The great thing about freelance is that you have to wait forever to share any of your recent work. That was sarcasm. It's not great. It's maddening.
Thankfully that wasn't the case this time.
This is a cover I did for Nightshade books. It's for the Flames of Shadam Khoreh by Bradley P. Beaulieu.
My thanks to Dave Palumbo for the opportunity and the art direction.
Here is the quick sketch I did for my packets full of stuff that I was handing out to art directors at Illuxcon. I just sketched it out in photoshop/painter then printed it on the envelopes. It's completely a stolen idea, from Jeff Love, who stole it from Doug Chayka, who I'm sure got the idea from someone else. I won't accuse Doug of stealing. That just wouldn't be polite. I am above all, polite. (Nobody is going to believe that.)
I still have a few of these left that will be getting mailed out to the ones that weren't there.
I'm heading to Illuxcon in a couple of weeks. Besides organizing the new portfolio, I decided to put some promo materials together. I'll be packaging them all up neatly in some large envelopes and handing them out to a few Art Directors that are going to be at the convention.
Each package will have a book of my original portfolio, some postcards, a business card and a bookmark.
A few months ago, I started a project with Open Design LLC. A series of monsters for modules based on the 7 deadly sins. I showed a few of them in an older post. I just finished the last of the series. I started to loosen up and experiment a little with my process as time went on.
Here are a few of my favorites from the series.
Enjoy.
Ok. There are no lights. My name isn't really even on the marquee. It's more like in the credits. After the stars. The stuff you aren't paying attention to. The stuff that scrolls by while you look for your wallet and deciding whether or not you are going to take the popcorn or leave it in the seat next to you.
By God, I'm in there though.
Wow. I go off the rails quickly.
Expose 10 is now available. I have 3 pieces in there. Don't let that discourage you though. There is a lot of good stuff too.
I was just sent the image of what my card will look like in the 3DTotal Card game "Prime Wars". Looks cool to me, but I may be a bit biased.
I have mentioned that I got some work into 3DTotal's Prime annual art book. It's coming out soon. So go buy a copy. Uhhh.....I mean......please take some time to check it out. That's the more polite way to say that.
Click the image dummy.
My image is also being used in their new card game. Prime Wars. It's a strategic card game using 50 of the artists from the annual.
They have a kickstarter for the game. Click the image. Please? I'm sorry I called you a dummy before. I didn't mean it. I swear. You know how I get. Please forgive me. I'll never do that again. Probably. It was kind of your fault though.
Here are a couple of monsters I did for Open Design LLC. It's a series of modules for the Pathfinder setting, called the "Monsters of Sin".
It's been quite awhile since I've done flat black & white. I forgot how much I liked it. It's a whole new set of challenges.
There are quite a few of these. These are just a couple from each module.
Links to the modules are below.
Ok, enough talkie talkie. Here are the pics. Enjoy. Or don't.
Hoard Golem
Embodiment of Avarice
Echo Doppelganger
Embodiment of Envy
"Whatchu Lookin' at?" was accepted into 3D Total's Prime Annual. I am thrilled. Yeah, I know, it really comes across in text. But trust me. I am. It's quite an honor.
I worked on paintings alot last week. I still have work to do. This is actually another productive (slightly) procrastination day. However, it is a holiday. Everyone's headed to the river, lake, or whatever thing they do outside to enjoy the day off. Much like my childhood, while those people were outside, I was inside drawing and watching Star Wars. It is Independence Day after all.
Anyway, this was my break from painting. Something different. Partly, to see if I could do it, partly to try some new techniques, partly a thinly veiled excuse to draw a semi-nude lady.
Whatever, I just wanted to zone out and have some fun.
For those that don't know (you should), this is Dr. Ms. The Monarch from the Venture Bros. I love that damn cartoon. Yep, I'm a fan boy. 
Expose is an annual art book by Ballistic Publishing.
