ArtOrder Feature

ArtOrder is a great site hosted by Jon Schindehette Art Director for D&D. On his latest post he was nice enough to feature one of my images. I was very flattered to say the least. If you do not know the site please check it out it is well worth the visit.

ArtOrder Priorities: Making TIme

ArtOrder

Mother of Grendel Grief-Wracked and Ravenous (Beowulf Series image 2 of 3)

Part two of my Beowulf series. This is the second battle Beowulf has in the epic, where he faces off against the mother of Grendel. Unlike the first piece, I wanted this one to depict the heat of the battle. I wanted Beowulf struggling to fight to show that even he can not handle the wrath of Grendel's mother.

I also really wanted to get that fierce emotion across of Grendel's mother. To show how much she loved her son as her love was turned into unmitigated rage against his killer.

Unlike Grendel I wanted to depict his mother with a slightly more humanistic appearance to make her a bit more sympathetic. For even Beowulf says that unlike the beast Grendel he can understand that Grendel's mother had to do what she did to avenge her kinsman.

Since Grendel's mother is said to look like that of a water demon I thought what if I combined a naga or serpent creature with that of a merrow and have a serpentine tail but with a fish fin. I figured this would work for how she travels on land and sea. The text also describes her as a sea-wolf and I wanted to play up that fusion. So I gave her aquatic features such as; fins, hand-webbing, and gills. I then also gave her the wolf-like features of her wolfen eyes, fur covered hands, and large mane.

This was really fun to create, I really enjoyed playing with the design Grendel's mother.

As always this was created in Corel Painter.

The Son of Cain Hunts in Heorot (Beowulf Series image 1 of 3 )

This is the first piece in my Beowulf series entitled "The Son of Cain Hunts in Heorot". I wanted each of the three pieces in the series to depict a battle with the three monsters Beowulf faces. This one shows Beowulf as he begins his epic fight with the beast Grendel.

I wanted this piece to depict the beginning of the battle as the first punches are thrown. Where Beowulf shows great confidence before this supposed threat, as his loyal men cheer him on against the demonic descendant of Cain.

The design of Grendel comes from specific parts of the original text. I show Grendel as this ominous shadowy figure that is almost completely silhouetted. I got this idea from a really interesting part of the book where Grendel is described as a dark shadow that lurks beneath the clouds.

Besides being a giant, Grendel is also said to have been disturbed by the noise of the great hall, thus why I designed him with the large ears. The rest of his physical appearance actually comes from descriptions of his mother. She is said to be a demonic sea creature who is refereed to as a sea-wolf. When I read that I wanted to play up that idea of fusing mammalian and aquatic creature aspects. So Grendel's ears were based upon a wolf but then enlarged to gain a more bat like quality. To incorporate the aquatic aspects I gave Grendel webbing that can be seen in between his fingers.

The piece was drawn out on paper and then painted in Corel Painter. I enjoyed painting it and hope you all like it as well.

We Now Return You to Your Regular Broadcast

Hey everyone I am back. Computer is back and operational and as you can see the blog got a bit of a make-over. I have lots of artwork to post so make sure you stay tuned. I also have some exciting new gigs coming up, once I can give you the specifics I will. I hope you're as excited as me.

We Apologize for the Technical Difficulties

Well recently I have been having trouble with the disc drive on my laptop. It now appears that my comp needs to be shipped to a far away land to be fixed. So long as they can fix it otherwise I will be apparently given a brand new computer. Got to love that Geek Squad coverage. What this means is that I will be offline for the next two weeks or so. However when I get back I will have my full Beowulf illustrations to upload. Sorry that has taken so long but they are finished and all I need to do is actually post them.

That is all for now, I shall see everyone in two weeks.

Goodbye Mr. Frazetta

If you are unaware, today we lost a great pioneer to the realm of fantasy art, Frank Frazetta. He was a legend, an icon, and an artistic genius. Frazetta revolutionized the fantasy genre, it is thanks to him that the fantasy/sci-fi genre is what it is today. If it not for him fantasy would still be an underground movement and not the massively appreciated genre it is today. His paintings have been a great inspiration to me, from their subject matter, composition, to the sophisticated painting style they had. His artwork has continued to influence me since the day I saw it. He was a great pioneer who without his inspiration I am not sure I would be the artist I am today. If you are not familiar with his work look it up right now. And don't just google a few images, find a book of his and look I mean really look at it only then can you truly appreciate it.

So to Mr. Frazetta I want to say thank you for everything you will be missed. Cheers.

NOTE* to see some of Frank Frazetta's work go here frankfrazetta.org the unofficial website.

More information about his passing can be seen here Frank Frazetta dies at 82, NY Times.

Beowulf the Complete Series DRAWINGS

This a compilation image that depicts all three pieces of my Beowulf project.

Beowulf Faces the Dragon, The Final Battle DRAWING

This is the third and final image to my Beowulf series. This piece depicts the ending of his final battle against the dragon.

Beowulf Faces Grendel's Mother DRAWING

This is the second piece in the Beowulf Series. This one depicts the awesome underwater battle between the hero Beowulf and the vengeful mother of Grendel.

Beowulf Faces Grendel DRAWING

I meant to upload my drawings much sooner but better late than never. I have actually already finished the paintings for the whole series but one step at a time.

This is the first piece in my Beowulf series. Beowulf braces himself for the epic fight with the beast Grendel while his men cheer him on.