Hearthstone: Needy Hunter

I confess: I love painting gnomes and little people. It's among my favorite things to do so creating this illustration for Hearthstone: Knights of the Frozen Throne was a real treat.  The title changed from the original art description to the final work, as it often does on collectible card assignments. The original title for this one was "Underpowered Rogue" and, as you can see, this angry little fellow isn't armed with much. He might make up for that with enthusiasm...

I've included my preliminary sketch below.

Hearthstone: Stegodon

This is a companion piece to the picture I posted yesterday, Spikeridged Steed. It was also painted for the Journey to Un'Goro set. As you can see from the accompanying sketch, my initial idea was to have the dinosaur laughing at his fallen rider.

Hearthstone: Spikeridged Steed

Here's another recently revealed image from the upcoming Hearthstone set, Journey to Un'Goro: Spikeridged Steed! I had the opportunity to paint one of the new Tortollan creatures as the rider in this illustration. Both he and his chunky yellow steed were a blast to paint.

I've included my preliminary sketch as well. Both images were drawn and painted in Photoshop.

Tar Creeper

This is another (smaller) tar creature painted for the latest Hearthstone expansion, Journey to Un’Goro. It's a companion piece to the larger tar elemental I recently posted.

I've included a preliminary sketch. As you can see, the pose was modified a little in the final art.

Hearthstone: Tar Creature

I painted this creature made of tar and bone for the latest Hearthstone expansion, Journey to Un'Goro. I'm not sure what the final card will be titled but now that the image has been revealed on Hearthstone's site, I can share the painting with you.

I've included my sketch for the painting as well. Both the sketch and the final art were created in Adobe Photoshop.

Ink Characters

I've been having some fun with pen and ink in the past few days...

Hearthstone: Protect the King!

Here's another illustration for the new Hearthstone release One Night in Karazhan. This one was a real challenge. I needed to depict chess pieces with no legs in motion. Eventually, I needed to work magical energy into the picture without creating chaos. Both the composition and the color scheme went through some big changes.

As you can see below, the original composition was more expansive, showing more of the pieces on the board. A decision was made to zoom in on a section of the composition so it would read better at the size of a Hearthstone card. From there, I did a complete value study in black and white to clarify the picture before adding color. I rather like the image this way, with black and white pieces actually painted in black and white. I wanted to preserve some of that feel so my initial approach to the color scheme was to use analogous colors (colors next to each other on the color wheel—in this case, blues and purples).

Ultimately, the final art had to be much more colorful than that and I needed to work in magical energy so the pieces became a warm purple and ochre and I introduced red and blue energy. I think it works and in the end, I have a nice example of just how much color can change a piece even after most of the values have been established.

Smash Hit: Process

As I mentioned in my previous post, this painting went through some interesting changes during the development process. Here are some of the steps along the way.

1.) My preliminary sketch.

2.) Working in Photoshop, I blocked in basic colors and values and started developing a few details. The latter were only added after the blocking-in process but alas, I didn't save a version of the painting with just the basic colors and values in place.

As you can see, I also added a texture over the ground using a transparent layer. 

3.) More development: At this stage, I had begun working on the girders in the background and I shifted the color of the cement-slinging vehicle from orange to a bright red. Most of the work was done with the Hard Round brush in Photoshop, or with a brush named "Airbrush Pen Opacity Flow". 

4.) The color of the girders in the background was changed from red to a cool blue to push them back and keep them from competing for attention with the foreground elements. Texture and detail were added to the vehicle.

5.) Next, I began developing the character by adding details and refining shapes. I also did a bit more work on the background.

6.) Having completed the central elements of the picture, I refined and developed the rest of the background (and the actual ground) and the picture was finished...

7.) ... or so I thought! It turned out that the girders weren't an appropriate element for the game setting so they had to be removed. They were replaced with more clouds and stacked bricks and then the picture was truly finished.

I actually prefer the version in step 6. I think the strong vertical lines of the girders really added something valuable to the composition but hopefully, both versions of the picture are successful.

