Fabled Earth: The Art of Emily Fiegenschuh

Star Shard Week: The Thunder Rake

2012-03-05T21:47:00.005-08:00

The Thunder Rake

I should mention that there might be some minor spoilers for some parts of the story during Star Shard Week.

Welcome to Day Two of Star Shard Week! Now with even more excitement! Check out The Star Shard author Frederic S. Durbin's companion posts over on his blog.

First of all, can I point out what an awesome name the Thunder Rake is?!

The Thunder Rake is so important to the world of "The Star Shard" it's like another character in the story. The Thunder Rake is a gigantic merchant ship that rumbles across the landscape, carrying its own bustling city from place to place. While I'm not sure it would technically be considered steampunk, the Thunder Rake reminded me of the spirit of adventure and the anachronistic fantasy technology that is characteristic of steampunk.

The Thunder Rake was quite a challenge for me to design, as my artistic focus is usually on organic living things like creatures and characters. That's not to say that it doesn't take on a life of its own, which Fred will tell you much more eloquently than I over on his Thunder Rake post.
It's usually easiest to design things, be they creatures or vehicles, in a flat perspective like a side view before getting wrapped up in trying to figure out how to foreshorten all the details from a more complicated perspective. In addition to the descriptive text, I had Fred's sketch of the Thunder Rake to help me understand the massive scale he had in mind for the vehicle.

Fred's sketch of the Thunder Rake.

I tried to remain faithful to his vision while adding some of my own flourishes. I was inspired by ships of all kinds, from sailing ships to cruise ships. I added a metal wedge reminiscent of a locomotive's cowcatcher on the bow, imagining that it would help the Thunder Rake burst through difficult terrain. While it is powerful and intimidating, I also wanted to keep a sense of whimsy about the Thunder Rake, so I made sure to retain one of my favorite elements on Fred's sketch: a big, beautiful tree with a wide canopy, growing on the top level of the vessel. When I was drawing it, the imagery from one of my favorite Hayao Miyazaki films, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, was not far from my mind.

The mysterious floating city of Laputa.

Plants sprouting from the rusted metal of a train engine. Photo by Vinod Rams.

Looking back, I wish I had made the tree even more impressive. I love the juxtaposition of nature and technology, and the imagery of a living tree almost breaking free from the confines of the man-made Thunder Rake echoes Cymbril's longing to escape.

My first Thunder Rake sketch.

I realized my first sketch of the Thunder Rake didn't feel interesting enough. It looked a little too boxy, without enough variation in the shape. I wanted it to have a more unique silhouette, so I added onto the bow and stern with tracing paper and blended everything together in Photoshop.

My revised drawing of the Rake.

Since vehicles are not my forte, my husband, Vinod, helped build a simple model of the Thunder Rake using Google's SketchUp program. It was quite handy for drawing the Thunder Rake in different perspectives for my illustrations of the monstrous machine.


The SketchUp model of the Thunder Rake, mocked up within my (very) rough sketch.

The finished drawing of the Thunder Rake, which became one of the first paintings I completed for The Star Shard.

An intimidating look at the Thunder Rake seeking Cymbril and Loric.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to stop by for Day Three of Star Shard Week!

The Star Shard, by Frederic S. Durbin, is a fantasy adventure story about Cymbril, a girl on a journey of self-discovery.

Ralph McQuarrie: 1929-2012

2012-03-04T19:29:00.004-08:00

Ralph McQuarrie, the artist with the unique vision behind the original trilogy of Star Wars films and dozens of other movies, passed away yesterday at the age of 82.

In the summer of 1997, Vinod and I had the good fortune to briefly meet Ralph McQuarrie at a convention. He was gracious and humble, and I'm grateful to have met him.

At that time, I was just about to enter art school, and I was becoming more aware of concept art--aware of what it was, aware that there were so many different, important roles that artists play in the development of films. Ralph McQuarrie may have been the first concept artist for movies that I knew by name. His imaginative designs have left an indelible imprint on the film industry and the minds of artists for generations to come.

A signed poster of Mr. McQuarrie's illustration of Luke confronting Darth Vader hangs in our studio.

My sincere condolences to Mr. McQuarrie's friends and loved ones.

Star Shard Week: Character Concepts

2012-03-03T12:00:00.005-08:00

With the advent of the publication of Frederic S. Durbin's The Star Shard, I thought I'd have a Star Shard Week on my blog to showcase some of the artwork I did during the story's serialization in Cricket Magazine.

I'll commence Star Shard Week with the character designs I undertook to begin my work. After reading the manuscript, I started sketching my impression of the principal characters. Once I achieved what I felt was the essence of each character, I created simple model sheets that I referred to for the rest of the year as I worked on illustrations for each of the ten chapters of the story.

Cymbril, the heroine.

This was one of the many dresses I designed for Cymbril during the story's run.

Loric, Cymbril's mysterious new friend.


Head studies for Urrt

My goal when drawing Urrt was to combine frog-like and humanoid features in an appealing way.

The Urrmsh, gentle giants with a gift for song, are the creatures who operate the giant claws that propel the massive Thunder Rake. They are also called The Armfolk and I wanted to be certain they lived up to their namesake.

Rombol, master of the Thunder Rake.

Everyone felt Rombol's beard should be longer, so I added to it in this revision.

The Star Shard, by Frederic S. Durbin, is a fantasy adventure story about Cymbril, a girl on a journey of self-discovery.

