CorranFett

Hey guys. This may come as a message from the dead to many of you, but here I go again!

My time off DA and my "fandom" seems like it started eons ago, but actually, it hasn't even been 2 years. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got... (no, not heroin, not that...) life. A lot of things have happened in that time, I've graduated from school, I've moved away from Bavaria to start my work in the "alternative civilian service" in Jena, which is somewhere in the middle of Germany, and so on. Not much time for art, for SW, or for my writing, and no real motivation for that, either (although I'd still browse DA from time to time; have enjoyed this SW media or that, except TCW; and had various great inspiration for WFSAM, some of which evolved into chapter drafts). It all just moved down my priority list a bunch of steps.

And I'm not really back, that much I've got to admit. At least not with this account. CorranFett has too much associations with SW for what I want out of my DA "portfolio" right now. The thing is, a rather subdued hobby of mine, one at which I think I'm quite apt at, has recently emerged, and with a vengeance. I'm talking, of course, about photography.

That's why I'd like you to meet EOSthusiast:

You may notice that he has the same icon as I do - no coincidence, mind you: as it happens, EOSthusiast and CorranFett are one person: me.

EOSthusiast doesn't have much to show on his DA profile, yet, but I will soon start uploading older pictures and more recent ones.

In the meantime, be sure to check out 00042

He's a buddy and colleague of mine who sort of got me back into the whole photography business. He's actually pretty new to digital photography, so I bet he'd sure like some constructive criticism.

Since you can't do all too much photo magic with an old Canon Eos 350D and its so-so kit lens (although it has produced lots of great photos in the past, it's somewhat outdated), I'm in the process of upgrading my equipment with new lenses, an awesome Manfrotto tripod, and of course a new camera, which will be the Eos 60D. I was so close to deciding for the 7D or even the 5D MkII, but in the end it came down to this: I'd rather get a decent lens with stunning quality with a moderate body than getting a high-end camera and not being able to afford a lens that can make use of its advantages that come with the price.

Anyway, to cut a long story short: you won't be seeing new stuff from CorranFett anytime soon.

But if you're interested in what else I'm up to, and if the few photos I've shared on this account were any to your liking, you might wanna watch that other ME.

That said, rock on!

Yeah, was a little longer absence than expected, but hey, I'm back again.

I read a really amazing novel on vacation, "The Gun Seller" by Hugh Laurie. House... err Laurie's writing style is incredibly delightful, it was so fun to read. He expertly combines great, witty humor with suspense and compelling storytelling--just read the first two pages, and you don't wanna lay down the book again. It's about Thomas Lang, an ex-military freelancing sort-of mercenary, who gets pitted between different Intelligence Agencies and the military-industrial complex just because he adheres to his moral code when he doesn't want to do a job that involves assassination and instead chooses to warn the intended target. The way the story unfolds is always a little confusing at first, you always want to find out why and what happens next, but at it progresses, everything starts to make sense. Even to the point where Lang ends up on the roof of an embassy, among terrorists and The Gun Seller. I don't think any description really does the book justice, but if you're even remotely into the genre of spy-stuff, I can only recommend you to check it out at the bookstore, or read the first few pages on Amazon. I rarely managed to put the book down, as it was so great to read Lang's often self-ironic perspective on things (it's written in the 1st person perspective), and overall the way Hugh Laurie writes and builds up plot and suspense. Definitely one of the best novels I've read in a while, a very fresh and different book from all the mainstream thrillers.

At times, this style reminded me of some very impressive Star Wars fanfics, such as The_Face's Galaxy Noir stories, and Quiet_Mandalorian's Have Blaster, Will Travel (both from TheForce.Net Fan Fiction forums, both absolutely worth checking out). This kind of storytelling is right up my alley, I guess.


Also, I finally took some time to catch up with the KotOR comics (from 31-40), and let me suffice to say that I'm blown away. The way John Jackson Miller tied up all the strings from the whole KotOR Covenant stories in Vindication was impressive, and the revelation that it would be Draay, not Haazen, who will become Sion, was plain awesome. And Gryph was just great, too, being all in awe at that expertly pulled-off "long con". And speaking of cons, I can't wait to see what expert scam "Mastermind" pulls off next. Also, it was great to see some development on the Jarael and Rohlan stories, how Jarael suddenly turns out to be Force sensitive and Rohlan gets a chance to clear his image as a dangerous Mandalorian by becoming a successful swoop-duelist.
To be honest, I often couldn't really relate to the whole Covenant arc in previous issues of KotOR, I never really knew what to do with them, being more interested in what Zayne and his motley crew did. Of course, it is all linked, and the finale in Vindication finally made me realize that, and also grasp what that Covenant stuff was all about. That, in my opinion, really is masterful storytelling, it felt just like when you found out who Tyler Durden really was in Fight Club, or came to know Atlas's true identity in Bioshock. Or, to stay in the comic sector, you can even compare it with Adrian Veidt's plan for world-wide piece in Watchmen, what at first seemed abstract but actually made a lot of sense once you finished the last comic. It's the same thing with the KotOR storyline, and JJM did a great job with illustrating the impact of Haazen's "long con", and I'm still in awe how suddenly everything made sense. I'm even considering to re-read the first 30 issues now, to put it all into new context, as that is what it does, just like Fight Club, Bioshock and Watchmen. My only complaint would be that it actually took a long 30 issues to reach that point, but then again, it's been such a long time since I last read KotOR, maybe it's just because I forgot some things. And then again, this being a "long con", shortening it wouldn't really do it justice, now would it?

