Sketch Redux: WoW Velkin Gray

Here is a piece that just came out for the Warcraft TCG that struggled a bit with.  There was a major redo for the sketch and on the final painting.  I am happy with the final result, but man did I have a hard time with this one.

original sketch

 redo

original painting gouache 9 x 12in

digital modifications

Sketch Redux: Dragon Age

Hey all,

Here is a piece I finished a while back for a Dragon Age RPG published by

Green Ronin Publishing.

Description:

The illo should show an Orlesian Chevalier mounted on a charging steed lancing a darkspawn. Ideally, the Chevalier will be charging towards the viewer with the darkspawn in the foreground and the lance bursting out of its back.  We want this hero to have a face, so either give him a helm with the face mask up or no helm at all. He should look grim and determined as he rides this horror down. His horse should be a mean looking warhorse with barding. For the darkspawn let's make it a Shriek. You can find out about them here: http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Shriek Perhaps his head is thrown back in an ironic death scream. You can suggest a larger battle of Chevaliers vs. darkspawn but the focus should be on the main figures just described.

With this description in mind I executed these thumbnails

They client liked number 3 so I progressed to a more refined sketch.

The client liked the sketch but informed me that the shreiks had been redesigned, so I reworked the sketch accordingly.

Comments: If you can figure out a way to get a little more force into that lance arm, awesome. But the creatures are all good to go. can't wait to see the next stage! 

So I took another shot at it.

Comments: I think that what seems off about this composition is the lancer's relatively back-leaning posture. It looks incongruous to me given how far that lance is impaled in the darkspawn. Ditto the horse's rearing. Those two factors say, "Get this thing off the end of my lance!" instead of "DIE, FOUL CREATURE!" to me.

No more half measures, I decided to completely rework the horse and rider.

With final sketch approval I began painting

Comments: Not sure how you would actually work more gore in there – maybe some blood on the stairs from the Shreiks previous victims or some ribs shooting out of the one getting stabbed?

The guy on the right looks odd – maybe because he’s a floating head and shoulders with no body? Lol, Where are his legs? As is he looks like he might be some ornamental pilaster or something as there are no other footmen in the picture there is no additional angle.

A few last revisions and...

Sketch Redux (No Hero)

Here is a piece I just finished for Nightshade Books called "No Hero"

Description:

Action flick meets cosmic horror/alien invasion. Cover should mimic an ensemble cast action movie poster.

British suburban street. Oxford. Shops, apartments. A few cars. A "WWKRD?" (What would Kurt Russell Do?) bumpersticker on the closest of them (undercover Ford Escort). Something exploding (double decker bus?). Tentacles (maggoty, pale) creep in from the distance, wrapped around buildings/cars.

first pass at thumbnails

The A.D. had this to say

Hey Erik, LOVE the action movie feel on these, I can totally picture Jack Burton in there :)

I'd go with the middle comp on the left side, but if we could add in the exploding of the bottom left corner? Tie that level of drama and action into the middle left composition. Let me know, thanks!

thumbnail revision

Awesome, looks great!

Final Sketch

Hey Erik,

yeah, just had to get notes from the editor. Sketch looks awesome! I have
a few notes to keep in mind for the final:

Tabatha (with laptop) is Pakistani, dark-complected with white ink
tattoos: angels, devils, & heavy metal icons, and Kayla (the
swordswoman) wears her bangs so they cover her eyes

Also, There's concern over the car looking "British" enough. NBD on this
one, but maybe just to keep in mind.

But yeah man, looking fantastic! Thanks!

Final Illustration

Hey Erik,

So I do have one note on the piece from (the editor in chief).
Basically he just wants to see some details fleshed out a little further. I
know we were pushing you on this one with a short deadline and I think the
piece looks fantastic overall, but his concern is the tentacles. Basically
just love em up a bit more, particularly those in front of the explosion. I
love the finish on the main figure and the buildings, and his concerns are
mainly just the disparity from those areas to the tentacles (what with them
being a compositional tool and story delivering focal area). Thanks Erik!

This was actually music to my ears, because I wanted to give the whole thing one more pass. Especially the things mentioned and the explosion.

