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These elements were perfect for our concept and we interweaved them in this piece. As you can see the gargantuan turtle isn't a creature/machine hybrid because we decided to represent the mechanical part of the concept as a building on top of its back. Not just any building but an oil rig. The turtle not only supports the building but is also the supplier of that one important element that allows the machines of this world to work thus perfectly fitting the 'supporter' symbolism found in many myths surrounding this creature. Of course a nice advantage to having a gargantuan turtle in charge of supplying oil is that it allows you to be mobile and easily travel to the next oil deposit without ever rebuilding the rig. Plus you don't have to depend on fuel to get moving...the turtle may feed on the giant fish roaming the sea :) An interesting question is of course: How does the rig drill down without going through the turtle? Well...The turtle carries a huge stack of immense pipes right next to that big oil container. When a suitable oil deposit has been found the crew extend the pipes at the very back of the creature and start constructing an extension to make the drill. ]]> Personal_Twincruiser003c.jpg Personal_Twincruiser003c_Large.jpg 500 373 Personal_Twincruiser004c.jpg 500 746 Personal_Twincruiser005c.jpg 500 342 Personal_Twincruiser006c.jpg Personal_Twincruiser006c_Large.jpg 500 451 Michel: Here's another school assignment. I had to do an illustration that had to accompany a short story. The theme of the story was 'tyranny'. The protagonist meets his two bosses, who are about to go to a carnival party (one is dressed up as a pirate and the other as a white bear).

Obviously, these bosses stand for the capitalist and the communist and that's also exactly what I was going for in the illustration. On top we have the capitalist pirate with his 'parrot' showing off all of his 'bling bling'. And at the bottom we have the communist bear who, by the looks of his mask, is going to devour our poor labourer. This illustration is actually all about revealing true identity. The two giants look like they have rubber masks on but in their actions and their forms they turn out to be two horrible power-hungry manipulators. Even the parrot appears to be a vicious symbol of dictatorship.

Right away, I felt that I had to go for a crazy 'festive' cartoon style and I think it's refreshing to have done this piece since it's so different from my usual work. René helped me out with the FX and Finishing Touches. ]]> Personal_Twincruiser007c.jpg Personal_Twincruiser007c_Large.jpg 500 500 Michel: One of the seminars at my Illustration study included a free-of-choice project. I chose to remake a CD cover for an existing album...the legendary Appetite for Destruction by Guns N Roses.

In my opinion, the songs represented the decadence of man (Welcome to the Jungle and Paradise City for instance). In Welcome to the Jungle Axl Rose sings of 'fun and games' and this is what I found most attractive to represent in my version. The railway track, which stands for life and everything man has achieved, ends in an ironic almost laughable fiery doom full of pain and misery. Axl's voice has this quality...when he sings it seems he's suffering enormous pain, as if he's on fire and cannot shake the flames off his body. This I wanted to represent along with Slash's powerful play...which to me is like the instigator (the fuel if you will) of the great fire which is burning inside of Axl Rose.

Also if you look at the logo you'll see three roses and two guns which represent the struggle between the divine and the human...the divine trinity versus the duality of man. The numbers 2 and 3 essentially represent life-death and life-death-resurrection. ]]> Personal_Twincruiser008c.jpg 500 700 Michel: One day, for some reason, I became very interested in playing cards and their history. I felt the urge to make one myself. After some research on the net and some extensive reading, the concept of the card that struck me most was the King of Clubs. I found out that the King of Clubs is actually the king of thieves, rogues and brigands. To me a king of thieves does not wear a crown on his head since he has to conceal his identity. Instead he wears an amulet beneath his cloak to prove his status of power. The amulet has the form of a loaf of bread or a cake symbolizing his petty criminal activities (the beginning of every great crime lord). Also he carries a club which in Medieval times represented the murderer or the deceiver.

