Monday, June 23, 2014

3x3 Bronze Medal for Badru and the Beanstalk!

I was recently notified that my series of paintings for Badru and the Beanstalk has received a bronze medal from the 3x3 International Picture Book Show! I'm super excited about this because this project is something that I've been working hard on as part of my thesis for the past two years. Being my first real foray into the picture book market, I'm honored to have my work recognized amongst the thousands of entries that I'm sure 3x3 received from across the world. You can see a list of the other winners here.

Many of you have seen one or two of the paintings I've done for this series before, but i've kept a wraps on the others because I wanted to wait until it was closer to my thesis show. But since that's only a month away now, here's the four illustrations that were awarded by 3x3:

Stealing the Chicken 12" x 22" oil on masonite.

At the Door to the Great House 12" x 22" oil on masonite.

Climbing the Stalk 12" x 22" oil on masonite.

Badru and the Giant 12" x 22" oil on masonite.

These illustrations are part of a whole book that I am slowly putting together, and hope to have published in the future. I will be writing more about these paintings individually over the next few months after my graduation from the Hartford Low-Residency MFA in Illustration Program. Also, I will be talking about the other half of my thesis which has not been shown yet. So stay tuned!

Friday, June 20, 2014

New Magic: The Elusive Minotaur (Token)

Hey guys, as usual there's been nothing but tumbleweeds on here for a little while since there's quite a bit of artwork I've had to patiently sit on. But I just got word that I can finally share a new piece I did for Magic last year. 

This one I had a hard time tracking down because it's apparently very hard to find, but here it is: 
Preliminary sketch, charcoal/digital, 12"x16"


Oil on masonite, 12"x16"


How it looks on the card


This guy was created as alternate promo art for the original Theros minotaur token. Apparently it's only been given out at special league events...So I've had a hard time tracking it down, and from what I've read, most of the players have also had a hard time finding them. So it's a rare card indeed! 


I had a great time painting this one as the art description basically said, "a badass minotaur running at the camera." Sounds good to me! I gotta thank Jeremy Jarvis for giving me the opportunity to create it. 

Both the charcoal drawing and original painting are available for purchase. Contact me at murphyillustration@gmail.com if interested.