Help an Artist Bring a Dragon to Life

Between working on projects that are under non-disclosure agreements (which means I currently can't share them) and my preparations for GeekGirlCon and Gen Con, I haven't had much time to devote to my blog in the past few weeks. But I do have time to bring the cool artwork of a fellow artist to your attention!

Gunter Reimnitz is a talented sculptor we met during our trip to Vashon Island earlier this year. He's hoping to raise the funds to turn his fantasy of building a one-ton fire-breathing metal dragon sculpture into a reality. Wouldn't you like to help him solve the riddle of steel by contributing to his Kickstarter campaign?
Check it out!

The Bumpy Landscape of a Typical Comic Con

David Apatoff of the blog Illustration Art describes the variety of art that was on display at San Diego Comic Con this year.

Gen Con 2012 Floor Map

Gen Con is only 40 days away, and I still have a lot to do before the convention begins. Posting may be sporadic until I return from both Gen Con and GeekGirlCon.

So, while you're waiting, look at this floor map! I will be somewhere in that big, aptly named block that says "Art Show."

Click to embiggen!

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

The Cavern Rat

The cavern rat, with scale comparison graphic.

Cavern rats dwell within the depths of caves. With a tail that secretes a sticky mucous they affix themselves to cavern ceilings and walls where they dangle, waiting silently for unfortunate creatures to make their way past. These reclusive mammals move sluggishly most of the time, but can strike with lighting fast reflexes to snatch insects, crustaceans, and small bats that venture too close to their long, deadly arms. They can capture prey almost as large as they are, using a venomous bite that immobilizes their victims so that they can be more easily devoured.

Cavern rats are almost completely blind and rely on their ears and sensitive hairs to perceive their surroundings. Large, bony plates along their back offer protection from larger predators and camouflage them against craggy cavern walls. Cavern rats may be active at any time of day. To them, deep within the caverns, it is always night.

The cavern rat drawing demo is an online supplement to The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures which can be downloaded here after signing up for the IMPACT Books online mailing list.

First Anniversary of Fabled Earth!

I just realized last night that Wednesday marked the first anniversary of Fabled Earth! Thanks to all of you who have visited, followed, commented and otherwise supported this blog and my artwork over the past year!

Peryton

I made this drawing of a peryton (a mythical creature that had somehow flown under my radar despite my longtime interest in creatures) as part of the prize for the The Shadows that Rush Past contest I held on my blog earlier this year.

For paper-space and aesthetic reasons, the wings are relatively small. They certainly could not realistically lift a powerful creature like this, especially with his heavy antlers. I think he should get a pass, though, since he's a magical creature.

For a great exercise in imagining how a winged fantasy animal like this would need to look in order to achieve flight, check out Terryl Whitlatch's drawing of a pegasus with massive wings. The discussion that follows is also worth a read.

The Artists of Vashon Island

One of the ferries to Vashon Island.

Last month Vinod and I took a weekend trip to Vashon Island (twenty minutes from Seattle by ferry) to experience the bi-annual Vashon Island Art Studio Tours. Creative people are well represented among the island's population of 11,000. In addition to stores and galleries that carry artwork by Vashon Island artists, the island also has its own art association, movie theater and community theater.

A view of Puget Sound from Point Robinson.

Point Robinson Lighthouse

We stayed in a little cottage that sits on peaceful garden grounds at a B&B called The Artist's Studio Loft. The property is nestled between art studios, homes, and farmlands dotted with unoccupied vegetable stands that operate on the honor system.

On the afternoon we arrived we watched birds waddle after a horse, hoping to find the bugs she stirred up as she grazed in the pasture next door. In the evenings we listened to the pleasant chirping of frogs.

Our weekend cottage.

We made it to just over half of the twenty art studios on the list. We would have liked to see them all, but for us two days wasn't enough. We spent too much time chatting with the artists and admiring their work (and their beautiful homes and gardens). We were impressed by the talent and craftsmanship possessed by every artist we visited during our tour. The thought of buying a piece from each one was very tempting, but unfortunately, being artists ourselves, we couldn't afford to. 

How would you like a view like this from your yard?

Or this?

One of Gunter Reimnitz's ravens guards Gordon R. Barnett's balcony.

We visited the following artists and studios:
Empty Nest Studio
Brian Benno Blown Glass
Barnworks
Liz Lewis Pottery
Brian Fisher Studio
Penny Grist and Larry Muir
Reimnitz Studio
Mary Hosick Pottery
Pam Ingalls
Kristen Reitz-Green
GRB Bells

I encourage you to check out their websites and the Vashon Island Art Studio Tour website to learn more about these artists as well as those we did not have the opportunity to meet this time around.

One of Gordon R. Barnett's beautiful bell designs, the Crocus Bell.

Gordon R. Barnett's work space.

We were envious of many artists' beautiful work spaces. I hope to someday have a special studio to work in rather than a disorganized bedroom awkwardly retrofitted for the purpose, crammed with flat files and tabourets. We would have liked to take more pictures, but it was hard to avoid the feeling that we were intruding in the artists' intimate studio spaces.

It was one of the more relaxing and inspirational little vacations in recent memory. We have to go baaaaaack (for the winter tour)!

Edited to fix the link to Pam Ingalls's website, which was previously not working.

Elven Mage

She is very complementary!

Over the last several months I completed several private commissions. Most came to be after having conversations with Gen Con attendees who had taken an interest in my work. I've done a lot of  drawings for people during and after conventions, but this was the first painting I did for a private collection. Rather than conforming to an already existing style guide, commissions are an opportunity to call upon my own internal style guide–something the client is seeking when they ask me to create artwork for them.

Sometimes I like to examine the drawing and the painting of an image side by side. They're fundamentally the same image, but end up looking quite different once value and color are added. There are things about this character I like better at the drawing stage and things I like better at the painting stage. (Sometimes I like an entire image better as a drawing rather than a painting and vice versa.)

Here, I like the expression in her eyes better in the drawing. There's some subtle emotion that I feel I lost once I went to paint. But the painting has volume and warmth that the linework lacks.

What do you think? Are there aspects of one you like more than the other? You're welcome to discuss in the comments!

Hobbits in Spaaaaace!

Recently I completed another character commission for the same client that requested a drawing of his half-orc warrior character. This time, the character hails from a very different setting: a futuristic science-fiction world. She's essentially a "space hobbit" botanist who works on a space station growing hydroponic plants.

Head studies