revamping an old character illo that just never got the attention it deserved. That was part inexperience with the software and part just plain being rusty.... but hey i put my digital bookmark on it and on a rainy day like today, perfect time to jump back on it. :) In any case i dropped it back down to gray scale and will start smoothing things out from there...

burly tomahawk

Finally finished this one off, another notch on the portfolio belt. Im not sure how many no/white background characters Ill be doing after this as I realize that its really difficult to later ad in a background vs. from the get go and likewise having a background enables a bit more Chiaroscuro given the ability to push and pull with light and dark along the edges... hmm... :) I have several more character pieces that just need some wacom lovin to finishem up and hopefully ill get to them soon, whether or not i make them more illustrations vs. rendered concepts remains to be seen... :P

Got my 3rd Paizo gig in a row, feeling pretty good to be doing some fairly steady freelance, but I also realize were i doing this full time id have to be knocking out portfolio pieces side by side with my current freelance assignment because until i start landing cover work or just bigger jobs it would be very difficult to make a living... But i suppose thats relative. In any case, the other interesting bit of art bidness info is at least with RPG companies, at least with my experience so far, is that its payment upon publication.... or more so a bit after publication. Soooo for instance if Im doing steady work for a company, a good batch each month and payment is not for 3-4 months after each deadline... before I get my first check I could very well have thousands of dollars in what is essentially IOU's... makes for something to look forward to when the cycles finally overlap, when im getting checks for jobs i completed months ago, kind of like finding cash in your pocket.... a lot of cash. :P In any case, its definately something im noting for when i really start upping my output and perhaps seriously consider quitting my non art day job... Got to have money in the bank to hold up for the inbetweens of jobs and payments.....

Been a little bit.... HOWEVER i havent just been sitting twiddling my toes.... most twiddle the thumbs yes... not I, it was toe twiddles.. err.. i mean the absence of.... in any case: :P The bottom image was from a test i did for new gaming company... Two versions of the same character aimed at different audiences... I later realized that this particular company wanted me to be more "cute" and vector based... Needless to elaborate upon... i didnt pursue that avenue further. >:P

The top image is a Portrait sketch that i didnt use from a batch that I JUST finished from my first major illustration gig with Paizo! I was very surprised when i got an email from the art director as I had sent out my "hey, check out my folio" months prior... but hey, ive listened to enough podcasts and read enough stories to know thats not entirely uncommon... be that as it may I was still pleasantly surprised. The job went smoothly and i got a follow up gig, so im feeling pretty chum with my freelance illo self. :P

viking roids

had this little guy sitting in my analog SB and thought Id breath some digital life into him. Sometimes Its just burlier to go sans armor. :P

working on a full bodied old Mcgruff warrior.... never underestimate the power of the mustached axeman.... :P

sketch

i had this weird dreaded warrior portrait in my head the other night... so i got busy. I think its nice and creepy. :P

Centaur all up in my yin yang

This centaur keeps coming back... I had the first version... which although I enjoy parts of it, looking back on it i was too fixated on the ZOOM aspect of photoshop and lost site of the illustrated whole. Maybe Ill try to go back into it to unify the piece/character more... hmmm...

THEN i began reworking him... changed the pose a bit then just changed him completely w/ a completely new comp. I still like the rough sketch... but then again i got all muddled up with wanting to do a massive (600 dpi) piece and put my computer system through that pixel crunching test... annnnnd i struggled with that piece... from trying to fish out the details to just maintaining an excitement with it... Ultimately it puttered stalled and died. :(

THEN i just said the HELL with it and flashed through a completely new variant (well 90% new >:P) and Im digging it again. Also to avoid the pitfalls/curse of this Centaur im working zoomed out the majority of the time, only zooming in when some details need fleshing out more...

Heres to the creative process. :P

finally

Ive been procrastinating and doing the "its not good enough yet," to "just a little longer" and every shade of gray inbetween... But i realized that such a state of limbo leads to no where and I simply cant abide by that any longer. SO, here be some drawings to coincide with my website and perhaps some random musings to go along with the visuals. :) i hope my fellow artists and art admirers alike enjoy.

this is a piece i shall finish soon... debating on the style of rendering... hmm.....