Yesterday I posted the pencils of this illustration. Here’s the finished version. A lot of the inspiration for Mandate of Heaven came from Hong Kong action movies, in particular the films of John Woo. Those movies feature a lot – a LOT – of gun play.
Behind the Back – Pencils
These are the pencils for one of the illustrations I did in 2004 for the unfinished RPG Mandate of Heaven. I didn’t do that many. Or rather, I did quite a few illustrations for the kung fu dictionary but not a lot of scene setting illustrations.
Tiger Style
I think this fellow might be the Tiger Style Master. Maybe.
Crane Master
A portrait of the Master of Crane Style Kung Fu for the unfinished Mandate of HeavenRPG.
Drunk Boxing Master
This is the Drunk Boxing Master for Mandate of Heaven. It’s also one of my favorite MoH illustrations. If I had time I’d love to do a comic featuring this guy.
Wing Chun Master
Part of game play for Mandate of Heaven involved choosing a style of Kung Fu to use. Derek wrote out basic descriptions of each fighting style and I came up with a Master to illustrate it. This is the Master for Wing Chun.
Kung Fu Dictionary 8
I’d planned to split the kung fu dictionary between two characters – a male master and a female master. This was my first attempt at the female character. I went with a tougher, scrappier looking character than Derek wanted. I tend to find really pretty women unbelievable as fighting masters. To become a fighting master you’ve got to … fight. And fighting doesn’t generally improve your looks. But, as Derek rightly pointed out, Mandate of Heaven was a game. Games are fantasy anyway and the setting of the game was also a fantasy one. Within the context of the game pretty fighting masters are perfectly believable.
Kung Fu Dictionary 7
Practice sketches for the kung fu dictionary for the unfinished RPG Mandate of Heaven.
Kung Fu Dictionary 6
On the left – a palm strike?
On the right – a pair of leopard punches?
I’m not sure of either of these at the moment and the reference I used is still in boxes.
Kung Fu Dictionary 5
On the left, a round house punch.
On the right, an uppercut.
