As a special Thanksgiving thank you to you guys I have a bonus Classic Fantasy Illustration for you guys this month! The Lair of the Sea Serpent! I know, I know. I'm a few days late for Thanksgiving. But I still wanted you guys to know I'M THANKFUL FOR YOU AND ALL YOUR SUPPORT! :D
And for those of you who have been asking when I was finally going to do a pencil a...
2019-11-30 21:13:21 +0000 UTC View Post
Or can I go with Undigestible Gruel? Spell check has been telling me that it is not a word, (and telling me that I am bad at spelling in general and should feel bad) ....but I feel like "undigestible" ought to be a word. I know I've read it somewhere. Must I be a slave to the machines?
What do you think? Indigestible Gruel or Undigestible Gruel?
2019-11-26 15:50:56 +0000 UTC
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Today I have the hi-res drawings our first 2 Monsters of the Holiday Feast! The "Toffee Golem" and the "Mustard Knight!" I am really glad these two monsters made it to the top of our poll, they were definitely some of my favorites. They were a ton of fun to draw and I am really looking forward to painting them.
Based on our poll from earlier in the month, this is th...
2019-11-21 16:47:39 +0000 UTC View Post
For this month's Classic Fantasy Illustration I'd like to share a Hi-Res scan of "How to Deal with a Sea Serpent," an ink and watercolor painting I did as a demo for Art of the Carolinas this past weekend! For this painting I used the Rackham/Dulac Method, which I detailed in the September Tutorial guide, using Higgins Inks and Turner watercolors on Arches Hot Press watercolor ...
2019-11-19 15:12:48 +0000 UTC View Post
Welcome to the Monster of the Month poll for November/December 2019!
The Holidays are almost upon us! A time for gathering with family and friends over grand dinners, for hot drinks around open fires, and the possibility of being killed by our food.
Th...
2019-11-15 14:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post
I am almost finished with my long-overdue Plague of Dragons sketchbook! Today I'd like to share with you a couple of the finished spreads. I will be sharing more in the coming weeks running up to launch day (a date which remains a mystery until we hear back from the printer.) Right now the book stands at 64 pages of development roughs, concept sketches, landscape drawi...
2019-11-13 15:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi guys! Today I've got a quick 1-minute animatic to share with you of "Princess" the Werewolf. There's also a brief write-up on Muddycolors to go along with it if you'd like to check that out.
But also... Here is a sneak peak vignette done for...
2019-11-06 14:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostWelcome to November!
October was a great month: We made our way through a lot of our Monsters and Maidens series and had an awesome time with #Inktober. Annie and I also had the best Illuxcon we've ever had and it was great to see so many of you there!
So with Halloween behind us, what's next? For November we will be diving into a
"The Gourd Weaver!" (Title courtesy of Annie. My original title of "Spider-Gourd" just wasn't cutting it.)
Secretly, the humble gourd is my favorite decorative halloween item. I actually like it more than pumpkins. (Don't tell the Scorpkin.) It almost seems overkill to even add eyes to a gourd, they already look like monsters!
Back...
2019-10-31 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Here is another monster from our 🎃 Monsters and Maidens of Halloween series!: "The Harpy."
Reports are still coming in, but the news is saying that on Halloween night, she swoops out of the sky snatching at small trick or treaters who have just unwrapped a Butterfingers. Apparently she's absolutely mad for them. (Can you blame her??) ...
2019-10-29 15:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post
For this month's Classic Fantasy Illustration I have 3 Watercolor and Ink illustrations! They were all executed using the same method as this month's tutorial. I have also made the video preview from earlier in the month available to all if you'd like to see the work in progress.
These paintings will be making their debut at Illuxcon this week! If y...
2019-10-24 13:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Drawn on Strathmore smooth bristol with a 2H Kimberly's pencil and a Staedtler 0.5mm HB pencil.
This one was a ton of fun to work on! There is just something so nice about capturing ghostly figures in pencil!
While I was drawing this one a little song I once heard about a vengeful spirit was playing in my head...
They dumped her body into the molten light...
2019-10-21 14:33:09 +0000 UTC View Post
Here is a video preview of the method I will be sharing in this month's Tutorial which goes LIVE Thursday, October 17!
In the written tutorial I cover the materials I am using, the method I'm working in, and some useful tips and tricks for making the most out of Ink and Watercolor.
I hope you enjoy the video! It is based off o...
2019-10-15 14:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Our first "Monster" from our 🎃Monsters and Maidens Halloween Series is "The Gourd Weaver!"
Another summoned monster from the Ruined Garden, "The Gourd Weaver!" She is a distant relative to "the Scorpkin." A harvest-themed, hideous aberration of science and nature. :D I am really looking forward to getting into the color and texture on this one!
