When Pigs Fly....

An artistic take on the famous adynaton, 'when pigs fly'. Thanks for the idea, Christina. I don't think this was quite what you had in mind though.....

In other news, I was lucky enough to discover Claire Wendling. If you want an artist who can draw, and I mean REALLY draw, she's someone you should look up. Stuart Ng offers a nice selection of her books. Check it out!

Edit: Added another, cuter flying pig. It's airborne porcine madness!

New Dragon Line Art

A new piece I'm working on. It's going to be a gift, so I'm pulling out all the stops. Wish me luck! Thanks!

Sketches....

Hi...uuhhh...remember me? Sorry about the monthlong delay on updates. In my defense, I'm taking an online class right now with Schoolism taught by the incomparable (and tough grader...) Sam Nielsen. It's an amazing class, but it takes up almost all my time. Here are some sketches I've been able to sneak in....

Don't mind the elephant that's bleeding through on the left side....

IF: Transportation

My witch watches Mythbusters.

Panda Birthday

A birthday card I did for a friend. I hope this image explains, loud and clear, why I DON'T do cute and cartoony!

Happy Birthday Jocelyn!

IF: Beneath

'Food that brings its own toothpick!'

My entry for Illustration Friday. It's not quite a finished as I'd like, but deadlines are deadlines. Check back in a few days, I will have a finished version. Thanks!

Daemons and Dragons

Here's a new painting of U'zhul the Skulltaker, from Games Workshop. I'm not too crazy with how GW depicted him, so I've made a few changes. His Cloak of Skulls is now a cape of chains-because nothing says bad ass as having tons of chains hanging from your back. I do really like his story however. Villains are so much fun and this evil, arrogant but honorable trophy hunter was a compelling creature. The painting itself was partly inspired by the movie poster for The Shawshank Redemption.

And yes, I know it's 'demon', but seeing how this is a British IP, I figured I should defer to their spelling of 'daemon'.

And here's a revisit of the Forest Dragon painting I did a while back.

Thanks to TL for the critique. I'm very grateful that you shared your time and knowledge with me.

Night Dragon

A painting I did for the Sketchaholic interview for my friend, who I've never met, Master Concept Artist and All Around Nice Guy, Charles Santoso. Check out his work. Congrats Charles!

Grandma

I just got back from Thailand yesterday. It's a wonderful place, filled with hardworking people, good food, ridiculous heat and humidity and a long, proud culture and history. Most importantly for me, my extended family still lives there.

I got to see my grandmother for the first time in 20 years. She's barely able to walk now, but her spirit, happiness and Christian faith are still bright and undiminished. We had some time at the end of our visit to do a portrait session. Here's the drawing.

And here's grandma.

It's something else to draw a portrait of someone who is so important to you and a bedrock of your family. I can't really describe that feeling. After years of drawing and painting from professional models, it's something worth experiencing. Give it a try yourself, next time you're with family, or when you've got a moment with your spouse, parent, child, etc.

Skarbrand vs. Kairos

Here's the finish of the Warhammer Daemonic throwdown painting I had started a few weeks ago. I've been experimenting with new brushes and approaches to painting, so this has been a challenge.

Well, I'm off to a much needed two week vacation in Thailand. Going to see the extended family for this first time in 20 years. Should be exciting! I'll be going there with pastels and conte crayons in hand. I hope to be able to update this blog while I'm there, but if not, see you in late September!

ESA Giant Panda

'Cause down the grrroove, the panda's alright....

Sorry. That was lame. I'm sure Tom Waits and Bruce Springsteen wouldn't appreciate that one either.

Portraits Part 3: Molly

Molly, 30"x40"

It's been a long time since I posted a traditional oil portrait. This was done over four sessions for three hours per session. It's pretty big (at least for me), at 30"x40". I chose the large size because I wanted to paint her hands. If you're interested, I use Old Holland paints. Bloody expensive as they come, but hey, you only live once.
I must say that while I enjoy these painting sessions and I grow a lot as an artist through them, I HATE the yellow colored lighting from fluorescent bulbs. Argh!

Quick Warhammer Sketch

Trying to pull a Mu...

IF: Caged

Even without bars, one may feel caged.

ArtOrder Gotta Have a Hook Final

Well, here it is. It's been a good challenge. To be honest, this piece was a struggle and in the end, it's still not everything I had hoped it would be. I will say with conviction that I did the best I could with this piece.

New Friends

A new idea I just got in my head. I really should go hit an aquarium. Hopefully, I'll finish it for you shortly.

IF: Double

Double Trouble!

ArtOrder Gotta Have a Hook Thumbs

Okay, so I'm way behind on posting this. I'm taking part in Jon's latest ArtOrder challenge. Here's my submission.

I was lucky enough to get a critique from Jon.
Here it is for your convenience.

I picked up your entry because of #1. This is the most inventive way of including the horror in the image without actually showing the horror. While I like the concept (a lot), it has a lot of pitfalls right now. I'm getting a great shot of the dwarf, but the horror almost feels like an afterthought. I've got to look for it to find it. I'd be curious to see what would be the result if you tightened up even more so that I saw just his face over the shield, maybe a hint of the hammer, and the shield taking up the majority of the image. I'd like to see the hook horror really big and scary in the reflection. I want to get the sense that the dwarf is about to be consumed in a single bite. Thumbnail it a bit and see if it has any merit. If it works, it can be a most powerful visual.

I experimented with Jon's suggestions. Suffice it to say, I've settled on this.

I'll have the final pencil for you next week...till then, take care, stay cool.

Redeemer of the Lost

For all you Warhammer nerds out there (like me!), here's Astorath, High Chaplain of the Blood Angels and Redeemer of the Lost (I told you this was nerdy).

Forest Dragon

My latest dragon painting. Funny to think it's been a while since I did one. I've been working on this for a bit more than a month (hence the long delay between posts).

The dragon is based loosely on the Forest Dragon from the Warhammmer Fantasy universe. I was a teenager when this piece was first released and I fell in love with it. I've been wanting to do something with it for a long time now, and I finally figured it out. And yes, the big tree is based on Avatar's Hometree.

I thought I'd show you my process. This admittedly ugly painting was the seed of the final piece. This is where I established what I wanted the painting to convey: an immense dragon hanging from a giant tree in a forest lit by moonlight. I also knew I wanted a color scheme dominated by blues and blue greens.

This is the refined pencil sketch. Here I determined a lot of fine detail, such as the vines on the giant tree and the smaller dragons on the lower left to give a sense of scale. Note I also extended the left side of the piece to show a bit more.

And this is the maquette I built. The foliage was created with moss. The wings were torn off a cheap Halloween decoration (oh the advantages of working for Amscan....). Note the lighting here is completely off. I did not use this photo for painting. I just gently backlit the maquette and painted from life. Obviously, I could only do this painting at night. How appropriate.

Well, hopefully this has been an enlightening post. Let me know if you thought so. I would appreciate it. I you think I'm a complete idiot, well, let me know that too. Just be nice and tell me why. Thanks!