Okay, so much for book reviews from me...

But, to stay in the writing business, let me give you a little update on When Few Stood Against Many, my attempt to create some sort-of compelling story of my own. I finally managed to overcome a nearly year-long-lasting writer's block. Writing is coming along quite well right now, expect the next chapter(s) in the next few weeks.

As for the micros, I haven't done anything for them in the last few weeks, to be honest. Busy with writing and stuff, you know. But don't lose hope, you'll eventually see Jiriad, Ara and Atross some time.

Oh, and one last thing. I joined a group of photographers, called Gravity-Killz, which focuses on photography of extreme sports, such as skating and BMX driving. Be sure to check it out!



Supporters, friends, and artists you just must have seen

Thought it was about time to update my journal.

Some of you may have noticed, but after months of absence from DA, I've returned some few weeks ago.

I'm starting to get the hang of things again. Browsing DA is always fun, and so is doing new stuff myself. So, be sure to expect more activity from me in the future... both new and old stuff (from the last few months). For those who happen to be interested how WFSAM will go on... don't lose faith, people, I'm actually working on it.

Something new that you have already seen is my photography. I like taking photos, and I love working with Photoshop, so it comes natural for me to combine the two. And I finally decided to share that here on DA as well.

The other thing are the micros. It's and (check out their galleries!) who inspired me to do some mini versions of my OCs. Here's a little project list:

Gladus Tite - small version done, appropriately scaled version to come in the future Ayden Stone - 90 % done; needs weaponry Ronan Barec - 85% done; needs final color scheme and markings, camo poncho Altair Jiriad - 0%, Vong imitation armor---to come Atross - 0%, Togorian in custom Mando armor---to come Ara Norvath - 0%, female Mando---to come Salem Rios - 0%, Feeorin Galactic Alliance officier---to come maybe others will come, too

I guess that's it in terms of updates. Everyone keep up the great work, cheerio.


Supporters, friends, and artists you just must have seen

I am the writer of Rage of the Shadow Warriors, a series of Star Wars fanfiction stories that are centered on Mandalorians in the NJO-era. You can find links to it in my sig or my profile.

This is a list of all artwork, created by me or others, of characters, equipment or other stuff from RotSW.

The list is at the top, you can view the backstory below it.

I also have set this whole thing up as a Gallery here: Gallery of Rage of the Shadow Warrior images

UPDATED 09/19/08:

</blockquote>- three work-in-progress drawings of Ronan's armor suit, by Kuk-Man
- a Gladus Tite fanart by Tercado, depicting him on an assassin job
- drafts of ancient Clan Barec beastmasters and their Ithorian dragons, by Mitch-i-mon
- "Weary Warrior", a drawing of Ara Norvath, by FalconFan

(see below the list for more)

Covers:

Honor Guard (photomanip'd artworks)
Runner (photomanip'd stills)
Pariah (photomanip'd game render)
When Few Stood Against Many (collage, photomanip)

Wallpapers:

Rage of the Shadow Warriors - Teaser Wallpaper V1 (featuring Gladus Tite)
Rage of the Shadow Warriors - Teaser Wallpaper V2

Character Art (character names link directly to wiki profiles)

Ronan Barec
- Ronan - profile artwork (photomanip)
- Holocam snapshot of Ronan (photomanip)
- Ronan in his former armor (coloring of a lineart of Boba Fett by Ryan Benjamin)
- Ronan in his special forces time (pencils by commander-13, colors to come)
- Ronan, the special forces sniper (pencils by commander-13, colors to come)

Gladus Tite
- Gladus in his full suit of Mandalorian armor (pencils by Kuk-Man, inks and colors)
- Gladus versus two Yuuzhan Vong (pencils and inks by itmon, colors by me)
- Gladus, reflecting on the war (pencils, inks and colors by Daennika)
- A middle-aged Gladus on a merc job (by Tercado, colored version by me)
- Gladus's face, closeup (photomanip, same as Pariah cover)
- Shady holocam surveillance still (photomanip)
- A beardless Gladus contacting one of his clients on the holo (photomanip'd game screenie)
- Gladus, holding a Twi'lek Peace Brigader by the neck (scene from WFSAM, photomanip'd game render)