The Star Shard

2012-03-02T13:02:00.000-08:00

Cover illustration by Fernando Juarez

On February 28th the full-length novel of Frederic S. Durbin's fantasy story, The Star Shard, was released! For those not familiar, "The Star Shard" was originally serialized in Cricket Magazine from April 2008 through April 2009. I was fortunate to have illustrated all ten parts of the story, including a special "The Star Shard" cover for the September 2008 issue.

For more information on the novel from the author himself, please visit his website. He has thoughtfully linked to all of the supplemental material posted on Cricket's website during the publication of "The Star Shard," including the story itself (sans illustrations), archived discussions Fred and I had with readers online, and even fan art of the characters. You can also see some of my thumbnail sketches and correspondence with the art director here, along with two simple how-to-draw lessons featuring Cymbril and Loric.

Though I illustrated the serialized version of "The Star Shard" that was printed in Cricket Magazine, the novel's publisher ultimately chose a different illustrator for the book. I loved working on Fred's wonderful story as it appeared in each issue of Cricket, and would have been honored to continue my work on the novel version. While I was a bit disappointed that I would not be continuing my adventures with Cymbril and Loric, I understand the nature of the publishing business and wasn't upset when a new illustrator was chosen for the The Star Shard novel. After all, the best thing about art of all kinds is that it's open to interpretation. Two artists had entered the world of The Star Shard and emerged to reveal their vision of the characters.

And the winner is...

2012-03-01T01:57:00.000-08:00

The Peryton

...Cantervania, with the peryton! (Image courtesy of the first result in Google image search.)

Congratulations, Cantervania! You'll be receiving a sketch of my interpretation of the peryton and a signed copy of The Shadows that Rush Past!

Thanks to all who participated!

The Shadows that Rush Past Contest: Only One Week Left!

2012-02-22T19:53:00.002-08:00

Just one week left before the contest ends! Don't forget to enter for a chance to win a signed copy of The Shadows that Rush Past and a sketch of your favorite mythological creature.

What I'm Baking

2012-02-15T02:38:00.000-08:00

Triple Chocolate Cake!

I baked this cake for my sweetheart on Valentine's Day. Maybe it's really a quadruple chocolate cake. Do the cacao nibs count?

The Cake:

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup all-purpose white flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used a mix of regular and Dutch)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup water
2 cups almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly oil and flour two 9-inch cake pans.
2. Using a whisk, combine the flours, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda in a large bowl.
3. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the sugar, canola oil, and water, making sure the mixture is well blended.
4. Add the sugar mixture to the dry ingredients along with the almond milk and vanilla. Stir gently until combined. Be careful not to over-mix. A few small lumps in the batter is ok. The batter should be relatively thin and easy to pour.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans (half the batter in each) and bake for 27-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

The Chocolate Buttercream Icing (from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World):
This makes more than enough to frost a two-layer 9-inch round cake.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup margarine (I used Earth Balance sticks) softened at room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable shortening (I used Earth Balance sticks) softened at room temperature
1 cup cocoa powder (I used a mix of regular and Dutch)
5 cups powdered sugar, sifted to remove clumps
1/3 cup almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1 tbsp vanilla extract

1. In a large, heavy bowl, cream together the margarine and shortening with an electric mixer until well blended.
2. Add the cocoa powder and blend.
3. Add the powdered sugar about 1/2 cup at a time, alternating each time with a little bit of almond milk.
4. Add the vanilla, and continue blending for another 3 or 4 minutes until icing is fluffy.

The Chocolate Ganache (from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World):

Ingredients:
1/4 cup almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
4 oz. chopped semi-sweet chocolate OR 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tbsp maple syrup

1. In a small saucepan, bring the almond milk to a gentle boil.
2. Remove from heat as soon as the milk starts to simmer, and using a heat-resistent rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate chips and maple syrup until mixture is smooth.
3. Set aside at room temperature until ready to use.

To assemble the cake:
1. After the cake has cooled, frost one layer of the cake with the buttercream. Stack the other layer on top.
2. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the buttercream, making sure to cover the whole cake. Put it in the fridge to chill for 10-20 minutes. (This is a good time to make the ganache.)
3. After the ganache has cooled somewhat (maybe 10 to 15 minutes), spoon it over the top of the cake. Let some of it drip down the sides. Try to coat the entire top of the cake so it has a nice, glossy ganache finish.
4. Sprinkle cacao nibs* on the top, in whatever pattern you'd like to decorate the cake. Add any other garnishes you like, such as fresh strawberries or raspberries.
5. Chill the cake in the fridge to set the ganache.

*You can find cacao nibs at well-stocked baking supply stores or in the baking section of some grocery stores. I bought mine at Sur la Table.

Allow the cake to warm up to room temperature before you serve it. If the entire cake won't be eaten the day you make it, store the leftover cake in the fridge.

Piggy Post

2012-02-11T02:21:00.000-08:00

Recently Vinod and I did some drawings for a fan from Germany who ordered a copy of my book. He and his wife are fond of pigs and have a large collection of pig art and objects. Here are my contributions to their collection.

A fearsome creature, indeed.

Some Pig!

Win a Sketch!

2012-02-03T21:06:00.000-08:00

The Chimera

If you haven't seen the post about the contest I'm running to give away a free copy of The Shadows that Rush Past, please check it out here! In order to encourage more entries, I've decided to sweeten the prize.
In addition to the book, the winner will receive an original sketch of the mythological creature he or she listed in the contest comments. The contest ends on February 29th. So, get entering!

