two formats: Cthulhu Eternal (flameless candles) and Cthulhu Ritual Candle (classic candles)."

 

"Hi! My name is Melanie Collins (aka Melbaka) and I am an artist from Dayton, OH. I am currently a full-time college student and artist/colorist for Studio Akumakaze.

I love to draw all kinds of things and especially enjoy drawing anime, animals, and CHIBIS!

My latest chibi is my own version of Cthulhu and I'm hoping to turn him into a 3.25" x 2.35" vinyl sticker and use him to make other cool merchandise."

Thanks again for supporting APOCRYPHA! We're 60% funded now and still have 11 days to go! We hope we can count on you to keep sharing the campaign as we enter the final stretch. Thanks again!

A look at the cover of the D20 Call of Cthulhu
about 8 years ago – Sat, Jul 16, 2016 at 07:31:21 AM

While we've been focusing on the statuettes, masks, and other rewards tied to the Kickstarter I wanted to share some of the other contents of APOCRYPHA. The following are some notes from Jason discussing his work on one of the most iconic tabletop RPG book covers of the past two decades. I am, of course, referring to the infamous cover of Wizard of the Coast's D20 Call of Cthulhu. I remember encountering this book soon after it was released, years before I even met Soles, and was immediately impressed with its immersive qualities. Imagine my surprise when I was having a drink with him in the late 2000s and noticed the original sculpt laying around his apartment! Without further adieu, here is Jason in his own words:

"A.S. Koi and I were contracted in 2001 to design a sculptural book cover for the Wizards of the Coast D20 Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game. Someone on the design team for the game had seen some of the Necronomicon themed sketch books we had created at The Dreaming, a local comic book store in Seattle. They eventually tracked the work back to me only to discover that I was in fact already already employed by Wizards and working in the art department affectionately remembered as Siberia. At the time I was a 3D painter charged with finishing the life-sized statues that Wizards was using to decorate their expanding chain of game stores.

Nailing down the design for the cover required a lengthy review process in which we first pitched and then refined concepts to reflect the design team's vision for the book. At each step of the way, Koi would draw very detailed sketches to get across exactly what we were thinking. Throughout the process, we worked closely with Dawn Murin, Wizard of the Coast’s art director on the project. Once we nailed down a direction for the cover, Koi tightened the design over months of discussions with Wizards and eventually drew the final sketches that I would work from to sculpt the cover. These sketches had to take into account all the dimensions for the book along with the intended placement of any text elements. This process left nothing to chance. I even found myself sculpting and painting sample wounds, boils, and other revolting skin conditions as we eliminated potential directions for the cover.

Once the final sketches were approved, I got to work. I sculpted and painted the cover over an intense two week period. The cover itself is made of epoxy putty, wire, thread, bear claws, gloss medium, and tissue paper built up over thick foam core. It was painted it in inks and acrylics.

Once it was photographed, Wizards' added additional digital elements to bring the cover to life. In addition to the photos and sketches accompanying my words here, APOCRYPHA will also contain two of A.S. Koi’s illustrations and black and white photos of some of my other sculptures from this period."

Hopefully that further whets your appetites for the book! We're almost 50% funded now with over two weeks to go! Thanks so much for your continued support by sharing the project. We couldn't do this without you!