Princes of the Apocalypse Part 2

Here's another illustration created for the Dungeons & Dragons adventure, Princes of Apocalypse, published by Sasquatch games and Wizards of the Coast. This one involves a halfling discovering a large contraption in (you guessed it), a dungeon.

I got very wrapped up in the lighting on this one, for what I hope are obvious reasons.I really enjoy working on pictures with a single, very localized light source.

Princes of the Apocalypse

As the title of this post implies, this image was painted for the recently released Dungeons & Dragons adventure, Princes of the Apocalypse.  It depicts a genasi (a Djinn or genie-like race) casting a draining spell on the orcs attacking her. I had a good time with the lighting and colors in this one, as well as the characters.

This artwork was commissioned by Sasquatch Game Studio who put together the book in cooperation with Wizards of the Coast. It was a pleasure to work with them!

Establish a Temple

I painted this scene for a card in the D&D game expansion Lords of Waterdeep: Scoundrels of Skullport. It's a subterranean temple. If you look closely, you'll see a few workers who are still building it, hence the title "Establish a Temple".

This piece presented some lighting challenges since it's a subterranean scene. It needed to read well but still look like it was underground. I ended up backlighting the temple and using a muted ambient light from an unclear source, punctuated by some torchlights. 

I had a good time designing the temple and overall, I was very pleased with the final painting.

Eye of Thkaalujin

I did these 3 illustrations for Dragon magazine #428 last Fall. The first is titled Eye of Thkaalujin and, as an experiment, was painted almost entirely using square-shaped brushes. I wanted to loosen up a little and that helped me do it. The composition was a bit of a challenge too as I needed to show the titular eye in both the book the wizard character is holding and also on his forehead. The eye is actually a curse. Once the wizard opened the book, the curse/spell was activated and the eye manifested on his forehead!

The two spot illustrations were great fun. The Krylanthian Cloak is a cloak made of exotic frog skins and the Bone Scepter of Zceryll is a magical item that, as you can see, appears to be made of a vast, cosmic realms of space.

Mind Flayers

This Photoshop painting of a pair of Mind-Flayers leading a hypnotized drow (basically a dark-skinned elf for those who don't know) down a hallway was a real challenge so I thought I'd share the process. I won't go into too much detail describing it since I think the images speak for themselves. I began with a line drawing (not included here but typical of the preliminary line drawings I've posted with other paintings). I then painted the figures and the basics of the surroundings in gray, using basic Photoshop brushes. I began adding color, texture and detail, making changes as the picture progressed. The textures were created by pasting texture images over the painting, adjusting the transparency and distorting the texture image to match the perspective. Further texture was added using custom brushes. As you can see, my initial instinct to use an intense gold backlighting gave way to a much more muted choice. The wall relief was loaded into the painting from the preliminary drawing and If I remember correctly, I simply made a Levels adjustment to to darken the colors where the line drawing was loaded. I then painted back into the walls, to finish the piece off.

I've included a detail of the characters. I hope you enjoy the piece and I hope all of this is enlightening!

Swordwing

This illustration was created for Dungeon magazine #204 for an article about a creature called (you guessed it) a swordwing. The humanoid, insect-like swordwing collects trophies for it's nest but it tends to fixate on a particular type of trophy item, like skulls, books, swords, etc.

I wanted to nail down the lighting and structure in this picture before adding color so I did a full value study in gray and then gradually added color over that until the piece was completed. The color was added using various layer modes in Photoshop (color, overlay and soft light, to be specific). I actually think the piece is a bit moodier in black and white but I'm pleased with the color version as well.

Ghost Kraken

The actual title of this piece is Grasp of Thalarkis and it was painted as the cover to Dungeon #203 (to illustrate an article with the same name as the picture). I'll let you figure out who Thalarkis but I don't think that will be difficult.

I've always wanted to do a cover to either Dungeon or Dragon magazine. The magazines are e-zines now but a cover is still a unique challenge, a chance to stretch out, work in a vertical format and (sometimes) do a more complex picture. However, when I received the art description for this one, I knew I was looking at a real challenge. I was to illustrate a wizard with a glowing wand and a frightened expression his face being dragged down toward a shipwreck by a Kraken. Okay, that sounded cool but difficult but throw in that the kraken is a ghost and it became truly difficult. I made it even more difficult by forgetting that little fact as I was composing the picture and visualizing the color scheme.

One of the difficulties in painting an underwater scene is that it can easily become too monochromatic. The Kraken in the Dungeons & Dragons world is a yellow-green color and after composing this piece, I forgot that the Kraken was supposed to be ghostly so as I was visualizing the color scheme, I was thinking I'd have that yellow to keep the image from becoming too monochromatic. I was also conveniently forgetting that the kraken would actually have to be at least partially transparent (since it was a ghost).

When working digitally, I usually jump right in and paint in color but the requirements of this piece led me to work it out in black and white first. I started by roughing in the values and beginning to refine shapes in gray, eventually working up a complete value study so that I could make sure the picture read well. From there, I gradually added color, slowly building it up on layers in Photoshop until the picture was completed. I rarely work this way on the computer (although I almost always do a value study first when working in acrylic) but it definitely has it's benefits and I've used the approach a few times since. It's nice to solve problems in gray before applying color although I find it less instinctive and more difficult to build color using this method. In the end, it's another useful 'tool" to have in the tool belt.

I was happy with the way the picture turned out and so were the kind folks at Wizards of the Coast so I hope you like it too. In addition to the final painting, I've attached my initial rough, the preliminary drawing, the first gray study and the final gray value painting.

The Fire Giant King

This illustration was created for the March issue of Dungeon magazine (issue #200). It depicts a character named Snurre Ironbelly and from what I understand, illustrates an article that updates a classic Gary Gygax-penned D&D adventure.