The Shadows that Rush Past will be released in the United States in March.

Emerald City Comicon 2012

2012-01-30T04:06:00.000-08:00

The Artist Alley table assignments for Emerald City Comicon were recently announced. Vinod and I will be sitting at table C-02. You can download a PDF of the show floor at the convention website.

Emerald City Comicon will take place at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle from March 30th through April 1st. I'll have copies of The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures, posters, prints, and sketchbooks for sale. If you're attending, please stop by to say hello!

Contest: Win a Copy of The Shadows that Rush Past

2012-01-16T15:13:00.000-08:00

In November, I posted the cover art to the recently released book The Shadows that Rush Past, a collection of scary Inuit folk tales for children with interior illustrations by Larry MacDougall and me. The publisher, Inhabit Media, is an Inuit owned publisher in Nunavut focused on stories from Inuit mythology and folklore. The books are currently available in Canada. Inhabit Media will soon begin releasing their books in the United States.

In honor of the book's recent publication, I'm holding a contest to give away a copy of The Shadows That Rush Past.

What is your favorite creature from mythology or folklore? Leave your answer in the comments to be eligible for a chance to win a copy of the book AND a sketch of your favorite creature. The winner will be chosen at random on February 29th.

Please pass this info on to whomever you think might be interested in Inhabit Media's books!

Update: The Shadows that Rush Past will be released in the United States this March!

More Creature Sketches

2012-01-07T11:15:00.000-08:00

I apologize for the lack of posts recently. I've been trying to shake a bad cold for the past few weeks. I haven't forgotten about part two of my Explorer's Guide to Making a Cover process post. In the meantime, here are some little sketches from the past several months.

Season's Greetings!

2011-12-25T02:41:00.000-08:00

Paki Says Hello

2011-12-12T18:56:00.000-08:00

A recent sketch of Paki, the guide from The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures.

Would you like to buy a copy of The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures at a discounted price? You would? Then head on over to my publisher's online store, North Light Shop, and enter the code PakisGift upon checkout to receive a discount of 50% off the retail price of the book! The coupon code is good until December 31st.

Happy Holidays!

Creature Scales

2011-12-07T23:30:00.000-08:00

This scale chart from The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures shows the size of all the creatures from the book (minus the sea serpent and living island–they're too big!) compared to a human.
I would have loved for these scale diagrams to appear alongside the description of each creature in the book, but, sadly, we couldn't find the space.

Did you know that you can download bonus materials for The Explorer's Guide, including this scale chart, from IMPACT Books? Click here to go to IMPACT's website and sign up for their mailing list to receive free desktop wallpapers and a bonus drawing demonstration for the cavern rat!

Faun

2011-12-06T15:31:00.000-08:00

And now for something completely different.

I like to sculpt. I've actually only completed a handful of sculptures over the last decade or so, but sculpting is something I've enjoyed doing for a long time. Molding and shaping something with my hands is relaxing for me. While I still make plenty of mistakes while sculpting, I don't have the same anxiety about it that I often do about painting. Somehow it feels like the clay can always be fixed.

I made this sculpture way back in 2003, specifically for a mold-making and casting class I was attending. Once the class was over, I didn't have the space at home to work, money for the supplies, or the time to practice making molds, so my knowledge has since lapsed. These photos show the sculpture before it was taken to class, where it was subsequently destroyed upon its removal from the mold. This was something I was aware would likely happen. The sculpture has many pesky undercuts that a sculptor would usually deal with by cutting apart the sculpture and molding and casting each piece separately. I still have two resin casts and a silicone mold of this sculpt should I ever try my hand at casting more.

The sculpture was made of super sculpey with a wire armature underneath. I've learned a lot since making this piece. You can see how much of it has not been smoothed out or sanded, and the tail, especially, is lumpy.

I've also included the design sheet I drew up before beginning the sculpt. Not very technical. Remember, those drawings are nearly ten years old. Please be kind!

Best Video Ever

2011-11-30T01:15:00.000-08:00

What I'm Baking

2011-11-27T18:50:00.000-08:00

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Been baking lots of pumpkin stuff. It's that time of year! This cake is super moist and delicious, and easy to make. It requires a lot of maple syrup, unfortunately, which is used instead of sugar. I say unfortunately because we no longer live in Wisconsin where you could get a quart of syrup at the farmer's market for a lot cheaper than it costs out here. Luckily the rest of the ingredients are relatively cheap and easy to come by.

Recipe adapted from Sinfully Vegan, by Lois Dieterly.

Ingredients:

Dry ingredients:

1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Wet ingredients:

2 cups maple syrup
1 can (15 oz) of pureed pumpkin (you can also use the same amount of fresh pureed pumpkin)
4 tsp flax powder (I use ground flax seeds)
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

Chocolate Ganache*:

1/3 cup chocolate chips
3 tbsp soy (or other non-dairy) milk

*Double this if you want additional chocolate ganache to more fully coat the top of the cake.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a bundt cake pan with canola oil or cooking spray.
2. Combine flours, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a medium sized bowl.
3. Combine syrup, pumpkin, oil and applesauce in a large bowl.
4. In a small bowl, vigorously whisk together the flax powder and water. Add this to the liquid ingredients and stir to combine.
5. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing to combine. Make sure not to overmix! Fold in the chocolate chips.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 75 to 80 minutes, or until knife or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand to cool for about a half an hour (I usually wait until the pan is cool enough to handle without oven mitts), then remove from pan by running a butter knife around all the edges of the cake and turning it over onto a baking rack. Allow to cool completely.