Final Illustration Revision

so awesome, we are fully approved!

Sketch Redux (Avenger)

Here is a cover I did for The Avenger Chronicles for Moonstone Books.

The assignment was basically to illustrate a pulp cover of the Richard "The Avenger" Benson. I liked the idea of doing a James Bama style image with our hero standing in front of the door to his headquarters. This turned out to be more challenging than I had expected.

Here is my first sketch

The A.D. had this to say

"Ok, first…GREAT work!

I think you were the perfect choice for this! You bring some life and dimension to this guy! WOO!

A couple of quick comments:

1. As you probably know, the Avenger’s facial muscles have been paralyzed. He cant frown or crinkle his eyebrows, so I will need you to tweak that please.

2. The doorway is quite a bit more ornate than how it is described in the books…would you be adverse in changing that up for us? Let me know if you need the description.

(It’s a cool door, though!)

3. Somehow,,,and this is tricky…we need some idea of danger here…a looming threat…you have a nice angle of the scene and a nice bird’s eye perspective, but I think we need something more.

Any ideas as to how we might accomplish this?"

I had a couple of ideas on how to do this, but the one I settled on was a menacing cast shadow draped across the image (very pulp noir, which I felt was appropriate)
Second attempt.

The A.D.'s comments

"Again, very cool sketch!

Ok, a couple of things:

1. His eyes look to be closed…? Can you open them a little please? Thanks.

2. The “A” above the door has to go, sorry…J

3. The shadow seems to be ok…thanks.

4. The doorway is still much too ornate for the description…sorry…as far as we know, there is no archway at all, and the “Justice Inc” is just straight guild lettering, nothing fancy at all…its supposed to be really plain and unassuming.

5. The doors…I imagine the doors would open out…but that’s not important, but what is…is that they need to be plain doors…for a kind of storage building…this was not a residence, so there would not be wooden doors. I cant seem to remember if they were glass doors, but please give them a more “warehouse” kind of look, which means an absolutely plain door…Maybe they are metal, because he has a LOT of security built in…"

Third times the charm

"Ok…we are VERY VERY CLOSE TO being there!

**only suggestion might be “Justice inc” should be, according to books, "Justice, Inc." (comma & cap, in dull gilt lettering)

So, you can finish it up anytime…keeping that in mind!

Thanks so much for your patience…!"

On to the final

Cool!

Sketch Redux (Lady Ruin)

Here is a sketch redux for the cover of Lady Ruin for WotC


Scene Suggestion:
1- She could be in conflict/confronted with a Dolgaunt.
This would resemble a snake fight. Boa versus and anaconda. I would prefer the Dolgaunt being positioned behind her. Or at least in manner that we show its haunting face. Maybe got the drop on her. But she’s not really scared. Retaliating. Her whip moves on its own. Imagine its composed of its own musculature. Its could be attempting to loose the tentacles wrapped around Lirra or can be strangling the attacker. Play around.

2- Contact with the portal
Portal positioned on the ground in front of Lirra. Those hands are reaching thru and have gotten entangled by her whip. It could be unclear as to who’s holding who.
Or go more thematic. Let’s say the portal is our ground. Giant sized hands are reaching up to ensnare her. The hands could either be aggressively grappling her. Struggle ensues. Or, they could be a pretty passive force of evil. Like a dais that she stands upon. Cupped her base. Lirra emoting something of an omnipotent air.

First pass at thumbnails.




The AD had this to say

Maybe we should lose the sword. Or really de-emphasize it. Her most unique feature is that bio-whip that’s attached to her body.

I’m way more into the giant hands approach. Its got more concept than 2 tangling foes. So, we should just abandon that idea. Editor agrees.

I think the hands should be less “squeezie” strong and more like long, sharp, and menacing (Daelkyr hands). More like that passive force of evil I suggested. A venus flytrap before it snaps shut. A quiet, still, danger. More potentially energy than kinetic.

Other things could be coming out of the portal, too. Like smaller tentacles writhing around the giant hands. Like exposed veins.

Also, explore some different camera angles. And asymmetrical compositions.
These are pretty straight-on character.

