From the Archive: Unduur Angel

Here's another old image that never saw the light of day, an "angel" created for a short-lived game called Heroes & Havoc. I was supposed to do a bunch of these but the company went under right after I did this first one. It's a shame because it was nice working with them.

I don't remember many specifics about the character other than what is apparent in the artwork itself. The client wanted a tightly-rendered design and this character would have been seen on-screen as sort of a small avatar, floating above a circular base (like the base on a physical game piece). At some point in the game, the character would "sprout" glowing magenta wings (which couldn't be too intricate since they would be seen at a small size). The wing color indicated an affiliation so some other characters would have similar wings.

It was a fun assignment, even if it didn't end well! I've included  an image with wings, one without wings and a detail shot.

Transporter Lab: A Blast from the Past

I created this vector background illustration and the odd character at left for a project that never saw the light of day. This is old work (probably from 2000 or 2001) and I had almost forgotten about it but I came across the files a few days ago and thought I'd share them.

This is vector art. The background image was intended to be the front page of a website. A visitor to the site would use a character to select a destination on the screens. The character would then proceed into the green transporter device and the browser would take you to that destination. The whole thing was going to be an online, interactive amusement park for kids, which seemed like a great idea. I was going to design all the visuals but something went awry and the project died before we could get deeply into it. However, this Transporter Lab was fun to create and I got to draw upon my love of old cartoons when designing it!

If I remember correctly, the fine line around the shapes was a request of the client, perhaps so the character would "pop" against the background. I'm not sure. If i was doing this now, I'd use a variety of line weights to add interest.

The character itself was described pretty specifically so although I visualized it, it's hard to think of it as my creation. He's some kind of dot based on a satellite (thus the panels on his back and "radio waves" coming from his antennae).To me, he seems like the kind of weird character that ends up as an Olympic mascot, perhaps the product of a committee.

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.

Magic the Gathering Art Price List

Just in time for the holiday season, Josh Krause of www.originalmagicart.com has been kind enough to post my list of Magic the Gathering artwork for sale on his site. I have paintings and sketches available so if you're looking for a special holiday gift for someone, you may want to take a peek! The 3 paintings featured above are available and much more. You'll find the complete list here:

http://www.originalmagicart.com/marketplace/for-sale-by-artist/jim-nelson/

There are some great artists with work listed on the site so if you're not in the market for one of my originals, please take a look at what those talented people have available.

Happy Holidays!

Hearthstone: Cobalt Guardian

The working title for this piece was "Protector Robot" and it was sort of a dream assignment for me. I've been designing robots for a couple of years now, mainly as vector art. It's become a passion of mine, so when I was given the opportunity to design a robot for the game Hearthstone, I was thrilled. This 'bot needed to look like it belonged in the World of Warcraft universe (and as if it was built by gnomes) but beyond that, designing it was basically up to me. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out.

I've posted some process images along with the final art. The entire picture was done in Adobe Photoshop. I began with a simple line drawing, then painted a complete value study in gray. From there, using color, overlay and multiply layers, I began adding color to the grayscale image. I made additional adjustments along the way, painting into areas that needed it, pushing the value range and making the color stronger, until I ended up with a finished image that just need the final protective energy shield the robot is projecting. I initially chose a shade of blue for that as I felt it harmonized with the color scheme better. I still lean toward that color choice for purely personal reasons but the shield is painted in warm colors on the final art, to create greater contrast between it and the cool colors in the rest of the picture.

If you'd like to see some of the robot designs I mentioned above, they are all on display at: http://robotspot.tumblr.com/

Hearthstone: Shrinkmeister

This is one of the illustrations I did for the upcoming Hearthstone expansion, Goblins vs. Gnomes. It was an absolute blast to paint this gnome priest wielding a crazy"shrink ray"gun. I love old toys and vintage science fiction art so the Shrinkmeister's weapon is partially inspired by vintage ray gun toys. However, I also tried to create something very much in the spirit of existing gnome tech in the World of Warcraft universe.

I've included some images below

to illustrate my process on this piece. I began with a simple drawing, utilizing a custom "pencil" brush I created in Photoshop. Then, using a few different brushes, I began building up the values of the picture in gray, eventually ending up with a very finished image in black and white. Next, I began "glazing' color on layers over the black and white image, gradually building up the intensity of the color. The energy effect was painted on a layer as well.

As I mentioned above, the Goblins vs. Gnomes expansion hasn't been released yet but 30 of the cards froim the set were revealed at Blizzcon last weekend: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/a-look-at-30-cards-from-the-new-hearthstone-expans/1100-6423453/

KAIJU!

I did this illustration earlier in the year and I've been given permission by the publisher to show it, although it hasn't been published yet so unfortunately, I can't name the publisher or project just yet. When the project is released, I'll make sure to post an update.

The client wanted a "comic book style" image (ie: ink line and color) so after working out a  composition, I did a brush and ink drawing (using some micron pens for the buildings) and then applied color digitally in Photoshop. When I work this way, I usually leave the black ink line alone, allowing it strike through the color. However, in this case, I used a lot of color holds (a technique that retains the line but in a color rather than it's original black). I thought it helped bring the image together.

I've attached the full version of the artwork along with a cropped version (which, as I understand it, is how it will appear in print) and the ink drawing.

For those who don't know, Kaiju is a Japanese word that translates to "strange creature". It's most commonly used to refer to the giant monsters seen in many Japanese movies and TV shows.