KBO Concepts

In case you were wondering what I've been up to since October...

http://www.kboconcepts.com/

http://kbo.storenvy.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/KBO-Concepts/230276787097700

There and Back Again

It's been a while since my last post. Things have been really rather crazy lately. I've been working hard on getting an online chainmaille store up and running and I also took an honest-to-God vacation. But now I'm home and I just finished up the last of my entries for the Treasures of Middle Earth design contest.

I'm a huge Hobbit/Lord of the Rings fan so I had to enter. I don't expect to win but I had to try!

 Bilbo Baggins

The Great Goblin

The Staff of Radagast the Brown

Edit: Check it out! Bilbo was accepted as a semi-finalist! 

Today we have another chainmail project (which leads me to believe I should change the name of this blog from "Hat-Hair ILLUSTRATIONS" to "Hat-Hair PRODUCTIONS".)

Anyway, I've always had a severe addiction to Christmas decorations. The lights, the ornaments, the baubles...the whole bloody lot. When I discovered instructions for a chainmail Christmas wrap on The Ring Lord I jumped at the chance to try it out. To the right you can see the results....

Being the Dungeons & Dragons/fantasy geek that I am, I've always had an interest in working with chainmail. A few months ago, I finally broke down and ordered some supplies. Surprisingly, there's decent little chainmail "society" out there on the world wide web so finding tips and tricks wasn't all that difficult.

These are my first three chainmail projects: Pouches in various metals. At first, they were a bit tricky, and some metals are easier to work with than others, but as time went on it all came together rather nicely.

Take a look:

Material: 16g 1/4" ID Aluminum

Weave: European 4-in-1

Other: Suede leather drawstring with a plastic cord stopper.

Material: 16g 1/4" ID Dark Annealed Steel
Weave: European 4-in-1
Other: Suede leather drawstring with a plastic cord stopper.

Material: 16g 1/4" ID Aluminum and Copper
Weave: European 4-in-1
Other: Suede leather drawstring with a plastic cord stopper. Copper leaf pendant accessory.
Note: Credit for the design of this bag should go to my girlfriend. She requested a random pattern of copper and a aluminum rings.

Once I get a small stock together I do believe I'll try selling a few....

The Executioner

Recently, I was accepted into the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe REDUXE Edition project and my first "REDUXE" character was posted today: THE EXECUTIONER!

For those of you who are out of the comic book loop, the Executioner is a THOR villain created in 1964 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Getting a chance to illustrate him for the OHOTMURE was a thrill.

Below you'll see the original entry by Keith Pollard and Joe Rubinstein along side my version.

Many thanks to Calamity Jon Morris for the opportunity!

I was digging through my old "Portfolio" folder today and found a handful of illustrations that still hold-up pretty well despite their age. Normally I detest everything I do after about fifteen minutes or so but not-so-much in this case. Which is neat.

"The most sophisticated people I know - inside they are all children."

Jim Henson,  best known as the creator of The Muppets, has been one of my favorite creative forces since I was a kid. The Muppet Show, The Muppet Movie, The Dark Crystal, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock...the list goes on and on. The man had a fantastic amount of imagination.