René: This piece is certainly one which required a lot of textures to give it a more gritty and dirty look. In this rendition it's quite hard to see the different textures of cloth...you might see them if you look closely enough. The wood texture on the club and the leather texture on his gloves are quite visible. I used a special technique in Photoshop to 'bend' the flat textures onto the painted layers like the cloak and the club to give them more depth. ]]> Personal_Twincruiser009c.jpg 500 613 Personal_Twincruiser010c.jpg 500 713 Michel: A piece I had to do for my Illustration study. The assignment was to illustrate your feelings with the letter T. I saw it as connection or support...buildings...the human body...they are all composed in the form of a T. I had this image in my head... a man in the clouds supporting the light.

René: The Lightbearer was the centerpiece of Michel's funeral ceremony and it is the project that I identify him with now. It was a big inspiration for me when writing the story of my Hero, my Brother. ]]> Personal_Twincruiser011c.jpg 500 602 René & Michel: Here's a commission for Adrian Monogue's fantasy novel Knight of the Goddess. He contacted us to produce portraits of two of the main characters.

Adrian Monogue: A man stood next to Rowan. The man was at least as tall as himself with wide broad shoulders. He reminded Alexander of a weightlifter. His body was stocky like that of a dwarf. However, he was no dwarf. The man sported a long rusty colored pony tail bound by a rune inscribed silver ring. His eyes were golden yellow of a cats eyes with pupils like that of a cat. His skin was heavily tanned. His face was clean shaven and seems to posses a jovial happiness to it. He wore a set of steel grey robes with gold embroidery. One sleeve was missing from his robe. In his right hand he held a steel stave capped in gold with lines of gold veins going between the ends. On his sleeveless left arm her wore a magnificently ornate metal gauntlet. The gauntlet it self was of the same steel colored material as his staff with similar golden veins. The tip of every finger was golden. On the back of his hand sat a hemispherical green emerald. In the center of the gauntlet were two steel shark fin protrusions. The second was slightly larger then the first. Three small emeralds were on either side of the fins. ]]> Personal_Twincruiser012c.jpg 500 713 René & Michel: Here's a commission for Adrian Monogue's fantasy novel Knight of the Goddess. He contacted us to produce portraits of two of the main characters.

Adrian Monogue: Valissa believes in harmonious balance. However she has been known to stray from this path for the greater good. She detests evil but recognizes that it needs to exist as well. She influences people with her ageless wisdom and intelligence before directly affect them. She has an open and kind heart.Valissa was created as the human connection between the sleeping goddess Acatea and the realm of man. Valissa followed in her father Dmitri's footsteps by sacrificing her mortality to defend the world. Acatea rewards those that give for the greater good. The sleeping goddess had need of a powerful being to step out of reality and be her eyes. In essence the sleeping goddess uses Valissa as an avatar, and guiding hand for mankind. Valissa is still human and retains her freewill. When the cause is to drastic she steps down to aid those she has protected. ]]> Personal_Twincruiser013c.jpg 500 713 Aniway. The cover was used in the January 2003 issue containing a special of the anime series Noir. ]]> Personal_Twincruiser014c.jpg 500 713 Personal_Twincruiser015c.jpg Personal_Twincruiser015c_Large.jpg 500 386 Personal_Twincruiser016c.jpg Personal_Twincruiser016c_Large.jpg 500 348 Personal_Twincruiser017c.jpg 500 713 Michel: This a poster design for a music event at our highschool. Before this event there was a 'Battle of the Bands' and I was inspired by a heavy metal band which was performing. I had never experienced live heavy metal before and while I was listening I got this vision of a cloaked angel with a guitar in his hand, kneeling on debris. ]]> Personal_Twincruiser018c.jpg Personal_Twincruiser018c_Large.jpg 500 209 Personal_Twincruiser019c.jpg 420 700 René: First piece of Michel's 'Super Star' project featuring Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, Elvis Presley and Marylin Monroe. Michel hand-painted all of these and I digitally enhanced them later on. Click on 'next' to see the rest... ]]> Personal_Twincruiser020c.jpg 424 700 Personal_Twincruiser021c.jpg 420 700 Personal_Twincruiser022c.jpg 420 700 Personal_Twincruiser023c.jpg 453 650 René: One of the last pieces Michel did for his Illustration study about one month before his passing. He hand-painted this and I digitally enhanced it. He had to portray the feeling of irritation. To him negative feelings, much like positive feelings, spread from person to person like an endless chain of dynamite or explosives. This is very evident in his piece by the use of bright yellows, oranges and reds. It certainly conveys the feeling 'full of it'. ]]> Personal_Twincruiser024c.jpg 500 544 René: Hand painted design by Michel done about six months before his passing. This is the Spanish version of Psalm 108:

My heart is steadfast, O God;
I will sing and make music with all my soul.
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
I will praise you, O LORD , among the nations;
I will sing of you among the peoples.
For great is your love, higher than the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
and let your glory be over all the earth. ]]> Personal_Twincruiser025c.jpg 500 352 René: An illustration done by Michel with vector shapes in Illustrator. This was one of his study assignments to portray the differences between Chinese and Dutch culture. ]]> Personal_Twincruiser026c.jpg 450 650 René: Illustrator experiment done by Michel. Vectors are fun! :) ]]> Personal_Twincruiser027c.jpg 460 650 René: A movie poster assignment for Michel's Illustration study. Well...you got the info...what are you waiting for? Go see the movie! ]]> Personal_Twincruiser028c.jpg 460 650 René: Michel's 'Hero' project for his study. He got this assignment in photography class where he photographed some of his classmates, then digitally manipulated and enhanced them as heroic archetypes. ]]> Personal_Twincruiser029c.jpg 460 650 Personal_Twincruiser030c.jpg 460 650 Personal_Twincruiser031c.jpg 460 650 Personal_Twincruiser001b.jpg 500 684 Michel: The whole idea of this 'Metamorphoses' was to pencil anything that came directly to mind. If done with some detail people would start to see formations and shapes... perhaps even objects or scenes. Basically, it's not the artist who interprets the piece but the viewer... making up his own stories. ]]> Personal_Twincruiser002b.jpg 500 684 Personal_Twincruiser003b.jpg 500 684 Personal_Twincruiser004b.jpg 500 632 Michel: This is a concept I came up with and designed. I became fascinated by churches and cathedrals and had this idea to place them on ships. These 'Cathedra Carriers' sail over the stormy oceans of space and time, forever travelling, finding the core of creation itself. ]]> Personal_Twincruiser005b.jpg 500 529 Personal_Twincruiser006b.jpg 500 344 Personal_Twincruiser007b.jpg 500 615 Personal_Twincruiser008b.jpg 500 605 Personal_Twincruiser009b.jpg 485 700 Personal_Twincruiser010b.jpg 485 700 Personal_Twincruiser011b.jpg 485 700 Personal_Twincruiser012b.jpg 500 480 Personal_Twincruiser013b.jpg 485 700 Personal_Twincruiser014b.jpg 500 341 Personal_Twincruiser015b.jpg 485 700 Michel: For my study I had to illustrate a nightmare in scraperboard. This is the pencilled version. When I think of a nightmare, I think of the word 'heavy'. So I imagined a big fat creature on top of a suffocating victim. When René saw this image he said it was like a mix between Jar Jar and Jabba...so he decided to name it Jarba....a Jarba slug :) ]]> Personal_Twincruiser016b.jpg 485 700 Personal_Twincruiser017b.jpg 500 538 Personal_Twincruiser018b.jpg 485 700 "Come buy, come buy,"
She never spied the goblin men
Hawking their fruits along the glen:
But when the noon waxed bright
Her hair grew thin and gray;
She dwindled, as the fair full moon doth turn
To swift decay, and burn
Her fire away.

- Goblin Market, Christina Rosetti ]]> Personal_Twincruiser019b.jpg 500 467 Personal_Twincruiser020b.jpg 500 664 Personal_Twincruiser021b.jpg 500 585 Personal_Twincruiser022b.jpg 500 608 Personal_Twincruiser023b.jpg 500 657 Personal_Twincruiser024b.jpg 485 700 Personal_Twincruiser025b.jpg 484 700