Ara Norvath
- Ara Norvath - Weary Warrior (artwork by FalconFan)

Altair Jiriad
- Altair - flattened to the ground by an explosion (photomanip'd SG: Atlantis still)
- Altair and his son Skira (coloring of a lineart by Tom Hodges)

Ayden Stone
- Ayden Stone - colored (lines by Kuk-Man, inks and colors by me)
- Ayden Stone (lines by ragelion, colors by me)

Macos Fenix (click link to see two images)
- Macos in a tapcaf (requested piece by Mercy)

Salem Rios
- Salem Rios, GAI lieutenant (requested piece by Ryan-Rhodes)

Berdan Ngajio Angantire
- Berdan, fixing himself up after injured from a detonation gone wrong (requested piece by KhairulHisham)

Misc. (not all by me)
- EE-23 marksman carbine (Ronan's rifle, background and artworks by Kuk-Man)
- P-7 'Offshoot' special (Ronan's sidearm, artwork by CucumberBoy)
- ShenCresh Ops - special forces unit insignia (logo design by me)
- Crest of Clan Barec (logo design by Kuk-Man)
- Dubrillion: After the Battle (illustration of a scene from Honor Guard, by CucumberBoy)
- Ithorian Dragon (by Mitch-i-mon)

Unfinished:

- Kharritokh of Clan Bakh'tor, requested sketch by Delta2094
- Firespray concept, uncolored (by CucumberBoy)
- a rough overview of Ronan's armor and equipment (by Kuk-Man)
- a rough layout of Ronan's colorscheme (sketch by Kuk-Man)
- draft of a Barec beastmaster, hunting Jedi in the New Sith Wars, with the help of his Ithorian dragons (by Mitch-i-mon)
- draft of Clan Barec clansmen in battle (by Mitch-i-mon)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since I'm also an arty person, it's only natural that I make the covers for my stories. But it goes even further than that. In addition to photomanipulations I make to illustrate my OCs (often based on real actors that represent my conception of them), I'm diving even a little deeper and into technical things. Since I'm not an allrounder, I can't do all of that myself (gee, I can't even draw properly^^), and am really indebted to great artists such as Kuk-Man, CucumberBoy and itmon for providing me with creative help. Especially my buddy Kuk-Man has done so much for me, I don't even know where to start to pay him back.

All started with a simple request to draw one of my OCs from my first fic in his full suit of Mandalorian armor. Kuk came back to me with a rough draft which he worked into a better sketch that fitted the character perfectly, the Mandalorian Slug-gunner Ayden Stone, but he did even more. He was inspired by my request and drew a whole handful of concepts for Mandalorian with different specialties, and one of them also fitted for one of my characters, namely the Mandalorian Swordmaster (see his gallery). You can find all of his concepts in his awesome DevArt gallery on page 2. Then, we worked together on some details and he finalized the artworks. I was so thrilled by the Swordmaster, that I kinda „forgot“ about my original request. I inked and colored that blade-loving Mando and ta-da!, we had Gladus Tite, one of my main OCs.
Currently, Kuk and I are working on a big art project on my major OC, Ronan Barec. I can't post any progress on that, yet, unless Kuk is okay with it. Only one bit I that is already finished: Ronan's main weapon, the EE-23 weapons system. Kuk was very creative on that, and came up with a whole technical backstory and a lot of other stuff, I'm really indebted for this incredible work. I also worked on one of his concept on Ronan's insignia, and he designed Ronan's clan symbol.

So much for Kuk. Like I said, I also did some photomanips of other characters, but you can see that in the list below. I also approached other artists, such as CucumberBoy who allowed me to use a blaster concept of his and then drew a modified Firespray fighter (like Slave I) for me, which I haven't finalized yet, either. Another artist who I approached is itmon. He has a very unique style with trademark shady and dark ink linearts, and as it happens, my current icon here on TFN is based off a coloring of one of itmon's Boba Fetts. Anyhow, a few months back I requested a scene of Gladus Tite from him, and he came up with an incredibly awesome rendering: www.deviantart.com/deviation/5…
Then, of course, there was the revival of the Star Wars Artists' Guild, which allowed me to place some requests... namely, Berdan Ngajio Angantire, a character that has yet to appear, Macos Fenix and Salem Rios, done by the great artists KhairulHisham, Mercy and Ryan-Rhodes.
Update as of Febuary 08: Recently, one of the greatest SW fan artists out there, none else than ragelion, returned to doing SW art again. I sent him a PM, welcoming him back, and gave a tongue-in-cheek joke that if he wanted to draw a Mando and needed inspiration, he knew whom to ask. Well, totally suprisingly, he said he was up to it, and I gave him a list of current EU Mando characters. He picked Ram Zerimar, he had seen him in my gallery, and shortly, he came back with a kickass fanart of that Mandalorian sniper. And then, what blew me away, he said he was working on Ayden Stone - and I didn't even request him that, he just gave it to me as a kinda gift. Surely, Kuk's drawing of him was a great basis to go on! Really, ragelion's awesome! That's his result, and of course, I immediately started doing the colors.

