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“I wanted to work on an autonomous,
walking multiple-missile launcher. I added
some anti-tank and personal defence
capabilities that are similar to some Russian
army designs, where almost every available
weapon is mounted on a single vehicle! This
is a study that’s done just for fun. The name
of this image is Shub-Niggurath.
I have different ways of working,
depending on my clients. My approach for
this vehicle is a ‘drash’. It’s a made-up word
- drawing and photobash – a joke with my
friend, the artist Ben Mauro. This is my way
of creating a detailed, anime-style image. It
was inspired by the short anime A Farewell
to Weapons by Katsuhiro Otomo. The name
Shub-Niggurath comes from HP Lovecraft’s
mythology, which means The Black Goat of
the Woods with a Thousand Young. I’ll let
you speculate on why I chose this name, but
I found it appropriate for this design.
For me, it always starts in my photobank.
I already have an idea of the overall design,
so now I’m looking for some good photos
that I could start from. I try to always use a
large JPEG or PNG – nothing under 1,000x
1,000px, if possible. Once I’ve chosen an
image, I make it black and white. I select theFilters menu and choose Find Edges. Then
I adjust the amount of black and white using
Levels to either show more material
information or present a cleaner surface (1).
Then I draw or erase into the developing
image. I press X to switch quickly between
black and white, to avoid using the Eraser for
now. I’ll then paint using Multiply layers, and
continue until I’m happy with the design
(2) (3). Next, I work on the decals, the
weathering, the light and shadow (4) (5).
Once this stage is complete I add some
effects and some blurring to help create
some depth, then call the image done (6).”COMBINING ANIME, THE RUSSIAN
MILITARY AND HP LOVECRAFT
Nivanh takes us through the inspirations and creative process behind his walking “drash”
Interview