Make the ganache:

1. Heat soy milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until just about to simmer.
2. Remove from heat, add chocolate chips and using a heat-proof rubber spatula, stir until chocolate is completely melted and the ingredients are blended together. Set aside and allow to cool for about five minutes.
3. Drizzle over the top of the cake with a spoon.

Enjoy!

Served with vanilla Coconut Bliss ice cream.

The Explorer's Guide to Making a Cover: Part 1

2011-11-25T19:06:00.000-08:00

The Cover Drawing

When I began work on The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures, I already had an inkling of what the cover should look like. I was fond of the idea of a wrap around cover featuring all, or at least as many as possible, of the creatures that appear inside the book. I wouldn't be telling the truth if I said I wasn't inspired by the cover to Capcom Design Works. I love the energy and fun of characters crammed together, moving across the page. There is always something new for the viewer to discover. This was unlike many of IMPACT's other cover designs, but when I proposed my idea to my editor and the designer, they were excited about it and told me to go for it.

The cover was the last piece of art I had to do for the project after completing all the interior art and the manuscript. It was to be a wraparound cover for an 8.5 " x 11" book. I wanted to do the cover painting at least 150% larger* than the print size, but that posed a problem with the many differently-sized creatures marching across my composition. The heads of the largest creatures (the forest behemoth and flying fish) would be massive, requiring detailed coverage of a large surface area in relation to the rest of the painting. The smallest creatures would still be tiny and not allow for all the detail I would like, unless I did an image that took up an entire sheet of 22 x 30 watercolor paper. Since I also had a deadline to consider, and I knew transferring, scaling up and re-drawing the image, and finally painting it would be too time consuming to finish in time, I decided to try something new. I would draw and paint the illustration in separate layers, scan in the pieces, and use Photoshop to digitally complete the painting.

Initial thumbnails for the cover

While the idea remains the same in each sketch, I was trying to work out the best way to fit all of the creatures into the allotted space and still leave room for the title. As you can see in all three of the above sketches, I didn't do a very good job at leaving room for type!

The chosen one

We went with #2, and I moved the flying fish back behind the other creatures to create some blank space at the top right-hand side of the cover for the title. I was able to leave the left side of the image, which would become the back cover, as-is, with the understanding that much of it would likely be covered by text.

Rough study of the cover with guides and bleed space.

Using Photoshop, I blew up the cover thumbnail to the size the cover would print on the book. I printed the image, and overlaid tracing paper to rough out the drawing. At this stage I wanted to develop the poses and positioning of the creatures, drawing them to look more like the actual designs rather than their cartoony thumbnail counterparts, but I did not continue on to a detailed, final drawing yet. I knew it would be necessary to tweak the creatures to get them working within the composition. I did each rough drawing separately so that when I scanned them in, I would have many different layers I could play with.

The first part of the final drawing, with background layers finished.

Once I was happy with the way the rough drawing looked, I moved onto the final drawing. Again, I drew each character on a separate piece of paper so that I could make changes and move them around easily once they were scanned in. I used the rough gestures to start with, enlarged them to a size at which I was comfortable drawing, and with a lightbox and drawing paper overlaid, I drew each creature. For those creatures that I knew would be obscured by others in the final art, I only detailed out the parts that I expected to be visible in the final.

The chimera layer

The sand dragon layer

Minotaur and marsh nymph layer

Sphinx layer. I ended up drawing a lot more of her than necessary!

The final cover drawing, with all the layers of creatures put together.

Once each drawing was finished, I scanned them all in and positioned them within the composition. By placing each creature on a different Photoshop layer, I was able to make any adjustments needed to their size and placement. Before I moved onto the final painting, I scaled down the entire group of critters to better fit the dimensions of the cover.

Click to see an animated GIF of the progression!

*It's usually a good idea to paint illustrations larger than they will print, because it gives you the freedom to fully detail the image. If your illustration is going to print small, you would have a difficult time painting the details on objects or characters at the actual print size. Additionally, the reduction in size upon printing helps tighten up those details. One must be careful, however, about painting too much intricate detail on small areas of the artwork that will reduce even more upon printing. What might look good on the original painting could become difficult to read as the details meld together at a reduced size.

In Part 2, I'll discuss the final painting(s), and how I used layers and a little digital painting to combine disparate pieces of art into one finished illustration.

Post edited for clarity.

Giving Thanks

2011-11-24T22:31:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

Monday Monsters

2011-11-14T01:17:00.000-08:00

Nothing much today, just a couple more recent creature sketches.

Forest Behemoth

2011-11-07T01:01:00.000-08:00

Another recent sketch of a creature from The Explorer's Guide. For those interested in buying a signed copy of the book, I've finally made them available to order online. If you click on the image of the cover in the sidebar to the right you'll be directed to the page on my website with ordering information. Or you could just click here!

The Shadows that Rush Past

2011-11-02T19:23:00.000-07:00

This is a book cover I completed recently for The Shadows that Rush Past, a collection of scary Inuit folk tales for children. The book has just been released in Canada and was published by Inhabit Media, an Inuit owned publisher in Nunavut focused on keeping the stories of Inuit mythology alive.

