Mimir and Spectrum Live

Here's another set of guys I did for the game Rage of Bahamut last year. This character is based on the Norse god Mímir who resides near a well of knowledge. All who drink from his well must leave a gift as payment for a sip from his drinking horn. In this version I wanted to have him also be sort of a forest spirit who is friends with all of the animals. As usual, I've enjoyed doing these various stages of a character. I've left out one of the stages here because I really don't like it....Can't always win.

12" x 14.5" Oil on masonite.

12" x 14.5" Oil on masonite.

12" x 14.5" Oil on masonite.

In other news, I'll have a booth again at the upcoming Spectrum Live Convention in Kansas City next week. I'm bringing prints, some Magic artist proofs (hopefully more if they come in the mail), and original drawings and paintings. I'll be at booth 515 and just next to the Muddy Colors group so come stop by and say hey!

The Modern Spellcaster's Tarot: Judgement and Six of Swords

Today i'd like to talk a little about a new project that I've begun recently. 

I was contacted at the end of last year by Llewellyn Worldwide about illustrating a full tarot deck that was being written. Initially, I was a bit apprehensive about dedicating my time to completing 78 illustrations for the set, but the deadline was reasonable, so I agreed to do the project. In the past I have not been too familiar with how tarot decks work or what the cards mean, but I've always liked the imagery and format of them. I look forward learning a lot more about the cards as I work through and research for this deck.  

After a few months of wrapping up illustrations for my MFA among other freelance jobs, I was finally able to get started on some illustrations for the tarot set. The Modern Spellcaster's Tarot is based on the standard Rider-Waite deck, but is modernized with additional symbolism and imagery. The first two served more or less as samples to give the publisher and author an idea of my process and what the finished cards will look like. The two cards I was recommended to start with were Judgement and the Six of Swords, both being important cards in the set. The full meanings are a bit much for me to go into detail about here, but if you're interested you can read more about Judgement here and the Six of Swords here.

The author, Melanie Marquis, provided me with some great descriptions of what she was looking for in the images and I got to work. Here's the sketches with the original card designs from the Rider deck for comparison:

                   Six of Swords 11" x 18" Charcoal and digital 

                   Judgement 11" x 18" Charcoal and digital

And here's the paintings:

Six of Swords 11" x 18" Oil on masonite

Judgement 11" x 18" Oil on masonite

I'm pretty excited about getting into this deck as the subject matter and imagery is a bit different from my usual swords and sorcery, but I'm sure i'll be able to sneak some of that in here and there. Now that i'm wrapping up my MFA program in the next couple months i'll be working on and posting a lot more about this project. So stay tuned!

These paintings are available for purchase, if interested, contact me at murphyillustration@gmail.com 

New Magic Art: Eagle of the Watch

Here's a new card for Magic: the Gathering that just came out. This one is for the newest set, Journey into Nyx. 

12" x16" Oil on masonite

I really enjoyed painting this guy since a: he's an eagle, and you know how I feel about those, and b: I got to paint a tiny cyclops smashing some unfortunate soldiers off a cliff. Though I will say that incorporating the "Nyx," the stars you can see in the shadows of the cyclops, was a bit of a challenge to paint and have it read properly. Here's the card:

 I'll get some new prints for it up in my etsy store, as well as the artist proofs once I get those in the mail. 

 

New Illustration: Beyond Griffith

Here's a new illustration I did recently as a reaction piece for my trip to Pasadena back in November with the Hartford MFA program. After each trip we are required to create an illustration about something we experienced during our travels. I usually try to keep these paintings within the vein of my typical work, but I found it difficult to come up with something purely fantasy in the context of L.A. and it's surrounding area...No offense L.A., but you're just not home to axe wielding northmen or hordes of skeleton warriors (outside of the movie studios). 

So instead, I was inspired by our brief trip up to the Griffith Observatory. I thought it was a really cool place with great architecture and some awesome murals...that I could see through the doors. Sadly, we had gotten there just after closing. But I imagined what it would be like to be a kid who was visiting and getting to learn about space and look through the giant telescopes. So I created a little story in my head about a girl who visits the observatory and imagines herself becoming an astronaut...and her dog pal too...because, why not? 

"Beyond Griffith"
12.5" x 18" Oil on masonite
Available for purchase, contact me if interested. 

The Evolution of Grendel

Hey folks, today I'm happy to share a "new" set that I did over a year ago for Cygames' card app game: Rage of Bahamut. As with the Skull Soldiers I posted last year, the idea is to take a given character and sort of evolve them over a series of four stages. It's always a fun challenge to take an already somewhat over-the-top character and push them further with each step. For this one we have a guy named Grendel...I'm not sure if he's supposed to be related to the Beowulf Grendel, but in any case they just said that he was a large beast man with an axe that lives in the forest and his "skin" is more like exposed muscle. So off I went:

All of the paintings are 10"x12" Oil on masonite. 

The originals are available for purchase, please contact me at murphyillustration@gmail.com if interested.