Cover of the Auran Empire Campaign Setting Revealed

Artist and illustrator Michael C. Hayes, whose work will also appear on the cover of the ACKS Player's Companion and Domains at War, unveiled the work he's been doing for the forthcoming Auran Empire Campaign Setting at Illuxcon this weekend. It can be seen in the wild on the far left of this picture of his booth: 

 

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"305","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"287","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"480"}}]]

 

Thanks to a post at Michael's blog at his site artofmike.com, we can share a closer look at the painting:

 

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"306","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"320","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"255"}}]]

 

It's exciting to go public with this! Backstage, Michael has been sharing images of the work in progress that have been wowing us for months. An aspect that's undergone some revision is how much patina should be visible on the statue, with some of us arguing that it should be as bright as a new penny. Thinking about what it would take to maintain a harbor statue in this state, I opined that it would be a cool detail if we could see crews of workers polishing the copper to keep off the patina. Autarch graphic designer Greg Lincoln wrote back:

 

When I read "keep off the patina" my brain did this, instead of your intended meaning:

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"307","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","style":"width: 250px; height: 291px; ","typeof":"foaf:Image"}}]]

 

The original painting (keep off sign not included) is 24" by 30" oil on paper on board, and according to Mike's post is still available for sale at this time. I've visited a collector here in New York who has some other paintings of his, and seeing them in person is really amazing; hopefully whoever buys this one will let me come over and admire it sometime!

lovely art :slight_smile: