Playing Koi

Please pardon the pun in the title, I couldn't resist.

The signing at Galactic Force went well yesterday. thank you to everyone who showed up. I enjoyed meeting all of you!

Today, I was thinking about how certain subjects end up coming up more than once in assignments. Considering what I do, this is to be expected with things like skeletons, spiders, horses, armor, etc. but sometimes the subject matter is not so directly linked to fantasy and it can be fun, even refreshing, when that happens. The two pieces above were done a few years ago. The painting was a weapon painted for Dungeons & Dragons but the more interesting aspect of the piece (for me) was the koi in the background and the challenge of incorporating it into the picture with the weapon.

The second piece was a miniature design for Dreamblade titled Crypt Koi. It was intended to be on the creepy side and the art director and I wanted it's mouth open. However, for production reasons, the sculpture couldn't have a gaping, open mouth so we needed to fill it and settled on a grotesque, organ-like ball for the job. Nice, eh?

So, now you've seen the entire range of my artistic experience drawing and painting koi!

Ice Yai

Here's the last of the yai. This fellow is a little more whimsical than the others, from his blue skin and icy beard to his martial arts stance. I hope everyone has enjoyed this series of oni pictures. I certainly had fun creating them.

Fire Yai

Today's oni/yai is the fire Yai. Unlike the previous two, this one is male but he still has a third eye. I had a good time playing with his armor, proportions and facial expression.