"EXPOSÉ showcases the world's best digital artists at a level of quality that only Ballistic Publishing can deliver. From established artists working in games, film and publishing to undiscovered artists showing their work for the first time"
I'm happy to say that I got 3 pieces in this years book. I've never submitted before, but I've been checking out the books for awhile. They are well done, look great and it's free to enter. Oh, and it's exposure too.
I'm in the middle of promotion. Lots of research, emails, typing, etc.... It's exciting and sometimes fun. I try to make it entertaining for myself. I've been at it for awhile now, so today I decided to take a break for a few hours. This is what happened.
Whenever I do these quick little portraits, I try to find something new to try out. A technique, palette, composition, etc.. This was an effort to try the watercolor brushes, in Painter. I found some that I really enjoyed actually. Some.....not so much. I was trying to stylize my drawing a little too.
I've always been a fan of the Dragonlance world. This is Raistlin Majere. He was always my favorite character in the books (and everyone elses too). Don't worry, he's not jaundiced. It was some magic misfortune.
Ok, back to emails.
This little painting is earning it's rent space in my portfolio. I created it for an ArtOrder.com competition. The contest was to do an image based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel, A Princess of Mars. I didn't get to enter the actual contest, but I still wanted to do the piece.
Yay! #1- So now here we are in the present. I recently received my free audiobooks from Tantor Audiobooks. They include an ebook with the original text from the book, and several John Carter related images. Including..........wait for it........my John Carter painting.
Yay! #2- I was recently contacted by someone wanting to use Mr. Carter for their book cover. I can't give alot of info on it at this time, but well...yay!
Yay!#3- This is the big Yay! Yippeekayay!? No. That sounds weird. Anyway. Recently Mr. Carter was accepted into the Richmond Illustrators Club juried show.
I am completely honored to be accepted into the show. There are some amazing artists in the show. Including my studiomates Leslie Herman, Richie Pope, William Godwin, and a friend of the studio Jeremy Wilson
The preview opening is Thurs. night at Ghostprint Gallery in Richmond, followed by the opening on Friday night during First Friday.
It should be a great time. I will be there both nights hanging out, acting awkward in public, and wishing I had a beer. Feel free to come introduce yourself. It will be a welcome distraction from looking awkward.
Come out and see Mr. Carter in his sunday best. (mat and frame).
220 WEST BROAD ST.
RICHMOND, VA 23220
AAAAANNNNDDD....................SOLD! First night within the first hour. A lovely young lady bought it for her husband. I'm extremely happy.
Well, in an attempt to clean up my gallery, I'm getting rid of the image descriptions. I kind of liked having some of them there to add a little something to the image. However, we must make sacrifices. So I'm going to put a few of them here, with their image descriptions so they are still on the site. Also, I can go back and retrieve them if and when I ever come up with a better solution to my gallery.
Run Away Little Girl, Run Away
'Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to this evening's presentation! Tonight, things are not what they seem, for tonight, your eyes may not be trusted. Take for instance this quiet, elderly woman, waiting for a visit from her granddaughter. Surely there is nothing to fear from this sweet, gray-haired old lady. But don't let me pull the wool over your eyes. See for yourself what lies beneath those covers. And now: On with the show!'
Have You Met My Girlfriends?
A man of noble birth, Strahd spent much of his life serving causes of goodness and law, most notably as a warrior and leader of armies. Years of such service took their toll upon him however, and by the time he reached middle age, Strahd came to believe he had squandered his life and his youth. With this dark mood upon him, he came to conquer the region known as Barovia, and assumed lordship there, taking as his residence the pre-existing castle known as Ravenloft. From this position of power and security, he called for members of his family "long unseated from their ancestral thrones" to join him, including a younger brother named Sergei.
Some time after this reunion, the Count himself fell in love with a young Barovian woman, Tatyana, though she rejected his affections in favor of the younger Sergei. Filled with despair and jealousy, and brooding a growing hatred for Sergei, Strahd sought magical means to restore his youth. In a moment of desperate frustration, he "made a pact with death - a pact of blood." On the day of Sergei and Tatyana's wedding, Strahd murdered his brother and pursued the grieving Tatyana until she flung herself from the walls of Ravenloft. Strahd himself was shot down by the arrows of the castle guard. Even so, he did not die, but went on to rule the land of Barovia as a vampire.
