June 27, 2012

Patient N367-A Oz Bulletin, no.33

Patient N367-A
Weight: 34 Kg
Age: unknown
Ethnicity: hybrid

October 12, I AAC
Time: 10.15pm


Medical history: The Faun shows an altered state of consciousness, probably due to a former head injury. He claims, evidently without realizing the absurdity of his assertions, that the troops of the Regime treacherously pulled down his forest by command of the White Rabbit, that they killed all the animals living there and that they persecuted and chased him until he was arrested. Pure mental illness. The patient has then been moved to the confinement cell, where he will benefit from the prodigious healing effects of electricity. The confinement in our institution will last until this poor individual will be able to live clear of his persecutory ideals. I do recommend to pay particular attention to his political deliria and I urge the paramedic to pay attention to his words, trying to make him accept our, and his, reality. Winter is reality.
 

Source: Oz Bulletin, no. 33, p. 20, Year I A.A.C. (First year after the Autumn Conflict)
quote: medical report taken away from the Mad Hatter, during a night raid.

June 12, 2012

"A survivor's report" Oz Bulletin no. 146


“It was one May as we hadn't seen for many years, freezing cold and with no sun, sporadically lit by ghastly rays of light that fell disconsolate from narrow cracks among the imperishable clouds. Clouds brought by the Great Winter, by the war. I used to go out only when I was compelled to, to buy a pack of flour at the market of the dwarves in the neighborhood of the cemetery. I will never forget that day, though. I'd been stopped by a patrol of the soldiers of the regime, fierce wolves in uniforms, dreaded because of their custom of assaulting anyone, even before interrogating him. I started running then, and I got lost among alleys I had never seen. I could hear the panting shouts of the soldiers gaining ground behind me. I ended up in a dead end, no way out. I thought I was lost, when suddenly a passage opened in the floor, under the snow. I saw an old woman with lively blue eyes, exhorting me to follow her. Without thinking twice, i jumped into the secret passage that was closed again right over my head. We started walking among the entangled underground streets of the town, the howling of the soldiers far and far away. I could finally sigh with relief. I thanked my saviour and I asked her were we were going. - To a special place, where we can talk. The last safe house in Wintertown – she said, in a reassuring way.” 

Source: Oz Bulletin, n.146, p.4, quote: “A survivor's report” 
Year IV AAC (fourth year after the Autumn Conflict)

June 3, 2012

The story of King Scarecrow

“Finally crowned King of Oz, the Scare Crow was a fair and wise sovereign and his intelligence allowed him to listen to the heart of his subjects and do them good. But one day, Winter started falling on everything. Countrysides depopulated, greed began to spread in the hearts of men and the devastations of the Conflict of Autumn burned to ashes the former flourishing reign of the Scarecrow. He abandoned his palace and travelled for long, becoming a renown psychiatrist. Everywhere he went, he gave people a spark of happiness. One day, his journeys took him to the Land of Winter: the poor souls of that land needed a big help...”

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


May 19, 2012

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!

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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

May 2, 2012

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








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April 13, 2012

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."

March 29, 2012

Moon W.T.

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



March 21, 2012

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!
 











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