And give it the Gist Creep-Factor.

My second pass at thumnails



He then had this to say

#2 is firing on all cylinders! Dynamic angle, Lirra’s pose is right on, and I like how the hands feel a little statuesque. Plus we get to look down into that portal. Go ahead and work up something tighter based on that sketch and then we’ll see how well it fits the layout.

So I moved on to the final sketch



and his comments were this

We have some costume changes. Karnath is a very cold place. So, outside of her whip-grafted arm, she’s going to need a bit more coverage overall. Think heavy metal, russian military.

"Start with a white shirt underneath the green vest. It can be well worn. Ripped and dirty. Definitely ripped where her tentacle joins. Still pretty tight so we don’t wreck her silhouette. Boots- black and line with dark fur. Leggings- Yup, dark. Could have piping running up the sides. Karnath Cod Piece- it can be removed or stay where its at or have 2 of these. One on each hip instead. That might give the feeling of a gun holster. That’s pretty military. Upper body- How about some heavy black gauntlets? She could have all the other stuff we talked about. Fur lined shoulder pads. High collar. Short cape." The portal leads to the plane of Xoriat. Key color is a pale/desaturated blue. Described as stack of translucent parchment. Inhabitants exist on multiple layer simulataneously. Free-floating rivers of milk-white liquid. Rains of blue globes that burst into horse-size ticks/insects. Yikes. Hope this helps more than hinders. But to distill it down. Pale blue and hints at these layers of parchment or rain beyond the hands wrists.

Here was my costume redesign



Yes, we’re good with that Erik! Officially in the biz. I really appreciate the extra work you put in.


So onto the final piece

Tags: Wotc, Wizards of the Coast, Lady Ruin, Tim Waggoner, Dungeons and Dragons, Eberron, illustration, oil painting

Sketch Redux: Chipper Ironbane

Sorry I have been slacking on posts of late, this will probably continue for a bit as I am really busy. Anyway on to the art.

Here is one of the first cards I did for Jeremy Cranford when he took over art direction on the WoW TCG. Too this day it is one of the most popular card illustrations I have done.

Card Title: Dwarf Warrior # W2_055 Card Type: Ally - Alliance Action: Show a grim dwarf warrior raising a deadly battleaxe, as if he were about to strike Setting: Warsong Gulch Notes: Dwarf warrior must follow reference, can be any pose artist desires Flavor: a seasoned warrior, favoring strategy to blinding rushing into a fray

Here is my initial thumbnail



and my first sketch



Art Direction
"Blizzard feels that the armor for W2_055 isn't really reading as Warcraft… this almost looks like a robot... Maybe it's a problem with the chestpiece. Also the shoulderpad (the way it points) makes it look like a robot arm."
Jeremy and I decided it would be better to put him in a different set of armor altogether.

Sketch 2



This got approved with the caveat of removing the symbol from his shoulder

Final Art



to which Jeremy said
"I LOVED your last Dwarf painting. Really good stuff."

Sketch Redux: Restless Shore

This is the third cover for a four book Forgotten Realms series called The Wilds
Description:
The Plaguewrought Lands—This area is about as close to the original Spellplague as anyone is going to get. “The mote had found an island of calm in the turbulent sea of chaos. Over the edge, Duvan could see boiling destruction below. Explosions of molten rock and flickers of crisp blue magic punctuated the larger tableau of swirling plaguestorm. Pinpoints of light far far below what could be ground level shone like stars in an upside down world.” If you were to take away the spellplague remnants and the weird landscape elements, you’d have scrubland left.

First sketch

Art Direction:
"Got it, my man. This might be the strongest one so far. It has weight, might, and really says that something is changing the geography here. Just sent it to the editor and will get back to you tomorrow.
followed by
"OK, editor reminded me that there should only be 2 characters Duvan and Slanya.
Also, I was worried that we might be doing the same painting as Restless Shore. We’ve moved the cameras in quite a bit, but outside of that its pretty similar. And the art order calls for a dark blue and purple sky. Yikes.Could you rough out something more in line with option 2 from the art order?"

