Last year I got to do some cool Warhammer 40k stuff. These are a couple of the images. One of them is in my "gallery". The other one is just a character design shot. Character designs are fun as hell. It's almost going back to my childhood designing my own superheroes for those Marvel Universe Handbooks.
With the release of The Flames of Shadam Khoreh coming up, Brad is re-releasing The Winds of Khalakovo and The Straits of Galahesh with a more unified cover design for all three. They look great.Go check out his blog for more info.
And my cover. You are already here. Hopefully you don't need a link.
It's been a nice week. I found out that I was in ImagineFX. I got my "Prime Wars" card game in the mail from 3D Total, and I've found out I can start sharing a bunch of stuff that I've been working on for the last several months.
I'm under the weather today, so no stream of consciousness randomness.
This is a cover I did for OpenDesign LLC.
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!!! ------->
