2012 back to 1912

I've recently been informed that I can finally share the first cover painting to the book project i've been working on! 
Now, I can't say much about it yet, but it's from a new young adult adventure series being put out in January of next year by Stone Arch books. And, it's based on the Titanic! 
Much different from my normal work, I know, but it's been a fun project to work on so far, and I can't wait to share more of it. 

©Stone Arch Books

Red Five

I'm happy I get to share this new painting that was recently spoiled for the brand new Star Wars card game from Fantasy Flight Games. It was lots of fun getting to work on something in the Star Wars universe since I've been a fan for such a long time. Also, it was a nice diversion from my usual fantasy work.

Red Five - 11x13" Oil on illustration board

Con Sketches

Here's a quick post of a couple of the sketches I did for people at Gencon this past weekend. 
One the first day of the show some nice folks came up to me and asked "would you draw our playmat for us?" Being kind of surprised and confused since i've never done such a thing I said, "Umm...sure!" And after a short discussion about pricing and subject matter I was off. 


It turns out that she liked mermaids and elves and such so here's what I ended up with:

I'm really quite bad at drawing in front of people...or at least, bad at starting a drawing in front of people. Once I have things sorted out with proportions i'm fine to draw while others watch, but I have a serious mental block if someone is standing over me from the start. Thankfully, they let me do my thing and came back the next day for the mat.


A couple other quick ones that were a bit less involved:

This one had cool sketches from some of the other great artists at the show. Mine's on the top right. It's cool to be on there with them.

In the end, I thought it was nice to do quick sketches for people. It's truly an honor to have someone appreciate your work enough to want a custom drawing. Now I just need to get a bit faster at it!

Back from GenCon 2011

I've finally managed to settle back in from my trip out to Indianapolis this past weekend for GenCon. It's one of the biggest and longest running table-top gaming conventions around, and I decided that this year I would try my luck at having a booth. Not only was it my first booth at Gencon, but it was my first booth ever! So I was a bit nervous. What made me even more nervous was when Barbara, the art show manager, directed me to my table which sat right smack in the middle of some of the best artists working in gaming today. There I was, neighboring with guys like Omar Rayyan, Steve Argyle, Dan Scott, Ralph Horsley, Chris Rahn, Matt Stewart, Jeremy Mchugh, Drew Baker, Chris Burdett, Emily Fiegenshcuh, Vinod Rams and Wayne Reynolds! (if you don't know them, check them out  NOW!)
Not to mention the many other excellent artists in the other rows....I was certainly in good company.

Me at my booth. Omar Rayyan is over there on the left.

Eventually I got over it and was happy to be in one of the more heavily visited aisles. Going into a Con not expecting to sell anything always helps too because any little sale makes your day. I was surprised when in the first 30 minutes a guy came along a bought a print. Someone actually wants my art on their wall?? Hey, i'll take it. Even better, was selling two of my original paintings right off the wall! So, I was certainly pleased to come out of it having paid for my trip.


AND, if that wasn't enough, I was awarded "Best in Show!!" for my painting "Goblin Engineer." I was shocked! 
The judges were Chris Rahn, Jeff Miracola, Wayne Reynolds, and Barbara Fisher the art show manager. I've looked up to these guys for a while and to have my painting recognized by them means the world to me. 

My winning painting, Goblin Engineer (though Wayne renamed it "Goblin Penis Tinkerer") and super sweet crystal trophy!

So needless to say, i'll be back again next year. Though, I doubt there's any way I could possibly top this year...I guess we'll just have to wait and see.                            

Gencon Indy 2011!

Hey everybody! So it's been an impossibly long time since i've been able to update the ol' blog here, and I apologize for that. I've been buried with a huge book series project that I've been working on since May, and unfortunately as always I can't share a speck of it until it releases early next year. So it leaves me with very little time and material to share with everyone here. I do have some other projects that should be closer to release in the near future so at least i'll have those for you soon enough.


But I at least wanted to let you all know that I will be having my first booth ever at this years Gencon in Indianapolis! I'll be in the art show area so if you happen to be attending, come by and say hello! I'll have some free postcards available, as well as prints, booklets, drawings, and a bunch of original paintings. I hope to see you there!