Songs for a Machine Age winners!

Congratulations to the winners of the Songs for a Machine Age contest. 

Here is the winning image.

Winning art by Rhea Ewing

Gorgeous, right?  That's what illustration does:  It tells a story,  introduces you to a character,  sets the scene, fulfills the vision of the author, and displays the creative mind of the artist.   It is so much more than a sum of its parts.  Just like the steambeast itself, come to think of it.

My piece was named a runner-up!  My thanks again to Heather McDougal.

Steambeast Unveiled

Steambeast festival design,
By Joanne Roberts

As promised, here is a concept of what Heather McDougal's steambeast might have looked like at the annual festival.  Its central core is a sphere.  It is composed of brass, copper, vellum, and other materials.  I enjoyed playing with the mechanical parts -- trying to reinvent them in an organic way.  The mythical steambeast is supposed to redesign itself as something totally new and inscrutable each year.  I wanted a beautiful form whose purpose was not readily identifiable. Thanks, Heather.  This was a good exercise, not to mention loads of fun!

Look for Heather's debut novel, Songs for a Machine Age, published by Hadley Rille (Ingram, dist.).

Clockpunk SkADaMo

I promised to post a few more sketches from my November SkADaMo attempts.  Here are three clockpunk contraptions.  I actually used my sketch-a-day to refine some designs I was working on for my entry in the Songs for a Machine Age contest.  I'll post my final design next Tuesday.

Clockpunk contraption
by Joanne Roberts

clockpunk beast and friends
by Joanne Roberts

Bug Buggy
by Joanne Roberts

Interestingly, James Gurney also posted some concept sketches today for a steampunk digging machine he designed back in the 80's.