The Witch of Fallows Heath

Well as usual it's been waaaay too long since i've added anything on here. Sheesh! Where does the time go? I just finished up this little painting as part of our project at the collective blog Running with Paintbrushes. It was a bit of a departure from my usual routine. I started the image with a loose charcoal drawing using very little reference. I mounted a printed version of the drawing as usual and then proceeded my painting without much reference. I did make a little color study in photoshop, and had a general photo for the lighting and the bird. So it was fun to go at this one without much of the tedious reference work and planning (though I do enjoy that part sometimes too). 

Rust At Last!

So it's taken me ages to finally get back to work on this, but some more important projects had to be put first. Now I'm glad to say that I've finished my "Rust" piece and i'm fairly happy with it.

I wanted to do an image that was basically black and white (over a Burnt Umber ground that was also mixed into the greys) with one other bright color. This was inspired by a few paintings I saw at the Delaware Art Museum by Howard Pyle from his pirate series. 

In case you missed the original project this was for, we had to create an image based on a quote. The quote went like this: "A Sword, a spade, and a thought should never be allowed to rust" - James Stephens

Witch Sketch

Just finished a quick sketch for our recent challenge over at Running with Paintbrushes . Since I have been hard at work on some paintings for Wizards of the Coast, and was unable to turn in my "Rust" painting on time, we thought we'd try a little lighter assignment. The task was to do a drawing of a witch however we wanted...pretty simple eh? It was a nice quick break from painting. I decided to use charcoal because it's been forever since I last used it, and I will say that I had a great time working with it! It feels so much more fluid than pencil! I might have to mess around with it more often. Anyways, here's my quick drawing...perhaps i'll paint it!

Tower of Ureth and "Rust"

I've added this new painting to my website. It's called Tower of Ureth Hal.

Also new drawings are up for the latest "Rust" project over at the collective blog Running with Paintbrushes. Check it out!

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!