Tree Face Pen and Ink Drawing

A recent pen and ink drawing from a charcoal sketch from last year or so.

Concept Sketch

Here's a sketch done a while back. I'm not sure what's going on in this, but it's interesting to speculate on the story nonetheless.

Steampunk Sketch

This is a sketch of a steampunk time portal or time machine. It would have been nice to have posted this last week since it was steampunk month over at tor.com.

Squirrel Mage Final

Here is the final sketch on bristol board. He's shipping off today, so wish him luck.

Squirrel Mage Sketch

This is a recent page from my sketchbook. It's a concept for a more finished drawing that I'm going to do for an art show.

Boss Demon

A recent commission for a game.

The Phoenix Rises: Rebirth of Realms of Fantasy Magazine

I've been a subscriber to Realms of Fantasy magazine since 1999, and so was very disappointed to learn early this year that it had been shut down. Luckily, fan mobilization on facebook and other sites helped persuade Warren Lapine, owner of Tir Na Nog Press, to purchase the magazine and save it from permanent print death.

It seems every time I turn around, I read about another magazine closing, or in some cases, shutting down print operations and only offering online subscriptions. So for this reason as well, the relaunch of RoF is welcome news.

Now on to a quick review of the August issue--the first issue since the relaunch. They have kept the same basic look to the magazine, and all of the features and columns have returned as well, including the following departments: folkroots (which covers folklore and myth), the art gallery, books, movies, and games. The fiction section includes four stories, including "Our Lady Scarlet", by Tanith Lee. One of the changes they did make is switch to a thicker cover stock and much thicker mailing cover (I'm not sure what the actual name for this is, but it's the temporary, removable cover on subscriber issues). Occasionally an issue arrives slightly damaged, so this is a welcome change as each issue should better withstand rough handling.

The Pillars of Heaven

Here is another illustration for Rite Publishing's Jade Oath project.

Background information on this scene:

"In the mythology of the region, the fallen pillar of heaven was one of the supports that held up heaven and was knocked over at the beginning of time when the gods fought on the earth and caused the great flood. Stones believed by some scholars to be the remains of the fallen Pillar of Heaven lie broken and scattered across the landscape of the Empire of Xianguo stretching from the Heaven's Reach Mountains scattered along the vicinity of nearly the whole length of the Ghostwall all the way to the Sea of Burning Stars."

Strange Seas

8 1/2" x 11" (21.6cm x 28.0cm), double matted in black and blue to 11" x 14"
signed/numbered on heavyweight paper
$30 plus $7.50 shipping and handling in the US
email me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

This is an oil and acrylic painting (15" x 20") from a few years ago. The prints are limited to a run of 250)and are matted out to 11" x 14", with the outer mat black and the inner mat blue.

Virgo

BW art for a card game. The maiden holds a branch in her right hand and a stalk of grain in her left. Virgo is the sixth astrological sign in the Zodiac, originating from the constellation of the same name.

Mystic Woods

I was looking through my files for something to post, and realized I had never posted this acrylic painting from a few years ago. I think the size was around 8 x 10.

Hopefully I can get some newer stuff up soon. I still haven't started that knight and castle oil painting that I blogged about a few months ago. I'll try to start that sometime this summer once a few upcoming deadlines are out of the way.

Swamp Spider Lady Designs

These are a couple of silhouette sketches done for a new RPG commission. Here I was trying out one possible design. Since I'm going with a different design for the final art, I think it's probably ok to post these.

The Usual Suspects

Here is my entry for the next Concept Tuesday art challenge at ArtOrder. The task: to design four characters- Defender, Striker, Controller, and Leader using silhouette only.

From ArtOrder:

In our imaginary game, we have 4 playable races - adopted from the four D&D® "character roles":

Defender - Defenders have the highest defenses in the game and good close-up offense. They are the party's front line conbatants: wherever they are standing, that's where the action is. Defenders have abilities and powers that make it difficult for enemies to move past them or to ignore them in battle.

Striker - Strikers specialize in dealing high amounts of damage to a single target at a time. They have the most concentrated offense of any character in the game. Strikers rely on superior mobility, trickery or magic to move around tough foes and single out the enemy they want to attack.

Controller - Controllers deal with large numbers of enemies at the same time. They favor offense over defense, using powers that deal damage to multiple foes at once, as well as subtler powers that weaken, confuse, or delay their foes.

Leader - Leaders inspire, heal, and aid the other characters. Leaders have good defenses, but their strength lies in powers that protect their companions and target specific foes for the party to concentrate on.

Jade Oath Artwork

Here is recent artwork for Rite Publishing that illustrates what is called the armor of shadow. It was commissioned for Jade Oath, a patronage project. The patronage model of creation allows the patrons to commission a product that they are interested in as well as giving them input into the game design and artwork.

