Grig

This lively little fellow is a fairy creature called a Grig. He was painted (in watercolor) for a book titled The Practical Guide to Fairies and as you can see, he has some insect-like characteristics. Grig is a real word, used to describe a lively person. However, it is also occasionally used to describe a cricket or grasshopper so it's not hard to see how those meanings translated into this character.

Back in business!

After almost a year away, my website http://www.jimnelsonart.com, is up and running again. It's now formatted as a portfolio/gallery site and although it's not quite complete (I'll be adding biographical info and more galleries), it's loaded with artwork please have a look and browse the pretty (and a few not so pretty) pictures!

I've also added a portfolio at Playillustration.com. You can reach it directly using the link below or just head on over to the Play! site and look me up under "N".

http://www.playillustration.com/ArtistPortfolioThumbs.aspx?AID=6466

As always, thank you for taking the time to look at my work.

Truga Jungle

The image above is a digital painting called Truga Jungle that I created for the Magic the Gathering variant game, Planechase. I painted this piece over a year ago but haven't been able to show it until now! If I recall correctly, the art description called for dense jungle in a valley flanked by steep obsidian cliffs. The jungle was to be composed of unusually large flowers and plants rather than trees. 

Planechase uses a long, horizontal format and the title and text of the card sit over portions of the painting. Consequently, it's necessary to compose the picture in a way that allows it be interesting on it's own but also leaves enough negative or "dead" space for the text. I've included and image of the final card above so you can see how the artwork was presented in print.

I've also included my preliminary sketch above. As you can see, the painting remains pretty true to the initial drawing, although I made a few changes on the left side of the composition.

Artwork © Wizards of the Coast.