Update as of Sept. 08: Been a while since I last updated, been taking a little break from SW. Anyway, you can see the updates above, here's what I gotta say about them: First off, I gotta say something about commander-13's two way-cool drawings of Ronan in his special forces time. I somehow forgot to mention them in the last update. c-13 has a very unique and cool style going, and his favorite subject are Mandos--loads of them. I was very glad when he accepted my request, he came up with two really fitting designs for Ronan's commando armor. Thanks again. Oh, and sorry that still haven't colored them, yet, never got the time.
Then there are are the two Ronan WIPs, which Kuk and I finally decided to reveal. As pointed out a few passages above, we're working on pinning down everything involving Ronan's armor and gear, and this is a first basic layout of all the customizations going on. I won't be giving any details, yet, that's gotta wait till we finish this. We're still working on the details of his color- and markingscheme and a few other things, but here's a basic concept of what colors adorn Ronan's armor, as you can see in the second image.
Another addition is that artwork of Gladus Tite Tercado drew for me on request. I discovered him on SWAG, and he's got a very cool style. I asked him to draw Gladus during his time as an assassin and mercenary, where he wasn't really a Mando yet. Tercado not only came up with a cool pose and spot-on likeness, but he also gave him a very original suit, that fits a professional like him quite nicely. Another thanks to him. You can also see a colored version of it in my gallery, but in retrospective, I don't think I did a very good job, and the pencil drawing works pretty well on its own, I think.
The next update in line is some of the work I inspired Mitch-i-mon to do, a quite talented digital artist with a unique style. He liked the design and backstory of the Clan Barec crest so much (another kudos to Kuk for the design), he was inspired to illustrate some of the ancient Mandalorian beastmasters that founded Clan Barec, as well as the Ithorian dragons they were notorious to lead along into battle. He told me the pieces weren't finished, yet, so I put them in the WIP category, but in my eyes, they already look really kick-ass and can stand on their own.
And last, but not least, there is of course that true work of art FalconFan drew for me. FF is one of the most talented SW fan arists around, her skills with pencils are simply masterful, and you can't believe how honored I was when she took a request from me. Since we didn't have any artworks of Ara Norvath, yet, another main character, I went to FF to illustrate her. And wow did she do an amazing job here, she totally hit the mark with capturing Ara's character and emotions spot-on in a gorgeous drawing. I'm really in her debt for this. I may be doing a colored version, but I'm kinda hesitant, because FF's b/w drawings have that certain quality, and in my opinion, they look better untouched. So if I give it a go, it'll be merely to pin down Ara's color scheme, not to create something of a "new" artwork.

That said, keep your eyes open, eveyone--there will be more, both in text and picture form.


And although my stories are probably not even quality enough to „deserve“ so much media, I really love detailing out my stuff, aside from the fun it is to effect photoshop sk1lls. I'm too much of a perfectionist....

Now, if anyone of you great artists here happens to be interested in contributing to my humble fanfiction, even in inking something or just sketching something out (I can do the post work like inking and coloring myself, as you can see), I'd more than appreciate it! Just shoot me note.

But, most importantly, enjoy!

And, as a post note, I recommend checking out the brilliant Mando fanfiction Have Blaster, Will Travel, by Quiet_Mandalorian on TFN. It's way better than my stuff, and is what inspired me to start writing Mandies and RotSW in the first place...


Supporters, friends, and artists you just must have seen

Partially to make space after my damn long last Bioshock review journal entry, partially just because I want to get word out about something.

The Star Wars Artist Guild's back, a guild of very talented fan artists creating some of the most original SW art you can find, mostly centered on RPG. It's also big on requests, so if you want a PC or OC of your's illustrated, be sure to give it a go.

But most importantly, check it out to widen your horizons on SW fan artwork, there's really brilliant stuff over there.

A few cool DevArt artists reside there as well:



There are more, but they have different usernames and I can't seem to find 'em right now...

EDIT: Crap. Thanks to CucumberBoy for fixing my spelling on "Black"... it escapes me how I was able to write "Read" instead... now leave me alone, my head's currently busy banging against the table.^^