Want to learn more about Rite Publishing? Read on...

• Atomic Array: Rite Publishing (Atomic Array 023)


• Jade Oath Preview: The Demon Hunter


• Game Cryer: A Witch's Choice Review


• Emerson's Bookshelf: My Evolving Experience with Rite


• Stungeon Studios: Jade Oath Artwork


• Apathy Blogs: Pride and Patronage

Drop by Rite Publishing and become a patron today!

Gnome Silhouettes

These were initial designs for a Concept Tuesday art challenge at ArtOrder. The idea is to start with silhouettes to arrive at an overall definitive design that clearly distinguishes one character from the other. The large character is an ancient, primative ancestor of the smaller, trimmer gnome.

Art Show Schedule

Here is a list of upcoming convention art shows that will be displaying my limited edition prints for sale:

Miscon 23
May 22-25, 2009
Missoula, MT

ApolloCon
June 26-28, 2009
Houston, TX

Among the Outer Ring

I was hunting through files for high resolution images of various paintings and realized I had never posted this painting, so here it is! Hope you enjoy it.

Boll Deevil

Here's something I did for Concept Tuesday at Jon Schindehette's blog ArtOrder. The idea was to design a large creature based on the boll weevil. I included crustacean and bird elements as well.

Interview

Here's a link to an interview I did with Tara Meacham, of Writing with Elegance.

The Clearing

Cybernetic

Lucifron of World of Warcraft

oils, 16 x 20 on masonite panel

View of an Extrasolar Planet

This is a painting I was commissioned to do for a planetarium audio-visual show entitled "Distant Worlds". It was painted in oils at 15" x 20".

Back to Plan A

Upon looking at this knight and castle sketch again, I decided I liked the original dimensions better, so I lopped off the top and bottom sections. One of the reasons why I tried to alter the composition in the first place was so that it would fit this 16" x 20" piece of masonite that I planned to use for the painting. That's often not a good idea. It's best to match the board or canvas to the original composition, not the other way around. I knew better, but thought I would try it anyway.


Another painting that I'm going to start is of Khalan, a main character in the Sword of Truth books, which has just been turned into a tv series- Legend of the Seeker. I'm basing this painting on reference of the tv show character. She's in the woods, with an ancient oak tree in the middle ground, to the right of her. It turns out that this composition fits the masonite almost perfectly, so I'll use it for this painting.

Castle and Knight Progress: More Sketches

This is a follow up post to the initial sketch I posted the other day.

I decided to change the dimensions on this painting, so I added sections to the top and bottom of the sketch. I sketched that digitally in Photoshop.

Below that is a color rough that suggests a possible color scheme. I also thought about setting the scene in autumn.

Again, although I'm painting the color roughs digitally, I'll be painting the actual painting in oil.

Dragon

Here's a dragon illustration that was drawn for the Storycards tarot card set.

Knight and Castle Thumbnail Sketch

Here's an idea for an upcoming painting. It's not commissioned art, but a personal piece- something for my portfolio. The thing is at this point I'm not sure if I'll paint it in oils or in Photoshop or Painter. Hmmm... I may opt for going traditional on this since all of the fantasy art I've painted in recent memory has been done digitally. I think it would be nice to have a new traditionally painted fantasy painting. So it's done! I'll paint it in oils.

Recommended Reading: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

I had read quite a bit about this book and was following the writer's blog before even reading it, so I had a certain level of expectation going in. I wasn't let down though- far from it! I thoroughly enjoyed the book and became totally immersed in the story. Rothfuss is a very gifted writer who definitely knows how to tell a story (the book is huge, and it's also quite the page turner). The Name of the Wind is hands down one of the best books I've read.

From Amazon:

Amazon.com's Best of the Year...So Far Pick for 2007: Harry Potter fans craving a new mind-blowing series should look no further than The Name of the Wind--the first book in a trilogy about an orphan boy who becomes a legend. Full of music, magic, love, and loss, Patrick Rothfuss's vivid and engaging debut fantasy knocked our socks off. --Daphne Durham

Patrick Rothfuss website
on amazon

Yoda

Here's a Star Wars painting of Yoda I did a few years ago. It's mixed media- acrylic (both brush and airbrush) and colored pencil on gessoed illustration board.

Pluto

A painting of the planet Pluto I did for Green Ronin's Spaceship Zero RPG. Acrylics on bristol board.

Monster Hunter

Scifi RPG Character Portrait

Here's another character portrait- this time science fiction. Click on the image for a much larger view.

Firewyrm

Attack of the Plant Man

This was a piece commissioned by RPG publisher Bastion Press for their Wildwood book. The creature is made out of plants and vines and such.

BW Monster Concept Sketch

This is a recent concept sketch for this weird monster with half his face blown off. Kinda nasty way to start the new year, huh?