Here’s some more making of art work for “Hell for Leather”, the game where Murder = Extra Dice. More… »

• It’s nice to meet up with gamer friends and NOT talk about games.
• Thanks to Joe, Daniel, Tim, Susan and Debbie for your support tonight. I had fun killing the pope. (-Sebastian) #fb
• When everyone else is 3am-drunk and you are 3pm-sober, it feels like you’re the Ghost of Christmas Bullshit.
• I got news from IPR.
• I just created my first index for my first game. It shouldn’t feel deadly. It’s just an index, right?
• Jason sent me some amazing but heart breaking artwork of a guy getting shot in the head. It’s upsetting for me to look at, but lovely too.
• Hell for Leather got accepted into the Indie Press Revolution. That means US distribution! Yay! #fb
• No matter what you say about academic deadlines, at least you know that eventually something will be completed. Unlike games design.

Let’s face it, one way or another your game of Hell for Leather is going to get gory. I mean blood is going to be pumping and limbs will be used as weapons. It’s all fun and games until some one gets hurt.. Scratch that. ONCE someone gets hurt.. especially if that someone is you.

This week’s image will be used to illustrate one of the many ways your character suffers in Hell for Leather. When you slip up there’s a bunch of ways you can be punished, my favourite being when you get a TRAUMA. This is not a mishap or a wound that can accumulate into something grander, this is something that’s going to make the rest of your character’s life miserable. It’s your moment to shine—where you get to be as brutally bloodthirsty as you like!

In this example the character has tried to confront a guard and disarm him. He decides he has messed up and got wounded in the struggle:

The guard shouts “Hey you, you little shit, come out where I can see you?” I start to go into a rage, mouthing off obscenities. “You wanna say that to my face you ape-faced mother—” CRACK! A steel baton shatters my cheek. I feel the blood spilling out of my mouth like warm tea and I collapse to the floor blacking out.

I knew I wanted to get a bloody mess into this image. Something utterly cruel and violent. I started with a simple sketch to get my composition. It was important to get a lot of movement early on. Once I’d picked my final composition I worked on getting the face to be kind of half way between intense pain and knocked out. I pushed the expression as far as possible and then splashed some blood about.

If you like splashing blood then come back next week for some more Art of Hell for Leather. J Out.

• Thanks to all the guys on Facebook for showing your support. Goooo team!
• Sebastian: Are there loads of Italians here? If so, grazie per il vostro sostegno!
• Working on the cover for HfL: I couldn’t get the CMYK right until I found a new colour profile. Now it looks great (Euroscale Coated v2).
• First look at the new cover: http://bit.ly/bRwwvD
• Cobweb Games penetrates the public sphere… (Drive Thru RPG) http://bit.ly/cYSdY3
• Help me choose the right colour (please?!). http://bit.ly/9i6CCQ
• Today I saw a robot play football on TED. Nerds are deadly.
• Just bought the Cold City / Ht War bundle from Contested Studios. Great value. Check them out. http://bit.ly/brIm5X
• Just received some awesome artwork from Jason Hickey. Can’t wait to upload it to the site on Thursday.
• HfL: Italia! Sunday 9th May 2.30pm at InternosCon 2010, Emilia Romagna. Andare a giocare! http://bit.ly/ct1600
• Hell for Leather night at Cassidy’s. 6.30pm. Bring your Booze Gloves and your Trash Mouth.