It was tricky to develop the composition as it had to be a wrap-around cover for a square book. There are four stories in the book. I illustrated two of them, and fellow fantasy illustrator Larry MacDougall did the others. I tried some compositions that incorporated elements from all four stories, and some that incorporated the two I was working with. My art director ended up picking this one, which was less cluttered. The stories were each so different that I wanted to have some kind of transition between the disparate elements from the front to back cover, so I added the ravens and carried the mountains in the background through both scenes. I wish the scan more properly represented some more of the subtlety of the colors and values, but it always seems difficult to capture when scanning transparent media.

The character on the cover is the amautalik, a giant ogress that kidnaps and eats children. She carries them to her igloo in the "cage" on her back made up of antlers and driftwood. The scene on the back cover is from a story about a giant polar bear that has been terrorizing a community, and the arrogant hero who slays it.

What I'm Baking

2011-10-31T01:36:00.000-07:00

I like to bake. It's probably my favorite hobby that is not art related. (Some people say baking is like an art form, so I say this is still relevant to my blog!) And with what other hobby can you eat the tasty results?!

Since moving to Seattle, I've participated in several vegan bake sales that help raise money for a local animal rescue, Pigs Peace Sanctuary. For this weekend's sale I made pumpkin chip muffins, brownies, and I tried out a new recipe for chocolate pumpkin bread.

Dark Chocolate Walnut Brownies (from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar)

Ingredients:
3 ounces firm silken tofu (1/4 package of Mori-Nu)
1/4 cup almond milk (any non-dairy milk can be used)
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup all-purpose white flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder*
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1 handful of walnuts, chopped

*I like to use a mixture of "regular" and dutch processed cocoa powder. Dutch-processed cocoa has a deep, rich chocolate flavor, so if you like dark chocolate things, I recommend trying it out. You can even use all dutch-processed cocoa if you want to.

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 8x8 inch brownie pan with parchment paper, making sure it covers the bottom and the sides.

2. Puree the tofu, almond milk, and canola oil in a blender or food processor until smooth and fluffy. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides and make sure you get everything.

3. Transfer tofu mixture to a mixing bowl. Add the sugar and use a fork to vigorously mix them together until smooth. Add the vanilla and mix.

4. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Use the rubber spatula to fold and mix the batter until smooth. The batter will be very thick. Fold in the walnuts and chocolate chips. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth out the top. You may need to spread it a little towards the edges of the pan, but it will spread when baking if you don't get it into all the corners perfectly, so don't worry. Bake for 28 to 30 minutes. (The original recipe called for 30 to 32, but I like gooey brownies so I bake them a little less. I'd rather have gooey brownies than cake-like brownies.) Let cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

For Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf photos and recipe click here.

Wizards and Warriors Invade the Indiana Convention Center!

2011-10-30T22:45:00.000-07:00

Anyone living in a town with a convention center that hosts a decent-sized comic book, anime, or gaming convention has probably seen the excited yet slightly bemused coverage on the local evening news of all the ghosts, goblins, and "weirdos" dressed up to attend the con. I saw one of these reports repeated on both the evening and nightly news while at our hotel during Gen Con. (They were very interested in talking about all of the money we nerds were bringing into the city.) I always get a kick out of the stuff they focus on and their taglines about the costumed heroes! and warlocks!!

Anyway, I have been meaning to share more of the costume photos we took at Gen Con Indy 2011. In honor of Halloween, here they are!

Drow costume. Great armor!

Wayne Reynolds poses with a fan (center) dressed as a Pathfinder character he designed.

"You wanna get outta hea'? Talk to me."

Steampunky!

Cool costume and awesome steampunk'd wheelchair!

This was one of my favorite costumes of the convention. So beautifully done!

More steampunky goodness.

Abraham Supertallincoln

Happy Halloween!

Don't Make Her Angry

2011-10-12T17:39:00.000-07:00

One of the fun parts of meeting people at conventions like Gen Con is doing personal commissions. I usually only take a small number and sometimes have to finish the art at home. Frequently, due to the nature of Gen Con (it's a gaming convention heavily focused on role playing games), artists are asked to draw pictures of people's characters. Receiving a description from an art enthusiast is much like receiving a description from an art director. The artist has to conjure up an image of the character that will satisfy both the artist's creative impulse and the customer's hopes of getting a cool drawing that captures the essence of their character.

For much of my published work, I'm frequently asked to do more wispy creatures and characters like faeries, and animals and dragons (all of which I love to do, don't get me wrong) so it was a refreshing break to do a tough half-orc warrior woman with big muscles. I usually try to draw interesting looking armor that appears practical and, of course, sticks to the description–gotta please the client! I like to avoid stuff like chain mail bikinis as much as humanly possible.

Interview at Fantasy Literature

2011-10-05T20:06:00.000-07:00

I recently had the opportunity to chat with the fantasy and science fiction book review website, Fantasy Literature, about The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures, and a little bit about my approach to art in general.

Check out the interview here.

If you leave a comment on the Fantasy Literature article, you will be entered in a contest for a chance to win a copy of the book!

Another sketch of a creature from the book.

Explorer's Guide Previews

2011-09-24T00:20:00.000-07:00

Parka Blogs was kind enough to give The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures a mention on Monday. If you haven't visited Parka Blogs before and you like art and art books, go there now! The blog features detailed reviews and helpful information about art books ranging from fine art, to illustration, to concept art.
In addition to the preview pages offered on Parka Blogs, click on the image to the left or visit my website's splash page for an in-depth sampling of the interior pages of The Explorer's Guide. It rotates, I say!

