The Art Order challenges are back and I'm ready to bring everything I've got! In past Art Order challenges I usually start off with a lot of steam, then midway through my piece I look at the other submissions in progress and get a bit intimidated and then I slow down a bit. If I notice someone doing something similar to what I'm doing I feel like I have to scrap what I have so I don't come off as copying. For this challenge I decided to hold off looking at the other entries until I was completely finished with my own, and I'm really glad I did so. I think I was able to come up with an original concept that I'm really proud of. Below are some progress shots and the full and final image..
Original concept sketch and color study
Above is the original rough sketch I came up with for my nymph. I decided to take my time considering what I wanted to do with my nymph so to avoid just jumping into something for the sake of starting. I wanted to be happy with my idea before I started drawing. I decided to go with a fungus theme as I wanted to have a big hulking fungus creature to accompany her in my illustration. I wound up getting pretty busy and also hit a rut with my concept that kept me from completing a full illustration. I got as far as a full finished drawing for the illustration, but I wasn't happy with it so I scraped it. More on that later though.
More color options and figuring out portrait
During my rut I decided to try and focus on the portrait a little bit more so I could get into the piece again. I played around with some color ideas but decided to stick to the original colors.
Progress shots: preliminary drawing to final product
Above is an overview of the painting process where you can see how the concept changed a bit from the original sketch. I started out painting underneath my drawing in order to keep it intact for a while, painting over areas here and there to slowly get rid of the line-work. Unsure about what to do with the lips I started out painting them purple to go with her eyeshadow, but it wasn't looking too cute so I scraped it. The most drastic change for the character over the course of the painting would have to be the tone. I also originally intended on keeping the colors muted and dead looking along with giving her eyes with no pupils, just plain white. I wanted to make it feel like the fungus was taking over her body and almost possessing her. But it wasn't working for me and it wound up slowing me down. Once I decided to brighten the colors, adjust her pose and expression a bit and then add in some pupils, I really started enjoying the painting process a lot more.
After a month of hard work I finally have a finished Nymph piece that
I'm proud to be submitting to Art Order. I spent a lot of time researching for this
piece and gathering reference, and I really think it paid off. I may not have been able to complete a full illustration like I had originally hoped, but I have a character I'm extremely proud of and there's nothing stopping me from completing a full illustration, and I'm actually really looking forward to doing so.
Thanks to all the people who took the time to give me feedback on this piece and to everyone who showed support. I look forward to seeing the final Art Oder Nymph Challenge lineup!
I just wanted to take a minute to say Happy Holidays to everyone. I hope you have a pleasant time this month and get lots of love and share some cheer. In an attempt to spread some cheer of my own I altered a few of my art pieces to make them Christmas themed...
...like Darksol, Lord of the Yule Tide
Thanks to everyone who stops by the blog. It means a lot to see people taking the time to leave comments on my page and support what I'm doing.
I've also been getting a lot more active on my Facebook page. I've been trying to make it a little more special by posting in progress sketches and updates as they happen. So swing by and check it out! That's also where you can see the 2nd Holiday themed alter I did titled "Wight Christmas".
Here are the last of my demon pieces. I'm going to give them a rest for now. I'm hoping to dive into the new Art Order challenge that's currently going on. I've really missed those challenges.
The above guy I originally intended on being a demon, but it turned out looking too alien. There's a couple things I like about it but overall I'd call it a flop. It was a fun drawing though.
I had a blast working on this guy. I really like the pose and the design. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do with the colors. I'm pretty pleased with the final.
I really like this portrait, I had a lot of fun drawing it and I think it looks really cool. But by the time I got to coloring in the image I realized this was too much like the Darksol portrait I did a while back. I decided I didn't want to do another face forward demon portrait. So I made the hard decision of casting this to the side and moving onto the next one. I'm still happy I did the drawing though, maybe I'll revisit this later.
This last one is a rework of an old design I came up with a couple years ago that I've been really wanting to give it a new spin and make it a technically better image. I'm really pleased with the results and it's got me wanting to go back and revisit the other stages of this monster.
Above is a rough color of the first demon drawing I created. I'm considering how far I want to take the coloring.
Demonus Plumpus
Above is a new demon I came up with recently, which I really like. I originally gave him a sidekick, but I decided it was better to render them separately. Below you'll find his buddy along with a color version of the big guy...
Itty bitty baby demon
Demonus Plumpus Colorus
And that's all for now, just mainly wanted to show what I've been up to. Thanks for stopping by and keep your eyes out for the finished product of the Parables & Prophecies book! I'm really excited this project got its funding and I'm doing everything I can to try and get in. Stay tuned!
I recently picked up a item called 'Hymns & Wretched Offerings to the Golden Ones'. It's a gorgeously made book that was put together by fantasy artist Jim Pavelec. The book is 135 pages long (counting from page 1to the last page featuring artwork) and it's full some beautifully grotesque artwork showcasing tons of unearthly beings drawn by some of the coolest artists around.
The first tome
I bought the book from Jim at his table in the IlluXcon main show and I got to briefly share my enthusiasm for the book and how I'd been itching to get my hands on it. I had also overheard Jim explaining to someone else that there was a second book in the works called 'Parables & Prophecies of the Golden Ones' and I told him I would really like to be a contributing artist if possible. He told me to send him an email...
'If the offerings are sufficient, I may then enter the mortal plane to conduct endless chaos and misery'
...so a couple weeks after I got home I made the above drawing and sent it to him. I hope you can see from the piece how excited I am about this upcoming book. It would be a HUGE honor if I was given the opportunity to be a part of the book. Some of my all time favorite artists made it into the first one and I would be extremely excited if I got to see my artwork sitting side-by-side with theirs in this upcoming book. But in order for this book to become real, it needs your help; so if you're interested in seeing a 2nd book happen (and maybe even MORE) then I strongly encourage you to swing by the kickstarter page and contribute a little something. Just $30 gets you the book itself, and even just sending the page around to others would be a huge help. With your help, you can make our nightmares come true!