2019-10-14 13:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
I think "Princess" is going to be one of my favorite monsters in the series, but I have to admit, it was probably the hardest and most stressful monster yet!
As you probably know by now, I try to finish painting each monster in 5 hours or less. I have actually succeeded a few times now, and really felt like I was going to do so on this one as well. 2 hours in, it was turning o...
2019-10-10 13:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
"Princess" the Werewolf won our Monsters & Maidens poll this month, with the Grudge right behind her! So today I am happy to share the first drawing from our Month of Monsters! More to come soon!
Thanks to everybody who took part in the poll! And don't despair if your pick didn't win, I loved all of them, and hopefully we wi...
2019-10-07 19:22:46 +0000 UTC View Post
I need your help! Which Maiden(s) should be our Halloween Maiden-of-the Month?
Note: Click on the download file link below to see the image in hi-res!
I am going to try to finish at least 3 of these in tight pencil before Halloween! So feel free to pick more...
2019-10-03 13:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Welcome to October! My very favorite month! It's Halloween, the leaves are changing, the weather is finally cooling down, and it's the month Annie and I had our first date! So to celebrate, this October is going to be one of our biggest months yet here, with ...
2019-10-02 14:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
SURPRISE! This month, the Assassin Mole-rat, in spite of being soundly defeated in his battle with The Crabbit, still managed to squeak by and get himself a color version!
Even more exciting for me, I was able to...
2019-09-25 14:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
So for those of you who missed it, "The Crabbit" decisively won his battle with the Assassin Mole-rat for who gets to be September's Monster of the Month! Thank you to everyone who participated in the poll! It was a lot of fun, and I hope to do more 1v1 battles like it as we move forward with the series. <...
2019-09-23 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
This month I did something unusual for the Classic Fantasy Illustration. I worked from one of my tiny 4"x6" landscape drawings (instead of a final traditional drawing) to execute a much larger painting. This meant that I had to do a LOT of the drawing digitally before I could really begin my painting. (You can see the results in frame 2 of the attached Process Guide 2019-09-20 15:22:04 +0000 UTC View Post
IT'S A BATTLE OF THE RODENTS!
Who would win? The Crabbit or the Assassin Mole-rat??
The winner gets to be September's Monster of the Month and will be added to the Monster line-up! The other g...
2019-09-13 12:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Today I am pleased to share a bonus hi-res Monster with you!
Last month Artstation commissioned me to produce a full-length video demonstration for them featuring one of our monsters. (So this is only a bonus monster! September's actual monster and reward bag will be announced soon!) The course is in 2 parts and offers a basic overview of both my dr...
2019-09-11 00:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Thank you guys so much for an awesome first year!! It's been an awesome ride and turned out to be so much more than I expected! I can't believe all that we've been able to do this year. Thank you guys for all your support!
So what's in store for year 2??
Year 2 will be heavily focused on MONSTERS 2019-09-08 00:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Here is the last wave from our Plague of Dragons mini-landscapes for August!
Many of these little landscapes sold at DragonCon in Atlanta last month. It was awesome seeing so many of you there! It was an incredible show, (It was actually Annie and I's best show of all time)!
2019-09-06 18:21:23 +0000 UTC
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If any of you are coming to Dragoncon in Atlanta this weekend, stop by and visit us at Booth 108 in the Artshow!
Current Patrons who say the password get a FREE Monster-of-the-Month print!
What's the password you say?
"THE SLUGLORD FLIES AT MIDNIGHT"
2019-08-30 00:05:55 +0000 UTC View Post
Here are waves 4 and 5 of the mini-landscapes for A Plague of Dragons. All of these will be at our booth in the Art Show at DragonCon this weekend in Atlanta. I'm planning to post a pic of the full setup (along with the final wave of these) from the show. Hope to see some of you there!
2019-08-27 12:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
I've upgraded some of the video equipment here, so this video should be smoother with more definition than others. What do you guys think?
This month's "Were-Lizard" Brush Set can be downloaded here!
This month's Ph...
2019-08-24 13:27:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey guys! Here is the Were-Lizard! (Or, if you are a fan of the Venture Brothers, the Were-odile!) I had a lot of fun working on him. He had a lot of interesting scale textures to work with and those presented a lot of fun challenges for detailing. I actually finished him in 5 hours.... but then wasn't quite happy with it and went back for another hour and a half...
2019-08-20 00:29:18 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi guys! Today I've got another batch of mini-landscape drawings in hi-res to share with you! Right now the plan is for one of these 4 shown here to be our Classic Fantasy Illustration of the month. Can you guess which one? ;)
In truth, I want to paint all of them RIGHT NOW. I am just having so much fun with these! B...
2019-08-15 13:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post