Maurice Sendak Interview

2011-09-23T00:42:00.000-07:00

Terry Gross interviewed award-winning children's book author and illustrator Maurice Sendak on Fresh Air. The interview is incredibly moving and well worth listening to.

This Pig Wants To Party: Maurice Sendak's Latest
It really is touching; you might need to have some tissues nearby.

Crowned Ibak Sketch

2011-09-01T02:27:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the long hiatus from posting.

I drew the above sketch in a copy of The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures for my friend Chuck Lukacs. Chuck is a fellow sci-fi and fantasy illustrator and IMPACT Books author. He collaborated with artists Jim Pavelec, Chris Seaman and Thomas Manning on the fantasy warrior how-to book Wreaking Havoc, and his latest book is Fantasy Genesis: A Creativity Game for Fantasy Artists.

Gen Con Wrap Up (Part One)

2011-08-13T02:21:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm finally sitting down to post my wrap up for Gen Con! So much happened, I'm not sure I know where to start.

Vinod drawing at our booth.

It always takes a few days for me to recover from the hustle and bustle and late nights of a convention, if you could call sitting down talking to people hustling and bustling. By the end of the fourth day, when it's time to dismantle the show and the panels surrounding us that once held art seem to suddenly disappear into thin air as we're packing up all our stuff, exhaustion has set in. If only I had pictures of how quickly the convention center is transformed from "Gen Con" into empty tables, rolled up carpets, and piles of cardboard boxes.

Gen Con Day Two
Friday was off to a good start when, early on in the day, I sold an original painting from the D&D book Savage Species, which was one of the first projects I worked on as a freelance artist. If I'd had a blog six years ago when I did my first convention, Wizard World Chicago, and sold my very first print, I would have talked about how astonishing it was to me that someone liked my work enough that they wanted to buy an image of it to keep and maybe even display in their home. Selling an original piece of art still gives me that feeling, maybe times 10. I can't say enough how much it means to an artist to have people respond positively to your work.

Another panel of my work on display at the art show.

Later on in the day, I had the pleasure of meeting Susan J. Morris, author of A Practical Guide to Faeries, A Practical Guide to Wizardry, A Practical Guide to Dragon Magic, and The Faerie Locket. It's rare to have the opportunity to personally meet the authors of the books I illustrate, so I was very happy to talk with her and hear that she liked the work I had done for her books.

Meeting Christina at Gen Con.

On Friday afternoon I also met my editor for The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures, Christina Richards! I was very grateful for her patience and guidance throughout the process of creating my book and it was a real treat to finally meet her in person. I'm incredibly pleased to say that by the end of the convention, The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures turned out to be a favorite at my table.

The day wrapped up with the annual Gen Con Art Show artists' reception, where something completely unexpected happened: I was honored with the 1st Place prize for original art for the work I had done for my book! Vinod was honored to receive the Juror's Choice Award. Best in Show went to Scott Murphy. Congrats to everyone who won awards, and many thanks to Art Show Guest of Honor Jeff Miracola and fellow judges Chris Rahn, Wayne Reynolds, and Barbara Fisher, our fabulous art show coordinator.

I forgot to take a picture of our table with the ribbons, so I swiped this one from the awesome Betty Edwards. Thanks!!

Gen Con Day Three

Day three of Gen Con was on Saturday, and like most convention Saturdays it was super busy! While I had sold a few copies of The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures here and there on Thursday and Friday, Saturday was the day that the book's popularity seemed to explode! By the end of the day I had sold every book but the display copy, and while I was incredibly excited about the book's warm reception, I was kicking myself for not bringing more with me. Hopefully anyone who missed out on a copy will pick one up at the store or online. *hint, hint* ;)

Some budding art enthusiasts peruse our work.

Vinod made a big sale of an original to an art collector and fan who had bought our sketchbooks in the past.

I wish we had found the time to walk the exhibit hall and take more pictures of the many displays as well as more of the other artists' booths. We usually try to make it to the show before it opens (one of the perks of carrying an exhibitor's badge) and walk the aisles before the crowds pour in, but this year we couldn't seem to get ourselves there early enough.


Our neighbor, Dan Scott, feverishly signs Magic Cards for fans.

Ralph Horsley and his piles of original art.

Fellow IMPACT artist and author Chris Seaman at what might be the nicest booth in the show!

I'm realizing this post has become a little cumbersome, so I'll finish the Gen Con 2011 wrap up with an additional post soon. To be continued...

Gen Con Indy 2011

2011-08-08T11:03:00.000-07:00

Just trollin'.

We had a super awesome time at Gen Con this year! We were so busy I wasn't able to write the daily updates I had planned. As soon as we get home, I'll post my full report!

Gen Con Day One

2011-08-05T23:24:00.000-07:00

Our booth at Gen Con

Vinod and I arrived safely at Gen Con on Wednesday evening, after a Tuesday of frantic last minute preparations, no sleep, and a only a couple of Mighty O donuts and an apple to sustain us. Almost immediately upon arriving, we got to work setting up our booth and reconnecting with old friends and colleagues. There was a lot to carry and unpack, and fortunately our artwork and goods made it in decent condition.

