Your New Pride and Joy!

[Shannon]

Hmmm ... are you sure? There are definitely people looking out the window in the picture I'm looking at:



Little bodies, little heads ... no? lol

I have no idea what the first (zoomed in very close, right?) or last (wood? the frame maybe?) clues were. Boo sauce!

[George at C-Springs]

Alright! My new pride and joy is a traycase for my Dameron-remarqued The Waste Lands, courtesy of our good friend Dick Olson, with original artwork of Blaine by Harrison Ryan. Before you see the final piece, I thought you’d like to see the sequence of artwork and ideas leading up to it.

When I approached him about doing a sketch, he was all enthusiasm (I caught him on a good day ). For those of you who don’t know, Ryan is a freelance artist who does fantastic work; moreover, he’s great to work with. Over the course of a few weeks we went back and forth with design ideas. I explained my vision of Blaine blasting, right to left, viewed from slightly below, through a canyon … and he hit the inks. Here was the very first draft, with several viewpoints:



He got exactly what I was picturing with the upper left drawing, but I actually liked the one in the lower left better (going left to right and viewed from above). I particularly liked the way he curved the walls over and under, which to me gave the appearance of Blaine shooting through an underground tunnel, which lead to this:



I suggested a few changes (longer speed lines, etc.) and Ryan added his own touches, which lead to this:



This is my favorite version as a stand-alone piece of art. His personal influences are obvious in the canyon floor and walls (which look like waves and water) and the great detail in Blaine. One problem though; all of that won’t crossover to an engraving! Shadows won’t work, neither will many fine lines. So, back to the drawing board (ha ha). Harrison opted to curve the track, add a pylon or two, add shark's teeth to make him look evil, add some Dameron-esque critters, and simplify Blaine:







I really liked this last one, and knew that we were close, so we went for full ink …

(edit: forgot to mention, take a look at the side windows ... roman numeral III, for DT III ... Ryan's idea, along with the skull in the window to make him look a little insane)



… and started thinking about a frame. Harrison thought some small icons in the corners would be appropriate; a gun, a rose, a key, etc. I wanted to go with something different, something directly related to Blaine. I thought about making the frame itself from some flying critters, have it so that they were circling and you were looking down through them at Blaine. “Too busy” said Ryan. I wanted to put some little critters in the corners:



Yuck, said Ryan.

Finally I came across Blaine’s route map, and modified it into a frame:



“I like it!” said Ryan. I think he was starting to get tired of listening to me. We incorporated the map:



“Looks great, but let’s lose the town names … too cluttered” said Ryan. “Yes, my liege” I muttered.

And just like that, we had a final:



Fired it off to Dick, after whcih I spent countless minutes pouring over pictures of wood grains and liner colors, until I finally said, “Dick, I wouldn’t know cherry from oak from a telephone pole … just make me a pretty one”. Dick tried to flip me off, but couldn’t (heh heh).

A few more e-mails, a week’s wait for the mail, and … voila:











I love it, and I love the fact that I was able to contribute to creating it. Working with Ryan and Dick was a blast. Also got a surprise in the mail from Ryan along with all the prelim drawings:



If anybody has an idea for a drawing or a traycase or whatever, you can see it in your head but just don't know how to bring it about ... contact Ryan and Dick. They'll work with you (patiently!) and do a phenomenal job for you!

[biomieg]

That's just awesome. I really, really like it and I think you initiated a great collaboration!

*edit* although I think the town names could have stayed (IMO).

[Stockerlone]

Absolute awesome !!!

[Tito_Villa]

Wow i can't say in words how much i love that case!

[Shannon]

GREAT! Great story, art, and case! Good job, all of you!

[Randall Flagg]

Bob, congratulations. I knew you would love the book.
George at Ramstein, great art, and nice case. Dick does outstanding work.

[Cook]

Very Nice case,
Ryan's artwork is excellent of course, he has an amazing talent.
I wondered why he's been so quiet, he's been toiling away for you.

[Ric]

Bravo to all! That is a fantastic piece of art in and of itself!

Really brilliant job!!

[Ricky]

Wow, that is amazing! Big congratulations to you on that case! I really like the engraving.

[e_taylor]

My new favorite book. I followed Jerome's lead and ordered a lettered edition of THE WOMAN. I got copy "O" with human (I guess) vertebrae on the cover. The binding really does look like human skin. I wonder what other bones were used on these?

Shoot Larry an email - he'll be happy to "talk shop" with you about any of his books. Even more so to a customer that just dropped $1250 on a single volume!

[Sir_Boomme]

My new favorite book. I followed Jerome's lead and ordered a lettered edition of THE WOMAN. I got copy "O" with human (I guess) vertebrae on the cover. The binding really does look like human skin. I wonder what other bones were used on these?

that looks a lot like mine... a vertebrae and some other bone that I don't recognize (I've already forgotten what letter I got)
I'm a bit uneasy about displaying the traycase in the cage... it looks really great... but I think over time the metal from the cage will mark/score into the case's fabric.... or worse, rust on it.
I have it displayed that way now.... but think I'm going to "Free" the Bone Book

I might get a bumper sticker that says that...
"Free the Bone Books"

[Sir_Boomme]

also... I do love the fact that the binding looks just like human skin....

in fact... I'm thinking about asking Ned Dameron to tattoo my Bone Book - maybe a rose - nah that's reserved for darktowers....

Think I'll have him just do a trampstamp on the lower back cover.


BTW.... very nice wood traycase above! very very nice!

[Cutter]

The wood case is very nice - and nice story!