I'm including the sketch, which I actually prefer to the painting, although I'm happy with both. The creatures flanking the Fire Giant's throne are hellhounds. I can't claim their design but I was asked to include them in this scene.

The sketch and the painting were created in Adobe Photoshop. The king is partially composed of flame and is surrounded by fire and lava so I kept the colors in the picture very warm to reinforce that pervasive light and heat.

Craud

What's that you say? You'd like me to design a creature based on a shrimp? Okay!

That was the genesis of this fellow, known as a Craud, who appeared in a D&D Monster Manual. There are few things I enjoy drawing more than monsters, especially when I can make one up from scratch.

I just wanted to share this guy. I'll have another update tomorrow!

Merchant

Temperatures have been as high as 80 degrees here in Chicago lately, which is extremely unusual at this time of year. It's been nice to work with the windows open and get out of my "art cave"into the sunlight a little. In that spirit, here's a sunlit picture I painted for the recently released Dungeons and Dragons board game Lords of Waterdeep. It depicts a deal being made between a merchant and an adventurer. I managed to keep it a little more loose and painterly than usual and I was pleased with the results.

Gauntlgrym Gambit

I took an extended break from blogging to deal with life, work, holidays and to squeeze a little rest in where I could. However, it's the first Sunday in February and it's time to get back on the blogging horse! I intend to post something new every Sunday moving forward. There will be some new posts between Sundays as well but my goal is to give everybody something new (and hopefully enjoyable) on at least a weekly basis.

To begin, here's a piece I did for Dungeon Magazine #193 for story titled The Gauntlgrym Gambit. I'm including the preliminary drawing as well. Both the drawing and the final art were created in Adobe Photoshop. Feedback is welcome so please don't hesitate to leave a message in the Comments section!

Vine Growth

I created this piece for a recent Dungeons & Dragons release called Heroes of the Feywild. It was drawn and painted in Photoshop, with a little blending done in Painter. The little fellows being attacked and trapped by vines are spriggans, which are creatures found in Cornish folklore. Traditionally, spriggans are small, grotesque fairies that haunt remote places like ruins, barrows and standing stones. As you can see, the D&D take on these creatures doesn't stray far from tradition. they're still little and still grotesque (which makes them fun to draw!).

Sir Oakley...

... or as I like to think of him, Sir Rides-An-Armored-Horse.

This is another piece from Madness at Gardmore Abbey. The horse armor (also called barding) is based on a blurry photograph I took of some horse armor on display in the Tower of London. The art director was kind enough to allow me to break the picture border in a few places, one of those techniques that's easily abused but when used wisely (as I like to think I've done here) can add a bit of motion or energy to a piece. In this case, I think allowing the horse's head to break the left side of the picture box reinforced a sense of forward motion.

Red Dragon

This is another piece from the D&D Adventure, Madness at Gardmore Abbey. It depicts a red dragon who dwells beneath the Abbey. The dragon has jewels embedded in it's neck/chest. Apparently, he's been lying around on some treasure.

Alien Beholder

I painted this translucent fellow for the recently released D&D adventure Madness at Gardmore Abbey. The assignment called for an "alien" beholder so I drew inspiration from the old Mars Attacks trading cards to make this beholder into a nice, green "alien". It was a lot of fun!

Mordenkainen's Spots

As most of you probably know, spot illustrations are those little images you see in books, magazines, etc. that tend to have their own uniquely defined shape or represent a figure, object, etc,. with no background. They tend to be surrounded by text and the also tend to be simple (or at least to appear simple). However, they present their own unique set of challenges. When less is present in a piece, what's there needs to be well-executed and eye-pleasing. If you're illustrating an object and nota scene, that object needs to be shown in a relatively characteristic view because it's not just being drawn or painted, it's being displayed for the viewer. The spot becomes the equivalent of a photo in a catalog or an object in a store window. So, how do you make a sword, a lantern or a group of paint pots interesting, especially without a background (which can make lighting tricky)? There are plenty of solutions. here's what I came up with for Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium...

As you can see, decoration and embellishment tend to be important. In each case, I didn't just paint a sword, lantern or paint pot. I decorated them with heads, dragons, spikes, and so on. The paint pots provided the advantage of multiple objects within the spot so I could create an arrangement instead of just illustrating one object. The sword needed to be on fire so I had to create a background to set off the flames and provide some atmosphere without adding any detail that would draw attention away from the sword itself. The lantern is a simple shape but I made it a more complex silhouette by adding ornamental details.

Like the lantern, I hope that was illuminating (insert groans here). The next time you see a spot illustration, please take a close look at it and consider the choices the artist has made to make it interesting. Spots aren't always as simple as they appear at first glance!

Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium

I realize things have been quiet in this space for a while. Life and work have been busy and I'm afraid the blog suffered the consequences. However, I have a bunch of work to post in the coming weeks so please check in frequently.

Wizards of the Coast recently released a D&D book called Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium. I did a number of illustrations for it, many of them spots of magical items, but there were a couple of more fully realized compositions as well. First among them, this scene of a dwarf smith forging a magical blade and an elf casting a runic spell over it. Working out the lighting and the low point of view in this one was a great challenge!

I'll be posting more from this book over the next few days.

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!

Chevalier

Here's another illustration for a recent issue of Dragon magazine. Chevalier is another word for knight.

Banderhobb Filch

This illustration was done for the recently released Dungeon #191. It depicts a frog-like creature called a Banderhobb stealing through a village at night with a small body in a sack (it's up to the viewer to decide just what kind of body). There's nothing I like better than painting the grotesque so illustrating this creature was fun. There's a special joy for an artist in adding expression to a type of face (in this case, a frog's) that is usually rather expressionless.

I've included a detail shot to provide a better idea of what a digital painting like this looks like "up close".