This year, the art show was moved into the center of the newly expanded convention hall with the rest of the exhibitors. We were given a very nice spot on an aisle corner. We had a fun-filled Thursday chatting with fans and checking out the amazing work of the many talented artists at the show. And, as always, there were some great costumes!

Nothing? Nothing? Tra la la!


Some excellently dressed friends that have been great supporters of my art over the years. Thank you!

I promise to post more news (and cool costumes!) from day two soon. I've stayed up far too late working on commissions whilst watching Kindergarten Cop and Aliens on the hotel TV.

Posters!

2011-08-01T01:12:00.000-07:00

Explorer's Guide posters

One of the many things I will have with me at Gen Con: 18 x 24 posters of the cover to The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures! I will also be making these available for sale online after the convention.

Explorer's Guide Cover Illustration

2011-07-28T19:13:00.000-07:00

The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures

I've been plastering my blog and website with images of my book's cover for a few weeks, so I thought it was time to share the full, wrap-around cover illustration. Much of the left side of the illustration as printed on the back of the book had to be covered by necessary copy. Even so, it's a fun design, and I'm happy with the way it turned out.

In other news, it appears my book is now in stock and ready to ship at Amazon.com and my publisher's online store, NorthLightShop.com! I added a link to purchase my book at NorthLightShop.com on the sidebar of my blog. I will also be making signed copies available for purchase at my website once I return from Gen Con.

And please stay on the lookout for The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures in brick and mortar stores. If your favorite bookstore or arts and crafts store does not carry it, please consider asking them to!

Sketchbook Sketches

2011-07-27T04:39:00.000-07:00

Just a couple sketches I did for people who bought my volume three sketchbook, Journey. I'll probably be doing a lot of these at Gen Con next week!

No reason...

2011-07-25T19:24:00.000-07:00

I never get tired of this joke.

They're Here!

2011-07-22T20:22:00.000-07:00

My copies of The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures have arrived! That means that they will be appearing on store shelves within the next two weeks. When I return from Gen Con, I will be making signed copies available for purchase through my website, e-figart.com.

Click here for a look inside the book.

Minotaur Monday Part Two

2011-07-18T11:41:00.000-07:00

The finished painting of the Minotaur from The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures. See the drawing here.

Posting may be light the next couple weeks as I prepare for Gen Con. I'll be sure to post some updates from the show!

Fantasy World Building and Avatar

2011-07-16T03:46:00.000-07:00

The Space Needle over the EMP/SFM

Over the Fourth of July weekend, Vinod and I visited the EMP/SFM (translation: the Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame) in Seattle Center to see the Avatar Exhibition. The collections are housed in a Gehry-designed building that looks a lot more interesting up close with its varying colors and textures of metal than it does at a distance, from which it looks like a smooshed blob of Play-doh. The Science Fiction Museum normally contains a collection of historically important science fiction books along with a timeline of the development of the genre in various media, as well as props, production art and costumes from science fiction and fantasy movies and TV shows. The first time we visited I had hoped to see the alien queen from Aliens, but apparently she's either away for repairs or was blasted out of an airlock.

For the Avatar exhibit, they must have moved out all the usual displays to make space for the installation, which they modeled after some of the sets from the movie.

Wayne Barlowe creature sketches

While I'm not particularly a fan of Avatar as a movie, I was impressed by the special effects, and like many other artists I appreciated the thought and time put into the character, environment and creature designs. When creating a fantasy or science fiction world, it's important that the world feels plausible, and the people who worked on this film did an excellent job immersing the viewer in the world of Pandora.

Bust of Neytiri

Reproduction of one of the creature maquettes. The magic "Pandora lighting" made it difficult to photograph some of the items in the exhibit.

There are many things to take into consideration when building an imaginary world. Artists need to keep in mind what they want to say about their world, and how to keep things realistic and consistent within the rules of the world they have set up. When developing a fictional world, an artist should consider:

• how to make the world look lived-in
• keeping the look of items, clothing and technology consistent across certain cultures or groups
• how items are made and from what
• how and for what purpose items are used
• adaptations of both humanoid and non-humanoid creatures and how those adaptations allow them to fit into their environment
• how creatures or people use, shape or change their environment

Neytiri's necklace

Na'vi knife

One of the most innovative parts of the exhibit was an interactive installation consisting of a large horizontal touchscreen that mimicked the screens people used in the movie. A series of coaster-like plastic cards could be placed on the screen to activate images of production art such as the design of the Na'vi, creatures of Pandora, etc. This was my favorite part of the exhibit and I wish there had been more installations like this showcasing the production art rather than the gimmicky "Take a picture of yourself next to these giant shoes!" stuff they had.

Another section of the museum had a circa 1970's chimpanzee torture device...

We were pleasantly surprised to see a Spinner from Blade Runner on our way out of the museum. Somehow we missed it on our previous visit.

For pictures of the Avatar exhibit space and additional information, check out the museum's Avatar Exhibition webpage.

Piece of (Pan)cake

2011-07-06T02:01:00.000-07:00

One of the most important things I learned during my time as a product designer was how to create clean, concise drawings.

There is nothing inherently wrong with loose drawings. In fact, many artists create incredibly beautiful sketches that look effortless. When I look back at my older drawings from art school and before, however, I notice some of the sketchy lines in my work were due to hesitancy rather than confidence. I would often leave lines alone that should have been better defined, or fail to clean up unappealing "chicken scratch" that did not inform the drawing. When I worked in the 2D art department at The Franklin Mint, I quickly learned the importance of tightening up my work so that the next person down the line could read it and do their part to turn it into a product. I grew a lot as an artist in the year and a half that I worked there, and due to the sheer number of drawings I produced, my draftsmanship improved quickly.

