One thing that truly defines a storyworld’s setting is its unique imagery. This is something I’ve been wrestling with in regards to Empire of Venom & Silk: as a low fantasy, bronze age setting, it inherently looks similar to many other such settings. It needs something unique, that looks like nothing else. And obviously, that something should be its giant freaking spiders.
The problem with giant spiders, however, is that every fantasy setting has them. For EVS, I needed a spider that looked truly unique.
Enter artist Eric Lofgren. I’ve worked with Eric on numerous projects over the years, and I really like his creature designs. So when I realized I’d need to commission some unique spider imagery, his was the first name that came to mind.
Eric’s first sketch gave me a couple options. I decided to go with the top design because it was more threatening than its counterpart with the spindlier legs.
For the next pass, I told him, “I love the ‘helmet’ look of the head. I’d love to see more details (spikes? horns? Carapace plates? something cool I’m not thinking of?) that identify the beast as not just A Spider, but as a specific spider from a specific setting”… and just turned him loose to go crazy.
I was pleased with the results. I really liked the “horned crown” look of the head, and asked him to duplicate that look on the spider’s abdomen. Since real spiders’ abdomens are smooth, I figured giving ours more texture would make it stand out as “not just another spider.”
Oh yeah, that’s the ticket!
The distinctive face, along with the thorny abdomen and plated legs, give this thing an aura of weirdness that suggests that it’s not exactly a spider, but a alien thing that just happens to look sort of like a spider.
I think I’ve found my spider.
If you like the look of Eric’s stuff, check out his website, his regularly-updated Facebook gallery, and his collection of art that’s available for licensing.
