ESA Preview 1

So here's a preview of the 'secret project' that I've been talking about. What does 'ESA' stand for? Well, you'll have to stay tuned to find out (Yes, there's the European Space Agency, but not in this case).

Portraits Part 2: Maya

Here's another painting of Maya. We loved her hair so much while doing the last painting, but we wanted her to wear it down the second time. Maya was more than happy to grant our request. Hopefully, this painting captures at least a small part of her beauty.

Maya with Hair Down, 16"x20"

ArtOrder Mutation Nation

Phew!! I wasn't sure if I'd get this done! This is the proper submission to ArtOrder. I was inspired by an old Discovery Channel show called Air Jaws. I thought 'how much fun would a flying Great White Shark be?!!' So here he is in all his glory.

He's snacking on a griffin style pigeon/rat hybrid (a rat with wings...get it?!!!)

Now vacation is officially started. Boston, here I come!!

Fanglion

This WAS an entry for the Mutation Nation Challenge over at ArtOrder. There's a bit of lion, lionfish, hatchetfish, viperfish, anglerfish and fangtooth fish. I found out later I could only use two animals to create the little critter, thus disqualifying my new creation. Grrr........

While working on this piece, I stumbled on a fantastic blog for those of you who love animals and creating monsters, like I do. It's the Ugly Overload blog, which gives ugly animals 'their day in the sun'. It's very informative and a lot of fun to read. Yes, kids, science IS fun! The link is at the right side of this blog page. Also, I broke out my DVD of the Blue Planet series from Discovery. I finally justified the $80 or so I spent on it. Hahahaha!!!


Did I mention there's a bit of fish in this creature?

ArtOrder Beholder

Behold the Beholder! This is probably THE iconic D&D character. I remember seeing this guy for the first time back in the 90s, during my teens, in a Jim Lee X Men Comic. It's a creature I never forgot, even though I have never played a game of D&D (sorry Jon....). I think that really speaks to the power of the design of this creature.

Painting to come!!

Portraits Part 1: Maya

Hello!

Sorry about the long wait between posts. I'm currently working on a really exciting project involving one of my first loves: biology. I'll be giving sneak peeks in the weeks to come, but for now, it's staying on the DL.

In the meantime, here's an oil portrait I did about 3 months ago. I only now just got it photographed.

Maya, 16"x20"

Best of ArtOrder 2009

Hmmmm...been a while huh? Good to see you again; I hope this post finds everyone having a good 2010 so far.

Here's some stuff I sent to ArtOrder to try to get into the Best of ArtOrder. It's all artwork I did throughout 2009, retouched and (hopefully) improved. Some of the pieces just received quick touch ups; some have been radically reworked. Hope you like it!

Owlbear: Some background improvements, especially with lighting.

Cockatrice: Background redone and the whole piece finally colored!

Dinogloth: Background got some much needed attention.

Krampus: Finished!

Plein Air Part 4

This was painted right after a morning snowfall on New Year's Eve. I was supposed to be helping out with getting ready for the party we had that night. Sorry mom.

Life Paintings Part 1

New Year, New Decade, New Possibilities, Bloody Old Medium.

Glo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ria!!

Angels we have heard on high,
singing sweetly o'er the plains,
and the mountains in reply,
echoing their joyous strain.

Glo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ria! In excelsis Deo!
Glo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ria! In excelsis Deo!

Merry Christmas everyone!

ArtOrder Krampus

After a hiatus from ArtOrder, here's my submission for its latest challenge. Think of this guy as the anti-Santa Claus.

Merry Christmas!!!

Finished my Christmas card! Hope you like it! Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

CCHHHUUUUU!!!!!!!

Something for the nephew. Yeah, I know, Pikachu's pretty old news these days, but still, give some respect to the rodent who can blow s%*t up.

Plein Air Part 3

Some more plein airs. Can you tell which was painted first?

Ninjas and Knights

Just wanted to drop a quick post and let you know that I'm on Ninja Mountain this week. For those who are unfamiliar, Ninja Mountain Scrolls is a weekly podcast for artists by artists, especially those working in the fields of science fiction and fantasy.

This week's podcast is nearly two hours long, covering IlluxCon. It's a great listen for any artist. Here it is.

http://mchughstudios.com/episode_41a.mp3

And because I don't like posting without putting some art up, here's some silhouette studies I did a while back.

These studies are based around an old school character from Games Workshop's Warhammer Chaos Army (really old school).

Takhisis and Paladine

It's done...for now.

This painting depicts two characters from the Dragonlance novels, Takhisis, the goddess of evil (she's the big 5 headed dragon) and her brother, Paladine, the god of justice, taking the guise of a wizard. I just love the contrasting approaches to godhood that these two beings take in the novels: Takhisis always appears in a mighty and overwhelming form, demanding all to worship her, while Paladine takes an almost Christlike approach, shedding his godly form for an Alzheimer's-inflicted wizard leading many to underestimate him.

By the way, I just got back from IlluxCon 3 days ago. I got swamped immediately with work, so sorry about the delay in posting. By the way, as far as conventions go, IlluxCon is probably one of the best for artists in our genre. It's small and focused exclusively on the art, and allows artists to learn a lot, be exposed to a lot of art, and not be overwhelmed at the same time. I highly recommend it.

Andrew

Last night at my portrait painting class, our model was a no-show. So while we waited for her replacement, our instructor, Andrew Lattimore stepped in to pose. Here's a 10-ish minute sketch I did with a Japanese brush pen.

I've been trying to explore inks a lot more after reading David Apatoff's article, 'Ink and Commitment'.

Bringing Nerdy Back

Don't even think for a moment that I've gone all plein air!!!

Here's my work in progress. I'm really thinking about doing the final in oils. Hopefully, it'll be done in time for IlluxCon...Oh and a prize for you if you can tell me the name of the wizard in the painting.

Plein Air Part 2

Here are some more plein airs. The coming fall is starting to add a bit of variety. More to come!!!!

Hurakan Silhouettes

I've been doing some more silhouettes for the ArtOrder Hurakan challenge (which I am officially way behind on...sigh....). Amazing what you can get done while riding New York City's subways on a Friday night.