Regime's Propaganda! - 1

 

“Come, Ladies and Gentlemen!

Come visit our magnificent factories, test the excellent structure yourselves, closely hear the ceaseless roar of the tireless machines and the sweet lament of the workers in action!
Follow me on a tour inside the wonders of modern industrialization! I can personally guarantee that, once inside, you will wish you will never go anywhere but here...!

Come, Ladies and Gentlemen!”

Source: Oz Bulletin, n.86, p.13, Year II, A.A.C. (second year after the autumn conflict)
Quote: The White Rabbit, during a city meeting.

Jocularis

Sketch Scarecrow

 

This is just a little sketch to introduce a new character in Winter Tales. The Wizard of Oz's Scarecrow! The complete background of his "after the fable" will follow in our next post!

Hide

Albe Pavo & Raven

With great pleasure, we officially announce that Winter Tales will be produced by Raven Distribution, as well as by Albe Pavo!  This is the link to the official page on boardgamegeek.com, where you can find previews of other illustrations.

Winter Tales Team

Mad Hatter: making of

The work on the Mad Hatter of Alice in Wonderland led us on a path similar to that we had walked on earlier with Alice, that was the first character we drew for Winter Tales. Compared to Carroll's Hatter, our Mad Hatter had to appear deeply changed, becoming, in our transposition, a crazy psychiatrist that usually tortures his unfortunate “patients”. We had decided though, that the graphic style of the soldiers of Winter had to be more realistic than that used to represent the good Fables. We made this choice for two main reasons: first, we wanted the evil ones to appear less empathic, in contrast to a more marked stylization, as the cartoonish one reserved to the good Fables. Secondly, we could split the job, Jocularis working on the Soldiers and me (Hide) working on the Fables.

Pencils: After some tries, we decided in favor of a particularly disturbing figure, armed with surgical instruments and gentlemanlike coat. Obviously he couldn't lack the hat on his head!

Coloring: After finalizing the pencils, Jocularis could directly proceed with acrylic coloring, and define the stylistc details of the character. The white coat gave the Hatter a more “medical” aspect, while some blood-red spurts perfectly helped make the character's main occupation, and his sadism, undisputed.

Digital Color: After finishing the character design's pencils and hand coloring, Jocularis sent me the files for the final digital retouches. Background, shadow, various effects. And this is the final result!

Jocularis

Hide

Dorothy's Mansion

"In this tiny and tidy sky-blue colored house, Granny Dorothy has welcomed most of the refugees of the Conflict of Autumn. The house is now a warm oasis in the frost of Winter."

Moon W.T.

This image was made using the moon like a brush,
with a high exposure!

Some story 02

I would like to show you some important steps of the realization of Winter Tales, through a series of dedicated posts. You can read the first one about this topic, written by Jocularis, here.

What you can see in the picture is one of the latest BetaTest versions of Winter Tales, a sketch of the board. It used different rules from those of the version we are going to officially present next October...
So many memories!

 

Hide

the Fox and the Cat

"United in their bodies, as well as in their malice, the Fox and the Cat have been cultivating their predatory nose for business and have become merciless entrepreneurs devoted to money and wealth. They were the first to take the chances offered by the Conflict of Autumn and to take advantage of the growing power of Winter. Given their cunning, they have become skillful arms dealers, providing the troops of the Regime with all the new creations of war market. Their ancient vocation remains, though: they haven't lost their inclination to deception..."

Jocularis

4 - Work in progress - Board (Finished!)

I'm finally proud to show you Winter Tales board!

I must admit it, it was a complex work, sometimes tiring because of the methodicalness required by the different working stages. But I don't think there's a better prize than finally seeing my work in its complete shape. Wintry regards to all of you... all invited to meet again soon among the streets of Wintertown!

Hide

Wintertown

"Wintertown leant on a hillside facing east, protected from the fierce, cold winds blowing from the mountains. One fateful day the Regime came and gripped in its evil clutches both homes and people: cold and darkness snuffed out the flame of hope and love. Citizens lurk through the narrow alleys swept by the cold northern winds, trying not to draw on themselves the cruel attentions of the Soldiers. Fables are staging their resistance, working in the shadows to allow the return of Spring..."

We decided to give Wintertown a little darker connotation. The Land is after all in the middle of a Conflict and the soldiers of Winter are strongly present in every corner. The traces of war are all around the country: tanks, ruined and bombed houses, lights turned off or just shyly on. Fables can barely walk in the dark alleys without being intercepted. And everything is covered by a sinister and soft snow. Wintertown's architecture is clearly inspired by the Northern European countries: Bruges, Amsterdam, for example, without their canals. Everything is supposed to have a Flemish taste, with a “World War II touch”. I have observed Avercamp's and Bruegel paintings for a long time, in order to find the right architecture. The great job done by Hide on the board will reflect exactly these narrative cues.

Jocularis