Monday, February 25, 2013

Spectrum Judging part 1

February is almost to a close and the judging for the 20th annual edition of Spectrum is almost here! Lancelot and Guinevere should have made the trip successfully, and now they are these bins awaiting their verdict by an excellent panel of judges.Check out Arnie Fenner's blog post on Muddy Colors.


Spectrum is the quintessential go-to source for all things fantasy and sci fi. And when I say all things I mean it! There's traditional and digital illustration, mixed photography media, sculpture... and they all serve a different purpose: editorial, game design, non published works, the list goes on and on. And as the blog mentions, all work is seen by the judges. That means no pre-screening; everyone gets their chance in front of the judges. I am excited that once again Irene Gallo, the art director for Tor, is on the judging panel. I've met her a couple of times, and it would be an absolute dream to work with her (c'mon Irene, you know you want to, too.). Also on the panel is illustrator Michael Whelan, who did this version of The Princess of Mars. I know for many illustrators, Frank Frazetta's Princess of Mars is the true one-and-only, but this happens to be the particular version my dad owned, which he kept with his other sci-fi and fantasy books in a blue bookcase. As a kid, I would look through those cover illustrations and make up stories about them in my head, and Princess of Mars was a favorite. Should a five year old look at books with near naked women on the cover? Well, I suppose it made more of an impact that we could have guessed because now I'm an aspiring cover artist myself.

Anyway, I digress. The competition and the annual is very important to me. I feel that although my work could have competed well last year, the reproductions alone were not up to snuff. But as they say, you gotta be in it to win it. This year, Lancelot and Guinevere got a lot more attention in the reproduction department, so let's hope they really did survive to make it into one of those grey bins. Go team!

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Winter Dragon

Good ol' dragons. They are just so much fun to draw. Here's my most recent painting I did in time for Dracopedia's Winter Dragon Challenge and ArtOrder's Dragon Challenge.


I mean, he's pretty sweet right? And check it out, there are two men hiding out in a cave in the mountain. I think they're hunting for the super fine fiber the dragon sports to keep him a little warmer in his wintery climate. I wanted him to still seem carnivorous, but I also wanted him to feel like he belonged in a wintery climate, so I looked at big horn sheep when deciding his coloring. I think his design came out successfully! Process shots are below:


And here's my palette and studio area. Why on God's green Earth would someone work like this? With a palette that's itty bitty, and jars between me and my computer where my reference lives? I don't know. I really have to do something about that, haha! Wish me luck on the challenges. Hope you like this.