Second sketch

Art Direction:
"Ah-ha this has much more distinction from the previous book. But wasn’t able to show it to the editor today. I had a couple emergency projects to work on. I’ll be able to get you feedback from her on Monday."
followed by
"Starting with sketch 2, let’s remove the large earthmote and create a bunch of smaller ones. The could be shooting around like comets. Following the same path as the swirling blue-fire storm above. And she suggested that the ground below could have rocks and peaks growing up from below.And to get away from a blue/purple. Similar color scheme, push towards dark blue and maybe teal."

Final Painting 80% done, I will post the complete finished painting after the book hits the stands

Art Direction
"Oooooh… I like this color palette better. That’s my man! Let me slam ithis into the layout and see if the editor has anything to say. Prolly just, “Looks great!” and I second that."

And the final design of the book which I love the design of this series

Sketch Redux (January 2009)

This is a cover for "To Sleep With Evil" the fourth novel in a series of reprints for Ravenloft by WotC. Jon Foster did the first three covers, so this meant two things, one I was very nervous and two I had a pre-established continuity of layout to work with. These covers are done in two pieces and then composited by the AD/Designer Matt Adelsperger.

Art Description:
Character: Margueritte dressed in a silken gown (actually crafted from human flesh) She is pregnant with an unholy, cursed, monstrous child. Though she has no proof of it, she just has a feeling that there is something wrong with the fetus
Background Panel description: The husband (and lord) has sworn an oath to eliminate all beauty in his lands and has begun to kill off the most beautiful woman. He does this by lopping off their heads and tying their neck's closed with ribbons and/or choker collars. So, lots of dead heads. It could be handled as a pile of them on the floor with the camera situated above and shooting directly down on them.

Sketch wave 1




Matt wanted me to try turning Margueritte's head, as if she is looking back over her shoulder fearfully, and to make the heads more of a nondescript mass of heads rather than a pile

Sketches wave 2


He picked the option on the right and I went to...

The Finish

Sketch Redux (December)

Here is one from the archives. This was my first assignment for Magic: the gathering.
this was my description:

ART DESCRIPTION: Color: Black Location: Ice Age Setting Action: Invent a horror creature that appears from the edge of oblivion. What it looks like is up to you. It should be at least 10 feet long/tall. Focus: the horror Mood: Oblivion is worse than death.
and this is the incredibly amateur sketch of an incredibly lame idea. I credit it to the stress of my first high-profile gig, but in truth I just had no idea what I was doing (as opposed to now when I a have very little idea of what I am doing)

I no longer have the email, but the art directors response was basically What the hell?! I hired you because you create creepy shit, and you give me a badly drawn "Starship Troopers" reject!!!
I am paraphrasing here.

So back to the drawing board I went, and came up with this.

He was much happier, so we got down to brass tacks.
Nice, but give him a body, right now it is too abstract.
Was the gist of his comments

So I gave him this

Good, but get rid of the cave man, this reads too much like an action, and not enough like a character.
He says, so I give him this


and the final...


So that was my first adventure into MTG

Sketch Redux (November)

This time around, in honor of a surprise for me in Spectrum 15 (Dawn Murin, WotC AD, submitted this piece on my behalf without me knowing), we have the development process for "The Howling Delve"
Sketch 1

To this Dawn asked that I zoom in to focus more on the character, and flop it to help the flow of the cover graphically
in addition the editor had these comments
Got feedback from the editor, and she loves it! The only thing she commented on was the condition of his robes. I agree with her that they should look much more gnarly. His gray-blue robes were stained--Mystra's mercy, in some places charred--soiled by old urine and waste.
Yuck! Another good reason for a tighter crop on Varan. I want people to look at your painting and imagine what he smells like.
Sketch 2

To which Dawn had this to say
This is lookin' good! The magical orb he's holding is very cool and I like where you're going with the lighting! What do you think about him looking a little more directly at us? Almost like we've snuck up behind him and caught him off guard. I'd really like to get a good look at his face and that empty eye socket, and a crazy man always makes for a good portrait. It would better engage the viewer and create more of a sense of unease if he's making eye contact with us. Not that you *want* to make eye contact with him!
Sketch 3

Dawn liked this so we moved on to
The Final