Strahd's curse is that although he is absolute lord and master of Barovia, to the point where he can enter private homes unbidden because he owns them, once every generation he will meet a woman whom he believes is Tatyana reincarnated. He always tries to woo her, but the scene of his damnation is replayed, and the woman inevitably dies.
The Mists of Ravenloft, which surround and protect Barovia from outsiders, also trap Strad inside for eternity.
Nightsister Lyssa
Yet another ArtOrder competition. The only restrictions were one sentence.
Lyssa - A young female human wizard with black hair who always wears white trimmed in gold.
TheNightsisters were a group of Dathomiri Witches (usually exiled from one of the other clans) whose magic was powered by the dark side of the Force. Not to mention they use a Light Whip instead of a Light Saber. How cool is that!?
Things aren't going my way on another painting. Rather than throw a tantrum, I decided to distract myself. Again. The way things are going with the other painting, you should expect 3 of these a day for the next week. I'm kidding. Don't hold me to that.
I had busy work to do last week, and didn't get alot of art done. So I did this over the weekend to quiet that nagging voice in my head. The art voice anyway. The other voices require different things. One would like a cigarette. One would like alcohol, another would like a Big Mac, yet another would like a human sacrifice. They really do keep me busy. Enjoy (or don't).
Oh. Some of you (out of the 5 people that read this) would like to know particulars. 2 hour (or so) painting, using exclusively Painter 11 for this one, from a photo. Yes. "Reference Used"
Uhhh....First Contact = My first time using compressed charcoal on newsprint. Yeah. That's it. That's the ticket.
The first one is a 1 or 2 min. gesture. The other 2 charcoals are 5 min. I think. And then the pastel was a 30 min. I got too precious with that one. Not enough confidence in the lines and it needs better mark making.
I guess that's why we do this. If I was perfect at it, I would quite trying. It's like golf. The whole day could be absolutely horrible, but there is always that one perfect stroke that gives you hope and brings you back the next time. Yeah. Sports metaphors. Just what every artist likes to read about. Next week,Rugby!
Shiny things!!! ------->
I was working late in the studio, and ended up sleeping on the couch. When I drug my carcass off the couch this morning to get to work again, I decided to procrastinate. I was toolin' around the interwebs and saw some promo stuff for the new G.I. Joe movie.
Honestly, I wasn't a fan of the first one. However, I don't think it was made for middle aged men that still hang on to their childhood with a death grip. I realized that when my friends kids, LOVED IT!
I won't go into all of my complaints about the movie. I am curious why the hell they changed Cobra Commander's mask. He had two that were cooler than that stupid plastic see through thing from the movie. Both of his masks were iconic. Changing his mask, would be like someone changing Darth Vader's mask. I'm sure Lucas would not survive the nerd rebellion if he did that.
So anyway, while I was nerd raging, I decided to take a break from my portfolio for a couple hours and do a quick painting.
I have no idea how to make a long story short, but I am very adept at making a short story long.
I'll shut up now.
This piece was a nightmare.
I went through my process like any other piece. Thumbs, sketch, better sketch, etc.. Then I started working on the finish and quickly realized that my masterpiece was not going to work.
A problem (definitely not the only one) was that it's hard to let go of ideas you already have.
So, we will start with the story. I wanted a World of Warcraft piece. I used to play the game. As far as addictions go, it's up there with smoking and drinking. Just doing the research was enough to make me contemplate loading up the game again. Which of course would lead to the wonderous bliss of gaming life. No showers, heart attack inducing amounts of Diet Mt. Dew, and alot of Red Baron pizzas. Sounds wonderful, I know. But, I digress...
