Up and Running!

We've got a new project started finally on the collective blog Running with Paintbrushes. Go check it out! 

I've got a few exciting projects going on for Wizards of the Coast. Unfortunately I can't share any of it till they are released...but don't worry I've got new things on the way here soon!

Waterhouse Montreal

This weekend a few artist friends and I decided to take a trip up to Montreal to check out the John William Waterhouse exhibit at the Musee Des Beaux-Arts De Montreal. It is the only North American show of his work. I had been told a month or two ago about this show from one of my art school professors, Dennis Nolan, and he said it was one of the top 5 art exhibits he'd ever seen...and I definitely agree. I would even up his statement by saying it's one of the top 3 art exhibits i've ever seen. 

We managed to to drive up from Manhattan (about 7 hours) saturday and spent the entire day in the museum on sunday. I would recommend this show to anyone who can make it up to Montreal. It ends on Feb. 7 2010.

Below are a few quick sketches I did during my visit. I am both greatly inspired and humbled by Waterhouse's paintings

Figure Drawing

Sorry not many updates lately! The holiday season is always a slow one for me illustration-wise. Anyhow, I recently managed to get back to the Society of Illustrators for some figure drawing. It has been months since i've done any figure drawing and boy was it painful!...at least in the beginning. I'm going to try and get back there on a more regular basis. Here's a few of the more successful ones from my figure sketchbook.

Tower of Ureth Hal

After 3 months in Egypt and an additional few days spent in lovely Barcelona I have finally managed to get home and back on track. Here is a drawing for a new painting I'm currently working on. The painting was started while I was in Egypt, but because of problems I was having with the oil mediums they sell there I was unable to finish before coming back.

New Painting

So it's been a while, i know, but i've been busy doing lots of web design work as well as some other non-fantasy related work. Anyhow, here's my latest painting that i've finished.

In other news, I will be off in the sandy land of Egypt for the next 3 months doing some archeological illustration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I will be sure to post sketches when I return. Also, I am still going to be accepting commissions while i'm there if you are willing to work on a thursday to thursday schedule...since I only will have e-mail access on thursdays and fridays.

I also hope to get another sample or two done while i'm over there so keep an eye out when I return!

On a final note! the new James Patterson book: The Murder of King Tut, that I did interior illustrations for, will be coming out September 28th. I will post some final illustrations here after the release.

Venom Mage Sketch

It's been a while since i've posted anything so here's a sketch for my next painting that I'm working on. Thanks for stopping by!

Updates! and SDCC

Well it's taken some time between other projects and my preparations for San Diego Comicon, but my Berserker Lord painting is done! I made some small alterations to the left figures tunic as well as some corrections to the bear. Also did a bit of glazing to push and pull some areas.
I'll be in San Diego this weekend and the Comicon. I'll most likely be hanging around the illustration area more specifically booth #4503 where i'll be helping a friend tend her booth part of the time. Come stop by and say hello!
Also, head over to my collective blog Running With Paintbrushes and check out our updates on the Mother Nature painting project. Here's my finish for that:

IMC Continued!

Well as you may have figured, the IMC was a blast! So much so, that I had no time to post any further progress on my painting, because, well...I was painting!! So anyways, here is a bunch of progress shots through the last sleepless hours "finishing" my piece. I say "finishing" because I did manage to fill all of the painting in, but for me there is still some work to do. A perfectionist is never happy!
Continuing where my last post left off, I got the polar bear in there and started on the secondary character:
Here's a detail of Aath's head:

Here's also a progression of his hand: I like to paint all of the flesh tones in one sitting so that I have all of the colors mixed up. I generally put the darkest and lightest tones in first, and then fill in the middle. Kinda wacky, I know...


Almost done here, just need to mesh some of the colors together first.

Cape Time!


And the final! Sorry for a not great shot. I will be continuing work on this and update with a nicer final image. Nothing like a full illustration in a week!

IMC Painting Day 1

Day one of painting! Worked like crazy to get the background filled in. Here's some progression shots! Definitely inspirational having some Greg Manchess paintings on the wall nearby.

IMC Drawing Progress

So the IMC is going very well thus far. As you've seen in my previous post, my initial sketch was brought before the jury and decisions were made! Here's a shot of the sketch post-crit with attached correction proposals on tracing paper. The basic consensus was that the bear needed to come down to make room for type and get him more in the other characters faces. The main character, Aath Ulber, as he's referred to in the story has too little of a neck and it is causing him to look akward. Also, the secondary figure in the midground was in a bad position and perhaps should be moved off to the left to get a more dynamic flow between the three elements.
Next, I began by photocopying my original sketch up %40 to match my final drawing size. The final was drawn on tracing paper to allow for underlaying of photocopies and sketces for easy adjustments. You can see her that I've made the front characters pose a bit more interesting and less stiff. Also, moved the secondary character left and brought the bear down.


Now I am starting to flesh out the main character, adding costume elements and designing as much as I can to make him beleivable.

Finally, I decided to make the secondary charcater even bigger as well as the bear. This I think ties the three together even more. I also changed the ridge that the bear is on to make it flow better with the jagged parts behind. This is my final drawing that I will print and mount on my masonite.

This is what it looked like when I left the studio tonight. I was able to mount the drawing to the masonite and apply a ground tone of Burnt Umber. I started pulling out some of the highlights in the bear and Aath because the mounted print had lost a bit of detail and I wanted to reestablish those areas. More process on the way!