[carlosdetweiller]

I'm a bit uneasy about displaying the traycase in the cage... it looks really great... but I think over time the metal from the cage will mark/score into the case's fabric.... or worse, rust on it.
I have it displayed that way now.... but think I'm going to "Free" the Bone Book
[/SIZE]

I actually was unable to figure out how to get the cage around the traycase. And I was very hesitant about forcing it and possibly damaging the velour fabric on the traycase. I went to bed very puzzled last night. I must have been dreaming about it because I woke up at 2:30AM with an "AHA moment." Went downstairs and got it installed in just a couple of minutes. I found the process to be a bit tricky.

[Stockerlone]

A realy nice Anthologie with some GREAT names...

Charles Beaumont: Selected Stories Dark Harvest, 1988. limited slipcase signed by 16 inkl. Ray Bradbury, W. F. Nolan, G.C. Johnson, Robert Bloch, Roger Corman, Christopher Beaumont

[oy-the-brave]

Goerge congrats on the great art and case, just fantastic.

[Randall Flagg]

I'm a bit uneasy about displaying the traycase in the cage... it looks really great... but I think over time the metal from the cage will mark/score into the case's fabric.... or worse, rust on it.
I have it displayed that way now.... but think I'm going to "Free" the Bone Book

I might get a bumper sticker that says that...
"Free the Bone Books"

I agree, I think I will likely "Free The Bone" soon.

[Shannon]

Ha, I freed the bone twice today already.

[Merlin1958]

Alright! My new pride and joy is a traycase for my Dameron-remarqued The Waste Lands, courtesy of our good friend Dick Olson, with original artwork of Blaine by Harrison Ryan. Before you see the final piece, I thought you’d like to see the sequence of artwork and ideas leading up to it.

When I approached him about doing a sketch, he was all enthusiasm (I caught him on a good day ). For those of you who don’t know, Ryan is a freelance artist who does fantastic work; moreover, he’s great to work with. Over the course of a few weeks we went back and forth with design ideas. I explained my vision of Blaine blasting, right to left, viewed from slightly below, through a canyon … and he hit the inks. Here was the very first draft, with several viewpoints:



He got exactly what I was picturing with the upper left drawing, but I actually liked the one in the lower left better (going left to right and viewed from above). I particularly liked the way he curved the walls over and under, which to me gave the appearance of Blaine shooting through an underground tunnel, which lead to this:



I suggested a few changes (longer speed lines, etc.) and Ryan added his own touches, which lead to this:



This is my favorite version as a stand-alone piece of art. His personal influences are obvious in the canyon floor and walls (which look like waves and water) and the great detail in Blaine. One problem though; all of that won’t crossover to an engraving! Shadows won’t work, neither will many fine lines. So, back to the drawing board (ha ha). Harrison opted to curve the track, add a pylon or two, add shark's teeth to make him look evil, add some Dameron-esque critters, and simplify Blaine:







I really liked this last one, and knew that we were close, so we went for full ink …

(edit: forgot to mention, take a look at the side windows ... roman numeral III, for DT III ... Ryan's idea, along with the skull in the window to make him look a little insane)



… and started thinking about a frame. Harrison thought some small icons in the corners would be appropriate; a gun, a rose, a key, etc. I wanted to go with something different, something directly related to Blaine. I thought about making the frame itself from some flying critters, have it so that they were circling and you were looking down through them at Blaine. “Too busy” said Ryan. I wanted to put some little critters in the corners:



Yuck, said Ryan.

Finally I came across Blaine’s route map, and modified it into a frame:



“I like it!” said Ryan. I think he was starting to get tired of listening to me. We incorporated the map:



“Looks great, but let’s lose the town names … too cluttered” said Ryan. “Yes, my liege” I muttered.

And just like that, we had a final:



Fired it off to Dick, after whcih I spent countless minutes pouring over pictures of wood grains and liner colors, until I finally said, “Dick, I wouldn’t know cherry from oak from a telephone pole … just make me a pretty one”. Dick tried to flip me off, but couldn’t (heh heh).

A few more e-mails, a week’s wait for the mail, and … voila:











I love it, and I love the fact that I was able to contribute to creating it. Working with Ryan and Dick was a blast. Also got a surprise in the mail from Ryan along with all the prelim drawings:



If anybody has an idea for a drawing or a traycase or whatever, you can see it in your head but just don't know how to bring it about ... contact Ryan and Dick. They'll work with you (patiently!) and do a phenomenal job for you!

That is just totally AWESOME!!!!!! Dick is so talented and Harrison Ryan's art is very impressive!!!!! Great Job George!!!!!! Kudo's!!!!!!

[Jimimck]

Just an amazing piece of work.

[Fsmdr]

Wow!. Absolutely amazing!. It's certainly a labor of love and I am certain you will enjoy it for many years to come. Thank you for sharing your exceptional traycase story with us.

[frik]

I can't believe what I'm seeing here. This is just about the most amazing slipcase I've ever seen. A work of art!!

sk

[Shannon]

FINALLY doing my magazines today. Started out just taking pictures of my newer magazines but then I decided to go ahead and do all of them. So ... I'll start out with my additions that arrived May 16, 2011:



and now a picture of all the magazines I currently own:



Sorry if some aren't as viewable as others, it is REALLY difficult to get the lighting and contrast just right when shooting that large an area. But fret not, detailed pics including the the stories/essays inside will be uploaded into my collection thread soon ... starting now, lol

[carlosdetweiller]

Bottom row, first picture: What is in the TV Guide just to the left of the TV Guide with Pernell Roberts on the cover? What is in the F&SF just to the right of Pernell Roberts? I don't think I have either of those.