Spectrum 19 is Out!

I received my copy of Spectrum 19: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art yesterday. It's a big hardcover with 304 pages full of artwork! My pieces can be seen on pages 54 and 82. Vinod's concept art piece is on page 116.

Spectrum 19's glowing Brom cover.

I'm honored to have my Explorer's Guide cover art next to a beautiful Scott Gustafson piece.

There aren't usually many spot illustrations in Spectrum, so I was excited that The Crowned Ibak was chosen.

Spectrum 19 Part 2

In April I discovered that some of my work had been selected for inclusion in Spectrum 19. I'm happy to announce that two pieces were chosen from The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures: The Crowned Ibak and the book's wraparound cover. The full list of artists that will appear in the book can be found here. Spectrum 19: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art will be published in November.

The Crowned Ibak

Spectrum 19

I figured this was a good enough excuse to post a picture of Detective Frank Pembleton wearing a party hat.

Emerald City Comicon (blog post forthcoming) was this past weekend. Thursday night, during our usual mad convention preparation rush, I decided to take a break and check the Spectrum website to see if the list of selected artists for Spectrum 19 had been posted. Vinod and I both entered this year after a two or three year hiatus.

The competition is fierce. I didn't expect to get in, so I wasn't sure why my heart rate increased as I scrolled down, scanning the list for my name. When I got to "F" I actually gasped: I got in!

I submitted to Spectrum once every few years since graduating from art school. My work was first accepted in 2002 when I entered a sculpture of the Norse god Thor I had made as a part of my senior thesis at Ringling. I hadn't been accepted in my several attempts since. I'm very pleasantly surprised to see my name on the list, and I look forward to seeing which piece or (if I'm lucky) pieces will appear in the book!

Many thanks to Cathy and Arnie Fenner and the judges for their hard work and dedication to showcasing the fantastic arts!