New Sketch

It's been a long time, I know. I've been very busy with a ton of great things, and this weekend was the first in a month that I've been free to do my own thing. So I took my new Cintiq on her first just for fun run, and had a real blast. Hope you like it!

News!

I have been up for 36 hours, I've finished two of the highest profile freelance jobs I've ever done, and I just accepted a full time position as a graphic designer at Sidebolt Studios. Here's a sample of what I've been doing for them:

See you on the flip side. Time to sleep.

14 Illustrations

So I picked up three more illustrations. But hey, two of 14 are done, so. You know...

In a month, I'll read this status and laugh. I'll be laughing because of the insanity that I got. From working full time and producing fourteen illustrations. But no matter. I have better news:

I'm going to be interning for Sidebolt Studios! They are a cell phone gaming app company. For the first time in my life, I'll be doing art as a full time occupation. I couldn't be more excited! Every once in a while I break into song and dance. I can't wait to show them what I can do. In the mean time, I have to get back to it. See you soon!

So far

Since I've posted last, many things have changed. I live in Columbus, Ohio, now. I work full time at a custom frame shop, and I am hard at work on over ten illustrations for two different companies. Things are good so far, and they're getting better (as long as I hit these next few strenuous deadlines). Here's a piece of art to tide you over until my longer explanation and more paintings. This is work for Run and Gun that the publisher decided to tease, so, yay! Enjoy.

Adventure!

 My sister, Casey and I. She was kind enough to travel along with me to Indianapolis, Indiana to visit GenCon. As my artist star rises, so must my physical presence in the art and fantasy gaming world.

The convention was almost overwhelming. Thousands of people, booths, games, costumes and more filled the convention center, itself a hulking conglomeration of football field sized rooms. It was pretty awesome, regardless.

 The main reason for my trip was to meet Brent Evans in the flesh. He's my art director at Catalyst for Shadowrun, and someone who's wisdom has already helped me grow levels beyond where I was. Up until now, I've only ever shared email exchanges with the man, our most emotive moments being colons and parentheses. It was a happy surprise to find Brent was just as gracious and well spoken in person.

 Here is one of the most recent projects I got to work on. This is the demo box for Shadowrun: Crossfire, a card game. And is that... could it be?

 My artwork on the back cover? Boom. Well, since this cat got let out of the bag, let's see him in full resolution, yes?

Since this painting was meant to be on a small card (see the size of my fingers in comparison?), my main challenge was stripping away needless detail and building an immediately discernible image.

The Recycle Project

I'll be visiting GenCon in Indianapolis tomorrow. So, that should be fun. In preparation for the event, I ran out and picked up a little portfolio book and printed my current portfolio. I still had my old portfolio prints, so it was great fun being able to physically compare the two. I realized there are themes I like to revisit.

Sometimes I revisit a subject because I don't feel like the first time through did it justice. Way back when, Jon Schindehette had an Art Order contest called D&D Pin-up. He wanted to see D&D characters (preferably tieflings) in a sort of classic pin-up pose. So I gave him this half-assed Gil Elvgren style piece.

At the time I didn't think it was half-assed, but I knew that if I could revisit the subject, I'd give it my whole ass. So I did:

Sometimes I revisit a subject from a different angle. In Fahrenheit 451, there's a moment in the books when a woman sets herself on fire in front of Montag. I thought that'd make a cool cover, so:

A few years later, I wanted to be more conceptual with the cover. The real catalyst for Montag was the girl Clarisse, so I tried playing around with the idea a bit. This piece is already on its way out of my portfolio, so maybe I'll give it another go soon...

Sometimes I like many aspects of a project even though I change everything else about it. Here, I've kept only the perspective.

Originally, I was going to just replace the guy with Link, and say hey, Water Temple. But I hate the Water Temple. Also, so much of my art fades to black that it gives a very claustrophobic feeling to my work, so I wanted to open it up and give the piece room to breath. This was one of my first digital projects, and I'm still happy with it.

Last but not least, sometimes I revisit a project because it's just fun to paint. One of the great joys of being an artist is producing work year after year and seeing how much you've grown and changed. This project is one of my most stark comparisons.

When I finish a painting I'm particularly proud of, it is inconceivable to me that I could do any better.

But what do I know?

War Paint

Color version what! T'sall I got right now.