VOX PATRUM!! (Mothership Adventure Art Drafts)

I've never done art for literally anything before, but Trip Tech ^3 has got me working on a pamphlet adventure and trying new things out!!

UPDATE 5/5: Officially submitted!!

I changed the name from Church of the Light Fathers to Vox Patrum (Voice of the Fathers), and made the following graphic.

I also updated the layout on the second page; I really like the starburst effect and how it ties to all the members of the council. Additionally, I think these colors make the text a good bit easier to read without having to increase the opacity of the white bars.

UPDATE:

Went back and redid the main background illustration.

Also took another stab at the layout over top of it....

Including adding mothership stats.

Then redid Harriet's portrait.

From below, the original process of making this art!!

The adventure is about helping a cult leader get back into power, and centers around horse trading with / manipulating the five members of this cult's ruling council. I wanted to show their personality, so tried sketching faces first.

Head of Agriculture. Found in a small, cluttered hydroponics lab within 4 Agriculture. Stuff everywhere. Manic, cynical, paralyzed from waist down by her conversion. Last week, her sister was put in a coma by her conversion. Wants: get her and her sister off station. Destroy the altar if possible. Offers: her vote for transport off station, but only if she thinks the party isn’t really converts. For free, that Liam is a hyperweed addict.

Chief Priest of the Light Father. Small office set within 3 Cathedral; rigorously organized bookshelves. Super intelligent, prone to quizzing new converts on lore. If they fail, 2-in-10 he turns against them, and tells Abaddon they aren’t legit. Wants: to never have to change the worship schedule again. To convert the crew. To put Bellerephon in power, because that's what the rules say. Offers: his vote, unless he has to change the worship schedule or they fail his quiz. Then, 2-in-10 he votes against Bellerephon.

Found in an unadorned, warmly lit meditation room within 2 Living Quarters & Mess. Younger Brother of Bellerephon. Intense. True believer in his father's work. Can tell when people are lying as a side effect of his conversion. Wants: keep Bellerephon from power. Keep Z from killing people. Convert the PC's. Offers: Room and board for a year if they let him keep power. If they turn that down, seeks to have them arrested for heresy by Z.

Head of Security. Found in 1 Hangers / Security practicing hyperviolent takedowns with his masked security teams. Adrenaline junkie sociopath; won't discuss his vote unless a crewmember beats him in a fight. Claims it's first blood, but he'll fight to kill unless someone intervenes. Wants: To torture thieves and heretics, to get to arrest people for heresy himself. Offers: his vote for Bellerephon's guarantee on the above.

Chief Engineer. Found in 5 Engineering; pipes, boilers, wax seals, scrolls, burning candles, painting of the sun. Prodigious burn scars. Sickly sweet empathy masking religious-flavored rage. Wants: an additional worship service for the engineers. Hide his hyperweed addiction, and ban it on the station so he can get clean. Convert the crew. Offers: his vote for any one of the above. After getting one, he asks for another, unless the first was the crew's conversion.

Z's might be the worst of the above, and I'm torn between Liam's or Abaddon's as my favorite. I also tried out sketching part of the cult's rituals.

The portraits took up a bit too much space on the layout, so I switched to a background art piece to help frame the council.

Pencil sketch of the main cathedral

Sharpie tracing, trying to emphasize the central monolith.

Color edited and background removed version of an initial pencil sketch.

Sharpie version background removed and color edited.

Layout with text.

Overall, I feel encouraged. Like I said, I have no experience drawing, and no formal training either. From that benchmark, I feel pretty great about all of the above. There's still some parts of the face tracings that I really like, and I wish I could include that kind of detail in the council drawings. I'm also not 100% sold on the layout of the page itself, but it feels like a great start. This adventure is for the Trip Tech ^3 jam which isn't done until next week anyways, so I've got time!!