"Steampunk Dark Angel" on the Cover of EMG-Zine

February 2012 issue of EMG-Zine -- an e-zine for artists and writers of fantasy and science fiction -- covers the topic "Steampunk".  This month's issue includes: steampunk art gallery; columns on licensing, glues for collage, and motivation; art walk-through on dragons; part 3 on "Appreciating Speculative Art"; and fiction "The Wish Machine"; and more.

Steampunk has been popular for quite some time in many genres from books, manga, comics, to movies.  I find it a rather demanding genre and stayed away from it like a plague for the longest time.  (The thought of doing mechanical and technical rendering overwhelmed me. ^^; )  But like any theme, once the bug bites you, I cannot seem to say 'no'...  So last summer, I attempted my first steampunk piece,  and I also believe this was my first 'dark-ish' theme as well, for the EV theme, "Darkness Falls".

I had the idea of a warrior girl clad in black Victorian attire with gorgeous mechanical wings that allow her to fly and engage in battles in the air, while dodging bombs and bullets from nearby dirigibles and other flying crafts.  I made two version of this image -- one with splattered blood and another without.  Either way, the violence is only implied and not graphically depicted.

As complicated and mind-numbing and hand-cramp-inducing as this piece was, I love the final results.  I love the intricate details in the wings' blades, the pulley mechanisms and whatnot, the look on the girl's face, and the overall brown/gold color scheme.  It's one of my favorite pieces.  I'd like to do something similar with a white version, where she is flying high in the clouds, untainted with blood stains.