Go Get 'Em, Tiger!

This painting is derived from Games Workshop's Warhammer universe. The background is very dark and grim, so I thought I'd try to add a bit of humor (albeit, dark humor) to this piece.

You think our little guy's got a chance?

PS: Incidentally, I feel like the little guy myself sometimes when I'm taking on the competition in the illustration market.

ArtOrder Orcus Sketch

This week's ArtOrder assignment is to create a pet for Orcus, Demon Prince of the Undead. First off, I did a sketch of Orcus himself. Here it is!



Now I did this because I wanted to hold to that urban legend that pets and their masters begin to resemble each other. With that in mind, here's his pooch.



He's kind of a blend of a bear, some horrid scaly lizard, and a skull that's part ram, part Tyrannosaurus and part entelodont (a long extinct ancestor of the warthog).

Hope you like it!

ArtOrder Garreth Sketch

This week's concept is to create our concept of the Garreth, described by Jon as:

"...a race of tiny humanoids that populate the desolate region around red dragon lairs. They live off the charred remains of unfortunate adventurers, stealing away with trinkets that are too small for the notice of the mighty red dragon..."

The first thing I thought of was a grubby, disgusting, backstabbing, mischievous, greedy little bastard of a critter. So here he is:



Four arms to help them grab more shiny stuff, which they decorate themselves with to show off to their brethren (although in reality, showing off too much just makes them prime targets to others of their kind). They arm themselves with little swords and knives (the pretty ones of course) the better to knock off another neighbor. A rat tail and ears to complete the vermin look. No hair or body fur though: too easy to ignite, which is bad when you're living off the scraps of a foul tempered red dragon. Hope you like it!

ArtOrder Cockatrice Sketch

This new sketch is part of the ArtOrder Blog Sketch Challenge. Check it out here. The challenge is to take a standard D&D Cockatrice and evolve it 4000 years into the future.



For mine, I thought it'd be fun to put a sci-fi spin on it and stick the creature on a different planet. I came up with a volatile planet that orbits very close to its parent star. The planet is tidal locked to its sun, meaning that the same side faces the star at all times, making one side permanently day (and scorching hot), the other, constant, freezing night. The only part of this planet that can sustain life is the terminator, the zone where day and night meet. To extend its range into the night zone, our cockatrice has evolved a second pair of eyes, able to see in the infrared range.

In addition, the planet has extreme volcanic activity, spewing all sorts of gases into the atmosphere, making the air very thick. As this kind of environment encourages an airborne existence, the cockatrice lives almost all of its life in the air. Its wings have grown to a very large, majestic size, while the back legs have atrophied. Also, to help hunt in mid flight, it has evolved a tongue with the ability to spit sticky silk at potential prey. Large thin teeth help hold on to captured prey.

Many thanks to Dr. Seth Shostak of the SETI Institute who came up with the hypothetical planet which I ripped off for this piece. Also, thanks to Jon Schindehette, the Grand Pooh Bah of the ArtOrder blog.

Well, hope you like it. Color final to come!