Yes, you guessed -- I'm inspired by the segment of Hellgate I just received from Mel Keegan. This is the opening segment of the fifth book of a six book series, and I'm all a-tingle with anticipation!
Ramon was introduced in the last book. He's a "shooter" from the free port of Ulrand, working for Fernando Wang, on the Krait. But as we all know, the Krait is no place to be -- and if you recall from the scene where Vaurien and Jazinsky went into Ulrand city bottom recruiting for a mission, Ramon has the hots for Sergei van Donne, this one here, with the shades and gloves...
That's Sergei on the left: the original six-foot-six blond bombshell. That's Richard Vaurien on the right, reading Sergei the riot act as they walk aboard the Wastrel, Richard's ship. Sergei's Mako is docked alongside the Krait, way down on the bottom of the Halfway docking rink -- and Sergei is flanked by the two hot young guys we met in Ulrand citybottom. His copilot, Rafe Byrne (I'll be modeling him very, very soon ... can't resist), and this one, Ramon. (See more of Richard and Sergei in the full series of renders from which this one was drawn.
2024 edit: Vaurien renders up soooo nicely. Here he is again, in a render from March 20, 2012, on a new computer that allowed for faaaar better picture integrity (and that's Neil Travers behind him) --
Boy, did that new computer make a difference in how I rendered! Here's what I was doing six months later, in September 2012 -- Richard Vaurien and Sergei van Donne again, but looks at the difference in quality. We've now left the realms of comic book style art ... these renders now have something of the look out outtakes from CG movie:
Being inspired, I wanted to model a new character, and this is the result. Ramon is something like Hispanic-Eurasian, one of the exotics, sensual and soooo dangerous.
Damn, I love these books! It's going to be a genuine privilege to publish the last two volumes in this series, and then collect the whole shebang together and reissue them in monster hardcovers. Very excited to be back in this universe. If you want to know more about Hellgate, this is a good place to start, with just one caveat: be aware of GLBT content.
Jade, 9 August
***Posted by MK: my connection is intermittent, too slow for this. Seriously, guys, I've got dialup speeds. How are you expected to do anything these days, at 1990 dialup speeds?!!!
