How did my artwork end up in Expeditionary Force Marines?

[Tim Wing]

Hey guys, long time no post, I know!

So, I just received my copy of Robotech Expeditionary Force Marines, and I turn to page 126 and think: hmmmm... that looks familiar! It would appear that Walton did a trace job on my GMU artwork from the uRRG circa 1999!

I'm not butt-hurt. Actually, I think it's kind of cool. But if they wanted to use the original, they could have just asked! lol.


Here are the pictures:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... uploaded=2

[Chronicler]

Chuck why? That's breaking the one unspoken rule for artist. You don't trace others art for profit.

[Seto Kaiba]

Chuck why? That's breaking the one unspoken rule for artist. You don't trace others art for profit.

Um... you do realize that almost all of the mecha art in the Robotech and Macross II RPGs is traced, right?

The Robotech franchise as a whole isn't big on proper attribution... the show's credits don't even mention the people who really created the material, and the 2nd Edition RPG's Macross Saga, Masters Saga, and New Generation sourcebooks are quite odd among Robotech titles in that they actually credit the design staff of the original shows.

[Tiree]

It's not a trace, very good homage. There is enough differences that would state it's a new piece of work.

[Tim Wing]

Well, the proportions are exactly the same, so to my eye it looks like a trace. But! I've traced many a shabby image from the OSM or some other source, and then modified it and turned it into something different myself. So, no blood, no foul.

[Tiree]

I tossed the two images up together on Paint.net and removed the background on Chuck's to see the line art over your lines. To say they are traced, I'm going to disagree. He definitely used a very similar aspect point, and angle. But no matter how hard I tried to resize his image to yours, I couldn't get everything to line up. I could get the wheels, and the top would be off. I could get the middle to line up, but the wheels would be off, and if I lined up the front, his was shorter.

Very similar, probably used the same sketch, or your sketch to work from. But definitely different.

[Premier]

Hey guys, long time no post, I know!

So, I just received my copy of Robotech Expeditionary Force Marines, and I turn to page 126 and think: hmmmm... that looks familiar! It would appear that Walton did a trace job on my GMU artwork from the uRRG circa 1999!

I'm not butt-hurt. Actually, I think it's kind of cool. But if they wanted to use the original, they could have just asked! lol.


Here are the pictures:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... uploaded=2

Hey Tim Wing,

Thank you for being so understanding with this matter. Robotech has always been sort of tricky for me as far as to how its art was approached, being an established licensed property with so much art out there already. Many of the predecessor Robotech books were indeed traces as Seto stated, so I pondered how that was always handled.

Actually I reviewed quite a bit of the Titan references and found that your angle best captured what I was looking to do given the amount of space availed for it in the book. I was preparing to do the frontal shot with the cannon raised, but page count wouldn't allow the shot I was looking for. Your perspective angle on the Titan, was the same angle that was featured in the Robotech Sentinels RPG book, under the MTA-Titan Mecha Transport & Assault Vehicle, page 116, but your render was a stronger foundation for me to use for my rough and to build upon. In the end, I had to make it its own thing for this book, so I couldn't trace it. I loosely roughed the base and then rendered afterwards. That's also why they don't line up anymore, because the rendering phase allowed me to deviate from the rough, without having o worry about a total revamp. I wish tracing it was an option as was done in some of previous Robotech books, as there were other IMAI designs that couldn't be traced as much as I wish I could have.

Thanks for the link and I just checked out your Facebook, You do fantastic work!

[Tiree]

Well, the proportions are exactly the same, so to my eye it looks like a trace. But! I've traced many a shabby image from the OSM or some other source, and then modified it and turned it into something different myself. So, no blood, no foul.

I guess I was wrong... to a degree.

[Premier]

Well, the proportions are exactly the same, so to my eye it looks like a trace. But! I've traced many a shabby image from the OSM or some other source, and then modified it and turned it into something different myself. So, no blood, no foul.

I guess I was wrong... to a degree.

No, actually you were correct as well.

[Tim Wing]

Thanks man! Like I said, I wasn't really sweating it.

Any way, I'm always interested in doing some freelance artwork myself. Any idea if they Palladium would have any interest?

[Premier]

Thanks man! Like I said, I wasn't really sweating it.

Any way, I'm always interested in doing some freelance artwork myself. Any idea if they Palladium would have any interest?

No Problem, your work is IMPRESSIVE. Feel free to PM me regarding freelance artwork.
Enclose any additional online portfolios, samples, Deviant Art, etc., so that I can show Palladium your work.
You have my vote!

[Tim Wing]

Thanks! Love your work by as well. Especially the level of detail! (Okay... we can quit with the double dutch rudder now. Regardless. love your stuff!)

[Rabid Southern Cross Fan]

The GMU as written is most certainly NOT the finished design but based on the earliest drafts (which later got incorporated into the novelizations and comics). Its a helluva lot smaller in the finished design, being far more realistic than the monstrosity written up. The finished design has a number of elements that are simply missing from the earliest drafts. Now, I understand that some revision is good, but that should have taken a different form such as removing the "transformation" aspect (there is no reason for an "SDF on Wheels") and making the tires solid ridged affairs (which the finished design seems to roughly imply). I'm not criticizing the artwork but the choices made in getting to that point. The GMU as presented is nonsensical.....

[Alpha 11]

Well, this turned out cool! And ya, they could use some more artist. Poor Chuck always seems to be swamp with work from them. Right Chuck. ( Just something private going on between me and Chuck. )

[Tim Wing]

I agree, the GMU was/is pretty silly. But then again, I get the feeling it was designed to be more of a "play-set" in the eventual toy tie-ins for the Sentinels cartoon.