I recently set up shop over atinprnt.comwhere you can buy high quality prints of some of my work!
Screenshot of my InPrnt page
If you like my work and want to show some support while getting something cool for yourself or a friend, please take a look! I'll post updates here on my blog when new work is added to the page. I'm currently working on getting my new Dark Dragon piece up there *fingers crossed*.
Saturday was another really big day for me, I spent most of the day attending more lectures. As soon as I got to the building, I headed straight to the lecture being held by Christopher Burdett and Jon Schindehette on the topic of "Getting Serious*". The room was absolutely packed with people and I wound up standing up against the back wall, but it was 100% worth it. They shared a lot of personal experiences and the advice they gave made a pretty big impression on me. I have notes on that lecture too if anybody wants them, let me know and I'll send them your way. I also got to catch a little bit of Winona Nelson's 2nd Lecture, "Break the Rut*" where she talked about her personal journey on how she lifted her artwork to a more meaningful level for herself and how that lead her to creating her best work thus far. The lecture also covered ways that you can try to push yourself to break out of your own artistic rut, and it was cool hearing her own personal experiences. After that I wandered around the main show a bit more then headed over to see Todd Lockwood do digital paint-over critiques in order to kill some time before my portfolio review with Jon Schindehette.
On Friday I had a portfolio review with Andrew Vallas from Paizo, and Saturday, a portfolio review with Jon Schindehette from Wizards of the Coast. Both of the reviews went well, and the comments on my portfolio were along the same lines I had been hearing all weekend. Without getting too much into what they said, I know I'm really close to working with these people, I just have to work on addressing a very clear issue with my portfolio, and I think I'll be ready. It was a really exciting feeling that really cranked up my excitement and it has me really craving to break through this wall that's in front of me. A few well planned out pieces and I should be blowing that wall to pieces and then I'll hopefully be in a much better place with my work and my career.
Soon after my review with Schidehette was over, I left the convention center to head back to the hotel where they were hosting the Illie Awards ceremony followed by the IlluXcon Jam. The IlluXcon Jam was an idea concocted by the guitar-wiz and very skilled painter, Mark Zug. Mark thought it would be a fun idea to bring together the visual artists who are also involved in the musical arts as well. I was one of the several artists who took part in the Jam the first year around (I play the drums for anyone who doesn't know) and it was so much fun and people seemed to enjoy it. The second year they put on the Jam (the year I didn't attend) apparently there was no drummer and based on what I heard from people the drums were missed. This year was the third IlluXcon Jam and I was back on the drums. I was pretty nervous as I hadn't really played much since the first IlluXcon Jam two years ago, but people seemed to be pretty happy to have the drums back. It felt really nice hearing the reaction to me being back on the drums. I know my skills had gotten a little rusty, but after I got a few rough songs out of the way I really started having fun and it was such a great experience getting to play along with some of my illustration heroes. I was happy to have my dad in the audience as well to cheer me on. I know that night will stick with me for a very long time, thanks to everyone who took part and to everyone in the audience who listened.
After the jam I was pretty exhausted, so I went straight back to my room to sleep. Sunday, being the last day of IlluXcon, I spent a few hours walking around the main show, talking to any people I missed, getting some final portfolio reviews, making my final purchases, and saying my goodbyes. Sunday was also the day I was able to convince my dad to come see the main show with me. My dad was a little out of his element, so he was a little shy walking around and I'm sure he felt a little tense when Matt Stewart starting handing him original paintings to look at. My dad is a fan of the World of Warcraft MMO so I made sure to point out all of the WoW art for him at the show. I even specifically asked Matt Stewart if he could pull out his WoW pieces so my dad could see.
It was really nice getting to show my dad around the main show. My dad has been a huge support for me and my art ever since I was a little kid. I do my best to keep my dad informed as to how the art world works and while he definitely understands more about the art world than most parents might, it really meant a lot to me that my dad got this chance to take a closer look into my world through IlluXcon. It was really exciting watching him react to all the amazing artwork, and he even bought a few prints. All the artists were very welcoming to my dad when I told them who he was and a special thanks to Matt Stewart for sharing his time and talking about his work with us, it really meant a lot.
A farewell photo with J. Edwin Stevens, Dave Mallon and Myself (thanks Jeannie!)
After I made my last purchases and said my final goodbyes, it was time to head back out onto the road and head home to Philadelphia. I had an absolutely amazing time the whole weekend. I can't express that enough, just a wealth of knowledge, advice, inspiration, and good times. I learned a great deal and I'm super excited to get back to work. Next year, IlluXcon VI is going to be taking place in Allentown, PA, so I'll only have about an hour drive from my home to the convention, so hopefully everything works out for me to go again next year. I hope to brings some more friends with me next year as well...we'll just have to wait and see what happens.
Me and my dad posing with the amazing work of Tom Kuebler
Lastly, I would like to extend a huge thank you to my family for all the support throughout the years. I know the path I've chosen with art isn't the easiest, and it can be very difficult to understand when you're not an artist yourself, but I'm very thankful to havethe huge support from my family in order to help me get to where I want to go in life. A special thanks to my dad, Michael D. Burns for taking the time to travel across the state with me and for helping me with all of my IlluXcon arrangements. I would never have made it to IlluXcon this year without him, nor would I have made it this far in my art altogether. Thank you so much!