I wanted an iconic event of WOW (learn the lingo, noob!) One of those instances that everyone talks about being so much fun. Again, I went to the collective nerd brain (my friends). The one event that was mentioned multiple time was Karazhan and the "Opera Event".
So without completely nerding out and explaining every last detail about the event........Your group enters the opera, and the evenings show is announced. There are three "plays" that can happen at this point. Hood, Oz, or Romulo and Julianne. I think you can figure out what stories these are based on.
Here is a little video for you to watch, if you are interested. You can even hear them talk in that foreign gamer language. Karazhan Big Bad Wolf
The "play" that everyone remembers is Hood. So obviously (oh of course!) the point is to kill the Big Bad Wolf. While you are in the process of trying to do this, the BBW will yell out, "Run away little girl, run away!" and turn someone into Little Red Riding Hood. That persons only option is to run like the wind, or be squished like a little red bug.
So how to tell this story in one image.....
I liked the poster idea above, but it didn't have the action that I thought was fitting.
I decided on the big action, dramatic pose, with red running around in the back.
So the sketch was done, the line drawing was ready to start painting. I'm a genius! This will be epic! I'm L33t!
I started working on the grayscale. I quickly (not so much) realized that this wasn't going to work. The cut out house didn't work. There needed to be something in the foreground. My drawing was horrible. To name a few things.
These should have been relatively easy corrections. However, I am a dedicated man. Dedicated to making things as difficult as possible for myself.
Ok, so we will throw in a dead "Tank" in the foreground. It will add to the drama. Red is in some serious shit without anyone to protect her. Here is where I should remember the words of William Faulkner. "Kill your darlings". Meaning, have the courage to get rid of the elements that you love so much yourself, but that don't really add anything to the whole - or, even worse, actually weaken it.
That dead body wasn't going to work for me. No matter what pose I put him in. As you can see, I tried and tried and tried and tried........and tried......
Finally, I got it through my thick skull and went for the standing pose, getting ready to take on the BBW.
Finally at this point, I thought I was home free. Just add the color and finish up. Oh, if only......
I was trying to use the WOW palette that they used in the game. However, I didn't really set up my value structure of the image to fit this quite right. I grew progressively more frustrated with the colors. This lead to the very simple palettes that I tried with the black and red. I didn't want to do just the greyscale image with spots of red. That seems to be everywhere right now. Seriously, go to a Gamestop, and look at the video game covers. It's popular. I tried adding just a little blue. Ugh. Nope.
Finally, I got something working. After discussing it with Sterling and the rest of the studio, it was decided that it was too chalky and the palette was all over the place. Hence, the warm wash. Not only did that help the palette, but it also added some atmospheric perspective to add depth between the BBW and the Warrior.
A few adjustments and we have the image at the top of the post. TA DAA! It really is magic!
So the moral of the story? Sometimes you do everything you are supposed to, take all the steps to a successful image, and it still doesn't work. You have to learn to roll with the punches. And kill your darlings. Kill them with impunity! Die! Die! Die!........I'm still working through some of the frustration.
I should have gone with my friends idea. A pile of dog crap on a stage, with a little piece of red cape peeking out. Simple and elegant.
I'm trying some different things with my color. I used a much darker blue, which enabled me to use my pink as kind of a midtone, hence the title (yep, I'm a genius). My gray works as the "light" tone.
Not perfect by any means, but figuring out some things I like with the color, tempered my murderous rage. Nobody died. Minor injuries, maybe. I think someone got pastel dust in their eye. It was their fault though. I didn't have anything to do with it. They shouldn't wipe their eye after using pastels. It's not my responsibility to tell them what can happen. It's common sense. I'm not McDonalds and the pastel can't burn your lap...............What the hell am I talking about?
Ok, I now present the shiny! Imagine a curtain slowly opening, building the excitement, building the tension.............the music reaches a crescendo .................. to finally reveal...............................some average pastel figure drawings. Awwww. That was a bit of a let down wasn't it. I'm not crazy.
5 Minutes
20 Minutes
