Lore of the Zombiemaker

Here is a section of a new pen and ink drawing I just completed called "Lore of the Zombiemaker".  It has been accepted into a juried zombie-themed art show on Saturday, 29 October.  I'm psyched!  This section is about a quarter of the whole piece - it's 14 x 18" on bristol board.  I am also going to be at the show doing live art (executing an acrylic painting during the party with bands and performers).  I don't know exactly what it's going to be like but I'm looking forward to the whole thing - I'm guessing it will be a pretty crazy experience.

Back from Dragoncon

Just got back from Dragoncon.  I had a great time this year - it was my first year to be in the artshow.  Thanks to everyone who bought a print from me.  I'm also excited about having made a few contacts in the RPG industry and am looking forward to the opportunity to work on those projects.  I'll be posting more art soon, so be sure to check back.  Also remember that I'm open for commissions so if you have something you'd like me to draw or paint for you, please let me know.

Warrior Portrait

Here is a portrait I did of a medieval warrior.  I'm thinking of calling it something like "Down but not Out".  The implication is that the warrior has been knocked down or possibly knocked of his horse.  This cheap shot has only enraged him and he is about ready to get up and smite the enemy with his broadsword.  For this painting, I attempted to port a number of the painting techniques I learned by studying the work of Rubens and painting a mastercopy in oil on panel.  This one is acrylic on canvas - 11x14".

Subterranean Horror

Here is another new painting I call "Subterranean Horror".  It's also 16x20" acrylic on canvas.  I've been working on a few horror paintings that I want to have an 80's horror look except without quite so harsh and blown-out lighting.  This is one of them.  Below are a number of photos showing the painting as well as some of the creation process.  These initial steps include an anatomy study, a scan of the raw umber and white underpainting as well as a couple of inkwash studies.  For the inkwash studies I used three colors of ink: black, blue and a sepia mixed with yellow.  My intention was to use this approach to plan the two-lightsource setup with one warm and one cool light.  I'm always playing around with new media and techniques like this and trying to discover new methods for planning my illustrations.

Rupture

Here is one of my new paintings called "Rupture".  I like to play around with manipulating forms and creating biomechanoid designs like this.  I intentionally kept the background environment sparse and foggy with the plan of possibly turning it into a T-shirt design.  The painting is 16x20" acrylic on canvas.

Mini Flyer

I designed this mini flyer to handout advertising my illustration.  It shows portions of a number of my recent paintings.  I'll probably end up converting it or some variant of it into a business card soon.

New Art Blog

Hey, what's up, everyone?  My name is James and I just graduated from art school this past March (Savannah College of Art and Design).  There, I studied everything from animation and game art to painting to sequential art.  I'm hoping to establish a reputation as an illustrator and concept artist.

Since graduation, I've mainly been working on my portfolio but also have already completed illustration work for a few clients.  I'm starting this blog for a variety of reasons.  First, I'm going to use it as a permanent place to display my work as well as talk about some of the processes I use to create it.  But the big reason I'm starting this now is that I'm going to a science fiction / fantasy convention (DragonCon) and plan to use this blog as a place to show my work to potential clients I meet there.  So if you're visiting my blog after having seen one of my paintings or flyers at the convention, then welcome!  I'll be posting some work soon and I'd like to hear what you think of it.