What a nice surprise!

Last Thursday, December 17th, I was invited out as a guest artist to speak at a local K-12 school called Kino here in Tucson, AZ.  I had a lot of fun talking about art, sharing what I've done, and answering questions about art, art school, and working as an artist... as well as doing a few quick demonstrations.  They were a great group of kids - all very attentive and inquisitive.  I felt very welcome there, and I think it's safe to say that we all had a good time together.

Today, I was happily surprised to find in my mailbox the best card ever!  Complete with drawings and notes of thanks.  It made me so happy that I felt I needed to share it with everyone, so here it is.

Awesome card, you guys!  Thank you!

Kelpie

So, I've been working on a painting that deals with a creature who punishes naughty children (Krampus), and it inspired me to do a sketch of another creature of consequence... the Kelpie.

For those unfamiliar, the Kelpie was a supernatural water horse from Celtic folklore that was believed to haunt the rivers and lochs of Scotland and Ireland.  The scenario would play out something like this: a child is lured onto the Kelpie's back, where once astride, the Kelpie's skin would become adhesive.  At that point the Kelpie would gallop full speed back into the murky depths of the water, where its victim would then be drown and devoured.

Moral of the story?  Things are not always as they seem...?  Or, maybe it was simply to say that kids should come in before dark and not play around bodies of water by themselves.  Seems like a scary story to tell children, but then again... most folk tales are a bit gruesome.  At any rate, they make for some fun sketch ideas.

Krampus - Somebody fetch me a switch!

Above is:

Krampus underpainting - 10" x 16" - oil on board.

Krampus with some PS color adjustments.

After putting my painting into PS, I made some digital color adjustments to give an idea of what it will look like once I start adding more color to the actual painting.  Since Krampus is known to arrive during the winter holiday season, my idea is to have this painting feel cool.  By adjusting and tweeking things digitally, I can quickly get an example of what's to come in my oil painting.  The only thing not shown here is the snow and suggestion of trees, which I plan to add later on.

I will post the finished painting by January 18th, as this is the deadline for the Best of ArtOrder 2009 book.  I also plan to submit this painting to the Spectrum XVII fantasy art annual competition, whose deadline is January 22nd.  Wish me luck!

Are you on the wrong list?! (Krampus sketch)

Meet Krampus... Santa's counterpart to the Christmas season.  If you've been a good boy or girl, then you're likely never to meet him.  However, if you've been bad, well... Santa may not have a gift for you, but Krampus sure will!  The gift of birching - ouch!

This is my sketch of Krampus for Jon's art challenge over on ArtOrder.  I'm hoping to get a painting done of this guy done by Sunday (Dec. 20th), but I'm not 100% sure I can, so I wanted to at least post my drawing of him.  Happy holidays!

Medusa WIP

Medusa WIP - Version 1

Medusa WIP - version 2

This image of Medusa is a personal project I started in oil about a year ago, and for whatever reason ended up putting her aside... likely for other paying projects.  I was clearing out some things recently and came across the unfinished painting.  I decided to scan her into PS and play around with it digitally.  This is what I've got so far.  There are still some things that I want to do to it, but I don't think I'll push it too much further due to the fact that I do not currently own a tablet, and trying to get details with a mouse is darn near impossible (let alone crazy making!).

Hurakan - Final book cover image

Well, here's the finished painting (for the Hurakan book cover challenge on ArtOrder), plus the image as it would appear in the book cover format.  This project was a whole lot of fun, not to mention the chance to create another portfolio piece and get some free promotion time with some top Art Directors in the industry.  Here's the list of AD's that will be judging the submissions:

Irene Gallo, Tor Publishing
Lou Anders, Pyr Publishing
Mari Kolkowsky, Wizards of the Coast (unconfirmed)
Sarah Robinson, Paizo Publishing
James Davis, Paizo Publishing
Kris Aubin, Privateer Press
Brian Glass, White Wolf CCP (unconfirmed)
Mike Vaillancort, Cthulhutech 

Centaur sketch

Thought I should post something I did between the several paintings I've been working on lately.

"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin"

11" x 14" Oil on board.

Here's the finished painting (Sorry, not the best photo...it's a bit fuzzy and dark.) for the "Buen Provecho: The Art of Food, The Art of Giving" charity group event, which opens this Saturday, Dec. 5th from 6 - 9pm at Lulubell's on 439 North 6th Avenue, Suite 187 in Tucson, AZ.  All are welcome to attend.  Entry into the opening is a suggested donation of $1 or a non-perishable food item.  All the artists will be in attendance during the opening night.  For those in the Tucson area, the show runs Dec. 5th through Dec. 31st.  Regular gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 12pm - 6pm.  Hope to see you there!

Calendar candidate

So here's my submission for a calendar that will be produced through ArtOrder.  It was a rough ride (pardon the pun) to get this done in time!  I only learned of this call for artists late last week, and have been frantically painting this in hopes of getting it in by the deadline (by noon on Dec. 2nd... today).  Scanning was a bit of an issue, as it was still a little wet, despite my use of Liquin and Japan dryer.  I also think that I lost some of my details due to the textures I had built up on the surface.  *sigh*  Murphy's law, I suppose.  I would like to give prop's to my awesome designer friend, Eva, who helped me figure out how to create a direct link to the large psd file.  Thank you, Eva!!!

Now I have to move on to finishing and framing another painting, which is due to be dropped off by 6pm (later today) for an art exhibit.  Whew!  I'll be posting that one later.