Behind the Art: Paint, Fractals, and a Homemade AI

Chapter concept art:

Citadel D-114:

This concept art depicts Citadel D-114, a colossal, tiered structure resembling a ziggurat or a stepped pyramid, rising abruptly from a flat, arid desert landscape. The architecture is rendered in warm, golden-brown tones, suggesting stone or sandstone, with intricate, blocky details that hint at fractal generation or complex geometry. The sky above is filled with dramatic, billowing clouds in shades of white, grey, and soft blue, with sunlight breaking through to illuminate the upper spires of the citadel, creating a sense of awe and isolation.

Fun stuff about the art for this series:

I’ve been painting landscapes since 1997 and worked as freelance illustrator since 2002, so I’ve done lots of art for this series too!

Some of them are painted in Photoshop from scratch with a wacom tablet.

Some are created with software called Mandelbulb which generates 3+ Dimensional megastructures using fractal mathematics.

Here is an example of a nuclear explosion made with fractal mathematics:

This image displays a computer interface, specifically a fractal generation program, with a window titled 'NUCLEAR DETONATION EXPLOSION'. The central preview pane shows a stark black silhouette of a massive mushroom cloud rising from the ground, set against a background of intense, glowing red and orange gradients that suggest a nuclear fireball. The surrounding interface includes various technical menus, sliders, and buttons labeled with terms like 'Calculate 3D', 'Formulas', and 'Iteration count', indicating the image is a digital creation using mathematical algorithms rather than a photograph or traditional painting. The composition evokes the catastrophic destruction described in the text, where the protagonist's lab is obliterated by a fertilizer explosion.

Some of the art in this book is made with 3d models using Blender, Unreal Engine and matte painting in Photoshop:

This image displays the Blender 3D modeling software interface, featuring a grey, untextured model of a large ram skull with massive, curling horns floating in the center viewport. The skull is oriented diagonally, facing downwards and to the left, surrounded by a few small, floating rock-like debris pieces. The interface shows the 'Sculpt' workspace on the left with tools like 'Draw' and 'Clay Strips', and a 'Sculpt' brush settings panel is visible near the center, indicating the artist is actively shaping the model.

Some of the art in this book is made by sketching out of the base in Photoshop and then applying a custom diffusion model to it across a few of the hundreds of hand-drawn and matte painting photo texture layers. This diffusion model is a VERY specialized, smaller, personal tool, made entirely from my work.

More details:

It utilizes a diffusion process like this [a custom image generative network that’s trained from scratch using my own data]. This model utilizes madelbulb renders + 10 terabytes of photography I shot over past 20 years in my urbex trips across Canada, USA, Europe and Siberia + 800 gigabytes of 3d models designed or 3d scanned myself + thousands of my illustrations made from 1997-2024. It is the only one of its kind since it’s 100% made by me.

Example of process:

This image displays the artistic process of a webcomic illustration, showing a grayscale sketch at the top and the final colored piece below. In the scene, four characters—Pave, Dumpich, Terri, and Leon—sit around a roaring fireplace in a stone room, raising wooden tankards in a toast. They are accompanied by small, green, cat-like dragons perched on their shoulders and the mantel, with a small orange creature named Ignix sitting on a log in the fire. The atmosphere is cozy and celebratory, illuminated by the warm orange glow of the fire against the cool blue light coming from the arched windows.