One of the techniques I learned while working there was how to clean up, alter or refine a drawing using layers of tracing paper. This idea might seem antiquated since you can do the exact same thing with layers in Photoshop, but many of us in the studio still worked primarily traditionally. Despite becoming much more adept at Photoshop in recent years, I continue to frequently use this technique. The benefit is the ability to scribble out a lot of ideas without losing the original sketch or making a mess of it by erasing and re-drawing over and over again. Instead you clean it up in steps as you layer tracing paper over the top of each previous drawing.

I employed this technique when I wanted to make a simplified, cartoony version of the pancake glider (a platter-sized flying rodent) from my book The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures. While this is most useful when working with a really complicated design, I sometimes still use it for simpler ideas such as this. I started with some roughs. The most important thing I wanted to get across in this drawing is the pancake shape of the flying critter.

I blew up the rough I liked and printed it out, grabbed a piece of tracing paper, and layered it over the top to begin sketching out a more refined version of the rough sketch. I wanted to take this more realistic interpretation:

closer to this:

Much like someone does when creating a caricature, I reduced the detail down to simpler shapes that emphasized the most essential qualities of the pancake glider. My aim was to make it ridiculously cute.

In this final drawing, you can see where I cleaned up and refined the lines and shapes from the previous drawing. I also took the artistic liberty of flipping the shape of the air pouch on his chest to create a conveniently located heart shape. That familiar symbolic shape just seemed right for the image and made it cuter.

Whoosh!

Explorer's Guide Demo Sampler

2011-06-29T16:30:00.000-07:00

After staying up too late to finish a personal project, I don't have the energy today for an involved post. The related subject of the benefits and pitfalls of being a freelance artist will have to be put aside for another time. In the meantime, I hope you will enjoy Impact's sneak peek at one of the step-by-step demos from The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures, the Flying Fish!

Minotaur Monday

2011-06-27T14:49:00.000-07:00

Remember when I told you I would stop with the alliteration? I lied.

This sullen fellow makes his appearance in the "Creatures of Myth" chapter in The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures.

The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures

2011-06-24T15:55:00.000-07:00

Those of you who frequent my website may have already seen this announcement: my first book, The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures, will be released (or should I say unleashed, heh heh) at the end of July! It's a 144 page how-to-draw book aimed at a beginning to intermediate audience that includes basic art tips and information, guidance for designing creatures, and step-by-step instruction for drawing fantasy critters and their various features and accessories. It also features a whole bunch of brand new full color creature paintings! The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures is published by Impact Books, is available for pre-order online right now, and will be in stores this summer.

Please subscribe to my blog for updates about the book, special demonstrations, contests and other fun stuff!

Wizard Wednesday

2011-06-22T14:14:00.000-07:00

I promise this alliteration won't become a thing.

Monday Monsters

2011-06-20T16:06:00.000-07:00

These goblins eventually became an interior illustration for A Practical Guide to Monsters. When I opened the file to prepare it for posting, I saw that I had an extra drawing layer over the top of the face of the goblin with the mace. That layer made him look like a nicer, friendlier goblin. I had forgotten about this and remembered I had been asked to make him look a little less mean for the final art because the book was primarily aimed at a younger audience. His jerkiness has been fully restored both in this post and in my sketchbook!

More Faerie Goodness

2011-06-17T17:03:00.000-07:00

A playful Pip to start off your weekend!

Faerie Locket Process

2011-06-15T19:41:00.000-07:00

The drawing stage can be one of the best parts of a new project. My sketchbooks and flat file drawers are filled with drawings and sketches from each job that I do. There are too many drawings to fit comfortably on my website, (and it would take forever to update them all and I'm too lazy) so I hope to keep them updated here on my blog!

The following is typical of my process when starting a new illustration.

The cover for The Faerie Locket needed to feature Pip and the glowing locket. This was the composition selected from my thumbnail sketches.

I did a few rough sketches of ideas for the sitting pose. Each has a slightly different attitude. For the final drawing, I combined aspects of the sketches at the top and on the left.

This was what I thought would be the final drawing for the cover. Sometimes issues with a composition only come up after a drawing is more fully realized. As it turned out, the locket needed to be featured more prominently, and in this drawing, the locket is too far in the background. The top-down perspective of Pip sitting on a tree branch above the locket lying far below on the ground also calls into question the scale of the locket. If Pip were to fly down and stand next to the locket, it would be huge. To solve these problems, I roughed out some ideas for a new composition.

I didn't want to lose the drawing of Pip I had spent so much time on, and I liked the pose, so I looked for ways to make it work with different surroundings. The art director and I decided that we could get an effect very similar to the original drawing if Pip was sitting on a tree root rather than a branch.

And here is final drawing for the cover!

My First Blog™

2011-06-13T00:51:00.000-07:00

So I've started a blog. Welcome! I hope you like what you see, and I hope I'll be able to keep up.

This was a cover painting for the book The Faerie Locket. Those who are familiar with the Practical Guide series published by Wizards of the Coast's book imprint Mirrorstone will recognize Pip from A Practical Guide to Faeries. For that project, I was lucky to have the opportunity to design Pip as well as define the general look of the faeries.