Fightback! -Dragon #392 Cover.

Fightback!

Acrylic, Approx 26" x 23"

©Wizards of the Coast

Original artwork for sale. £1500.

I had the great pleasure of working on the lastest Dragon magazine cover. A piece which had lots of fun elements to work with, but which also presented a challenge with the composition.

One of the key aspects I enjoy about illustration is the storytelling, and this brief had a compelling narrative. An Elf, battered and beaten, is cornered by a fearsome War Troll, when a Dwarf Cleric intervenes by throwing up a defensive ring of  obsidian spikes, then fighting back with her earth's grasp power. Oh, and of course this needed to work in two formats, the full one above, and a second cropped version for use internally, as below.

The cropped value study.

I decided to emphasise the cornered predicament of our heroes by using the Troll as the framing device, and also to elevate our point of view. Looking down upon someone helps make them appear more vulnerable. Whilst placing the Troll in the foreground like this gives him that imposing mass and big silhouette.

The Trolls body and sword provide a neat triangular window through which to see our protagonists. I combined this with stronger 'spot' lighting upon them to really make the beleagured heroes our focus. The white Elf shield also aids in letting the Dwarf head stand out clearly. Important as she is the source of the action with her spell going off.

The earth's grasp presented the biggest challenge. An illustration is a 'frozen moment', yet the spell required some clarification, and a sense of movement. The Dwarf seizes a handful of dirt, throws it into the air, where it transforms into a grasping stone hand that grabs, and starts to crush, the Troll's face. The trailing dust cloud allowed me to cover both those bases. Plus the swirling 's-shape' is given energy by breaking the frame set up by the Troll, and is further emphasised by the contrasting, saturated, red of it's magical effect.

Initially this might give the impression of a final stand, but really it is just the start of the Fightback!

Portfolio Theft

I have been very saddened to learn that Scott Altmann had a portfolio of his work stolen from his booth at last weekend's New York Comic Con.I don't need to say what I think about this. Instead check out his blog
where he is beginning to post images from the stolen collection, if you see any of these pieces anywhere you know what to do.

Rules Compendium - Focal Points.

Taunting Memory

Acrylic, Approx 16" x 22"

©Wizards of the Coast.

Original artwork for sale.

The Dungeons & Dragons supplement Rules Compendium has just been released, and I am very happy to have a couple of pieces in the book. Whilst showcasing them I am also going to discuss how I try to bring focus into my work.

Taunting Memory was great fun as for once it depicts a group of characters socialising after the fight. Usually I find myself showing a combat in progress, but this time we get to see how the Dark Elf behaved when faced with a Beholder - although I also like the fact you could interpret this as a prophecy of events yet to happen - either way he doesn't look too happy about the telling.

The viewers first attention is drawn to the Dark Elf by the strong contrast of his skin and hair. Something further reinforced by his clear profile and the framing element of the light coloured picture on the wall behind him. The row of heads helps keep our attention in the upper part of the picture, whilst various lines, the Elven staff, Dark Elf's sword and scroll case, Dwarf's arm and roof beams, help draw the eye towards the conjured memory. This in turn is more saturated than the surrounding elements, again, hopefully, getting our attention.

Healing Hand

Acrylic, Approx 16" x 12.5"

©Wizards of the Coast.

Original artwork for sale.

Healing Hand has another appearance from Falon  (I'm getting quite familiar with this guy now), this time helping out Shara, who nearly bit off more than she could handle by taking on that Troll.

Shara's red clothing helps provide the colour contrast to make her and Falon the focal point, with the nice glowing hand provide the pinpoint. The softened, light. background, also helps pull our eye that way, whilst strengthening Shara's silhouette. It also allowed me to lose the edges around Falon, adding to the mystical feel.

Falon the Warpriest.

Alerted.

Acrylic, Approx 8.5" x 20"

Original Artwork For Sale

©Wizards of the Coast.

Wizards have just released the Heroes of the Fallen Lands, a player's essentials supplement. Not only did I create the cover artwork, depicting a new set of iconic D&D characters, but I had the pleasure of portraying one of them, Falon the Warpriest, inside as well.

I didn't design the concept for the character, but when you get to work with an iconic they do get moulded a little bit towards your own sensibilities, and a sense of part ownership accrues. At the very least he acquired an extra pouch and potion bottle.

With the two internals I added a little narrative that hadn't initially been asked for; so that above we have a lone single character shot, but one that directly relates to the piece below...

...this is what happened next:

Duel

Acrylic, Approx 16" x 21"

Original Artwork For Sale

©Wizards of the Coast.

Making those additional connections and being able to add that little bit more is always very satisfying.

Here is the cover artwork, which was shown in  a previous blog post.

Heroes Of The Fallen Lands

Acrylic, Approx 16" x 21"

Original Artwork For Sale

©Wizards of the Coast



World of Warcraft

It is a little while since I have shared any World of Warcraft work, and as a new set of cards for the trading card game has just been released now would seem an ideal time to catch-up.

Hemet Nesingwary
Acrylic; original for sale.
© Blizzard Entertainment.

Skeletal Warhorse
Acrylic; original for sale.
© Blizzard Entertainment.

Swift Palomino

Acrylic; original for sale.
© Blizzard Entertainment.

Branthea The Resolute

Acrylic; original for sale.
© Blizzard Entertainment.

Explosive Flames

Acrylic; original for sale.
© Blizzard Entertainment.

Red Box

Enter The Lair

Acrylic, Approx 19" x 19"

Original Artwork For Sale

©Wizards of the Coast.

The 'Red Box' holds a legendary place in Dungeons & Dragons lore. It was one of the original introductory starter packs, featuring iconic artwork by Larry Elmore, and  was a portal through which many gamers entered the hobby.

You can imagine how thrilled I was to hear that Wizards of the Coast were going to revisit that product, and that they would like me to do likewise with the artwork. The look of the D&D red dragon has changed in the intervening period, as has the appearance of the heroes, but I wanted to capture the feel of the original, and pay homage in my own way.

This is the original, and now current as well, version of the box, as presented on Wizards' web site.

Here you can see my artwork being used on the rules manuals.

This project was a great thrill to work on, albeit challenging to homage such a famous painting, and I take great pleasure to think my own work will be an instrumental part in the next generation of players gaming experience.

Here's where you can find out more about the 'Red Box'.

Fantasy+

I was very happy to be selected for inclusion in a newly released artbook; Fantasy +, The Best Hand-Painted Illustrations.

It is a celebration of fantasy artists who work traditionally, and being included amongst the twenty contributors was great. It is a nicely produced, full colour, publication, with each artist having 10 pages to showcase their work, alongside which we provide insights into each piece.

The other illustrators featured within this 200 page book are: Donato Giancola, Don Maitz, Volkan Baga, Brian Despain, Eric Fortune, Lucas Graciano, Petar Meseldzija, Peter Ferguson, Raul Cruz, Ron Spears, Shaun Tan, Steven Belledin, Tom Fowler, Eric Joyner, Ciruelo Cabral, Therese Nielsen, Greg Staples, Adrian Smith and Daren Bader.

Find out more here.