Questions are welcome!

On the Shoulder of a Giant part 7

It's been fun to share some of my work from On the Shoulder of a Giant this week. I started the week by showing the book's front cover so I thought I'd finish it by posting the back cover, which depicts the giant, Inukpak, catching a whale. I'm attaching the sketch for the illustration and I'm also posting a few spot illustrations that were done for the book. It's a big finale!

Many thanks to those of you followed these posts posts all week. I appreciate your time and interest. If you're intrigued by the book, please order a copy and help spread the word about it! It's available on Amazon.com and at Barnes and Noble. You can post about it on Goodreads too.

You can find the Inuit-owned publisher, Inhabit Media on the web at http://inhabitmedia.com. They publish some terrific books about Inuit culture and mythology.

On the Shoulder of a Giant part 4

Another day, another spread ...  I'll be here all week, folks!

The initial plan for the interior spreads of On the Shoulder of a Giant was to have the illustrations cover one page and "bleed" over onto the next, where the art would fade out and the text would be placed. However, we realized we could develop some interesting, panoramic imagery by having the artwork cover both pages and then placing the text on top of it. I think it ended up being a good approach. I suspect you can guess where the text was placed over this illustration.

The spread above shows the scene where the giant, Inukpak, first encounters the Inuit hunter he will adopt in the story.

As in previous posts, I've attached the preliminary sketch for this spread.

On the Shoulder of a Giant is available on Amazon.com and at Barnes and Noble. Please pick up a copy and write a review. You can post about it on Goodreads too.

You can find the publisher, Inhabit Media on the web at http://inhabitmedia.com

Whirling Zap-o-Matic

This crazy contraption was created for the game Hearthstone. The description called for a spinning, whirling mech with laser guns and other zapping implements.  It was fun to design! I painted it as if capturing a single frame in motion and I've included that version here but then I went back and added some "motion" brushstrokes and "echoes" of the firing beams to convey it's manic whirling. The entire image was painted in Photoshop.

Firefly Archetypes

 

A crazy work schedule has kept me away from posting for a while but once all the things I've been working on for the past few months are actually published, I'll have a lot of cool new work to share. Meanwhile, I wanted to share some more Firefly character archetypes with you. I've been holding them back for a bit because the hardcover for the game hasn't been released (up to this point, it has only been available in digital form) but it's coming out soon!

I've attached the artwork for the Triad Gangster archetype and the Minor League Hustler archetype, as well as the preliminary drawings for each. I hope you enjoy them!

Samurai

This illustration is from the recently released Pathfinder book, Ultimate Campaign and the art description was titled "Letter of Introduction". That's what this Samurai character (who is one of a number of iconic Pathfinder characters) is holding up with his right hand.

I painted this one in grayscale first and then went back in and added the colors. With so many details involved, it was easier to just think in terms of value and worry about color once all of the groundwork had been laid.

I'm including the initial digital sketch as well. Enjoy!

Artwork copyright © Paizo Publishing.

Archimonde

This painting was created for the World of Warcraft card set, Caverns of Time. I've included the preliminary drawing. The title character, Archimonde, is apparently a big baddy in the game and because he's literally big, this piece was a blast to put together. Any kid who grew up watching giant monster movies can understand why.

The painting went through some changes. If you compare it to the sketch, you'll see that Archimonde's head changed. The flames and the shower of flaming debris were all initially painted in warm oranges and yellows but were eventually changed to what you see above. In the end, I think that worked out well and improved the piece.

Con sketch: Sweetums

Wizard World Chicago was a resounding success! Thank you to everyone who took the time to stop by my table, say hello and look at my art. It was great to see old friends and meet new people.

I did quite a few sketch commissions at the con and a few people intend to scan them and send them to me so when that happens, I'll share more of them here. Meanwhile, here's a quick brush and ink sketch I did for Sarah Kramer (I hope I have your name right, Sarah), who has an entire sketchbook she's filling with muppet sketches by different artists. It's a great idea and I was more than happy to draw a muppet.