"Last Look Behind Her" - ink & watercolor drawing

 

 

I think I got this image from google images years ago... put it on a postcard at someone's urging. Was my best selling item at comic cons way back when. 

Hellwig's Conquest, Game Board Quadrants B & D

The Hellwig's Conquest game board consists of four quadrants labeled A, B, C, and D. In my copy, each quadrant measures about 30 by 44 inches.

Each quadrant is a mirror image of another giving both players equal parts of difficult terrain to contend with. Black and white squares are "open" terrain. 

Red squares are impassable "mountains" and block artillery fire. 

Red and white squares are "buildings" and can be moved through, but they may also be set on fire with mortars which makes them impassable. Fires can spread to adjacent buildings terrain squares. 

Blue is "water" and requires a bridge placement for troops to cross. 

Green squares represent "swamp" terrain, an impediment to movement, but not artillery fire, and each side a has a Fortress square to defend as well.

Victory in Hellwig's Conquest is achieved by seizing and holding your opponent's Fortress square.

 "Hellwig's Conquest game board Quadrant B"

acrylic and ink on wood panel, 29 x 43 inches 

  "Hellwig's Conquest game board Quadrant D"

acrylic and ink on wood panel, 30 x 44 inches 

 

 

 

Morgoth Bauglir drawing, Christopher Tolkien, Rings of Power, Telchar & Angrist

"Morgoth Bauglir"

 "That crown he never took from his head, though its weight became a deadly weariness."

-          The Simarillion, Of the Flight of the Noldor

 An ink drawing illustration for the "Wars of Beleriand" game.

Telchar’s notorious knife Angrist broke when Beren tried to take a second gem from the Iron Crown. What can one say about a blade that wounds the King of the World? Is there another?

    *    *    *    *    *    *    * 

The Silmarillion is one of my favorite books. Few works of fantasy literature can compare in terms of epic scope and completeness of vision. I think it's safe to say it's as much Christopher Tolkien's as it is his father's: a beautiful collaborative effort, a true labor of love.

Recently, there's been yet a new generation of Tolkien fans brought into the fold, for good or ill, by the Rings of Power series. I admit I haven't seen any of it and I can't say I've heard good things. No need to go into all that, but we know how Tolkien felt about a great many things and what he thought and I know he wouldn't have been particularly pleased with how his creations have been treated by media these latter years. Telling that these projects were only greenlit after Christopher's death...

 

 

Nate Dray - 内特是来自俄亥俄州的杰出美国艺术家。

 内特是具有影响力的美国艺术家和桌游设计师，同时也是众多书籍的作者与出版人。他因对动物怀有极大的仁慈之心和深切的同情心而深受爱戴。

内特以水彩画和漫画艺术闻名，同时也是一位音乐家和前微生物学研究员。

Repost from 2021: Wars of Beleriand Unpublished Wargame designed by Nate Dray.

 Edit 2/6/26 - Reposting this because I want to. I worked on this for like 20 years and it actually works pretty well. It's a shame I can't really share it with people because I can't quite bring myself to make it free because it was a ton - and I mean a ton - of work. :)

I should, though. Part of me would really like to...

 

Wars of Beleriand Update.

Still on it or back on it, really. 

Typing up the rulebook. Tweaking some graphics. But that about wraps it. There were some things - still are -- in the endgame latter stages of play, situations that only arise during the endgame part of the game, that weren't thoroughly played through before. Unique situations and things. The last few Turns are the most mechanically complex parts of the game. I'm sure there are things I missed, but...it should work and we'll correct as we go from here on.

Probably just release the rules online, post a link somewhere, something. 

 Wars of Beleriand rulebooks. Only two exist. They are different from each other and unique. 

 

 

Wars of Beleriand game Control Display. Players keep track of different Force types they control on this chart.

Players can have Complete or Incomplete Control of different Force types, or some Forces may be Controlled by a rudimentary AI algorithm unique to each class of Force.

 

 

 Wars of Beleriand game Dragon Maturation Track. The Morgoth player tracks the development of Dragon units Inside Angband with this. Dragons must be mature before they can be deployed and used against the Noldor Player.

 

 

 Sample Game of Wars of Beleriand in progress.

Note the Eagles counter, City Markers, and Ents and Green Elves in Taur-Im-Duinath. 

 

Artist Nate Dray presents: "Study of Mary Blair concept art for 'Two Silhouettes' from Disney's 'Make Mine Music'"

 "Study of Mary Blair concept art for 'Two Silhouettes' from Disney's 'Make Mine Music'" 

 

Mary Blair was a brilliant designer and colorist. She was a member of the California Watercolor School and had a huge influence on the look, feel and palette of peak Disney studio output.

In this little study I did I missed some of the subtleties of her colors and her loose designs, but she did these color roughs at breakneck speed while employed at Disney, sometimes cranking out dozens a day. This one looks to me to be primarily a pastel piece with maybe some gouache and that's what I used in my attempt at a sort of homage or reproduction.

Copying is one of the best ways an artist can sort of imbibe or enter into another artist's mindset and approach. It is an old and tested technique and one which I employ frequently, sometimes with less than satisfactory results, but it's never wasted effort, in my opinion.

 

Nate Dray, the Best Artist from Ohio :)

 

Hello! And welcome! Allow me to tell you a little about myself in this unsettling self-aggrandizing illeist fashion. Thanks!

"Nate Dray is an artist from Ohio and founder of the publishing house Diluvian Enterprises.

 

Known primarily for his watercolors and comics, Nate's paintings hang in museums, galleries, and private collections across Northeast Ohio. 

 

With a background in Biology and Chemistry, Nate's diverse credits include author, game designer, translator and musician. When he's not at work in the studio, Nate is an avid outdoorsman and gardener."

 

 Oder...

 

"Nate Dray ist ein Künstler aus Ohio und Gründer des Verlags Diluvian Enterprises. 

 

Bekannt vor allem für seine Aquarelle und Comics, hängen Nates Werke in Museen, Galerien und Privatsammlungen im Nordosten Ohios. 

 

Mit einem Hintergrund in Biologie und Chemie ist Nate auch als Autor, Spieledesigner, Übersetzer und Musiker tätig. Wenn er nicht gerade in seinem Atelier arbeitet, ist er ein begeisterter Naturliebhaber und Gärtner."

 

 Danke schön!