Wildborn

Glimpse

Wildborn Series

Acrylic, 15" x 11"

Original for sale. Image available for license.

© Ralph Horsley

Glimmer

Wildborn Series

Acrylic, 15" x 11"

Original for sale. Image available for license.

© Ralph Horsley

Sentinel

Wildborn Series.

Acrylic, 15" x 11"

Original for sale. Image available for license.

© Ralph Horsley

It is a long time since I created a painting solely for myself. I am grateful that my schedule has been full, but I have also been hampered by the desire to make an epic work. However on returning from Illuxcon the itch has grown, but the timetable has, thankfully, remained as packed.

Then it occured to me that I should aim for something more achievable, and which would also be a good exercise.  Thus the idea for 'wildborn' arose; smaller landscape paintings showing dragons in a naturalistic setting.

I took my inspiration from landscape photography, trying to create a more naturalistic look, and one that started with loose sketches so that the painting could be freer.

Here is a walkthrough for Glimpse, showing my process.

A loose sketch. it lays out the key elements, but doesn't concern itself with detail.

Old habits die hard. I start working from back to front, blocking in the value range and colour transition.

I move onto the rocks doing the same. I am keen to blur the shadows between rocks and trees. the water is also loosely mapped in - trying to keep a light touch here for now.

The trees are beginning to be refined, and I startt to pay attention to the shadows on the cliff.

Further refinement, now on the rocks.

Begining to add detail and colour accents/variation within the value range.

I pulled out the gels for the water. A transparent glaze for the mistiness and lots of heavy body gel for an almost impasto finish on the foaming water.

Lords of Waterdeep

Lords of Waterdeep
Acrylic, 19" x 22".
Original artwork for sale.

When I first started working on Dungeons & Dragons my initial commissions were for Forgotten Realms, and one of the first products was the Waterdeep supplement. Consequently it was  a great thrill to be asked to work on the forthcoming boardgame; Lords of Waterdeep. I enjoyed helping create some iconic 'Lords', and the central figure gave me a good excuse to pull lots of armour out for reference.

I also created a good number of character portraits for cards within the game, something I'd also love to share, but sadly will have to stay under wraps until publication next year.

Illuxcon 2011

My Stand

I returned from Illuxcon just  a week ago, and whilst it has taken nearly that long to physically recover from the travel, jet lag, and late nights, I still feel fired up by the great experiences I had.

A Blank Canvas

I was one of the first to arrive at the venue, where I added my art-laden suitcases to the crate that was already waiting for me. There was a real buzz beginning to awaken in the heritage center, and I was keen to get my work out and on display.

!!!

Though my first step was to see if the paintings had made it in their original form...

The Show Opens

It is an incredibly impressive space when it is full to bursting with awesome original artwork. Additionally the great benefit of the show is that the restricted numbers mean that I also had plenty of time to browse, and chat to the other artists. As always I was delighted by how open and friendly everyone is; working alone in the studio can be isolating, and getting to chat so freely to other artists about their work and processes is genuinely inspirational.

An Overview

The show itself is only a portion of what is on offer. Throughout the days lectures, panel and demos are ongoing; all of which  offer some new insight or observation. On the Friday there was also the showcase, which acts as an overflow exhibition for more artists that couldn't quite squeeze into the main space. Furthermore all the socialising spills over late into the night as everyone gathers in the hotel bar and lobby.

It was a busy, and very rewarding event, but with a relaxed genial atmosphere. I had  a great time sharing work experiences with the other artists, students and collectors; many of whom I consider to be very good friends, even I only get to spend facetime with them once or twice a year at places like this.

Now I just need to put my inspiration into practise, by producing the best work I can, whilst beginning to look forward to next year.

Throne of Tides

The latest World of Warcraft tcg set: Throne of Tides has just been released, so I'd like to share my work on it with you.

Dulvar Hand of the Light

Acrylic, approx 11" x 14".

Original artwork for sale

Grumdak Herald of the Hunt

Acrylic, approx 11" x 14".

Original artwork for sale



In so doing I  also realised that I have yet to show my work on the previous set: Twilight of the Thrones.

Incinerate

Acrylic, approx 11" x 14".

Original artwork for sale

Favor of Steel

Acrylic, approx 11" x 14".

Original artwork for sale

Explosive Hunt

Acrylic, approx 11" x 14".

Original artwork for sale

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Legends of Anglerre

Legends of Anglerre

Acrylic, approx 19" x 25"

original artwork for sale.

copyright Cubicle 7.

I recently had the great pleasure of working with Jon Hodgson of Cubicle 7 on one of their covers. Jon might familiar to those who have followed the Ninja Mountain podcasts from the early days as he was instrumental in setting up the NM website and podcast.

The work was for the Legends of Anglerre cover, and comprised a nice simple brief that allowed for lots of dynamism, and creative expression; an armoured woman fighter charges across a beach towards us, whilst beset by Goblins.

I followed my usual processes; starting with a line sketch that evolved from a slew of expressive thumbnails.

That was then digitally worked up into a value study. This, along with the line sketch, were submitted, and met with approval.

At this point I would then normally do a quick colour study, but for once I had a very strong mental impression of the colour scheme; strong blues, greens and yellows, offset by the lead protagonist in red.

I began  by painting the background. The central cloud was chosen to frame the silhouette of the head.

Then I worked my way forward, tackling the furthermost Goblins, whilst laying a quick base wash onto their foreground companions.

Colour was then laid onto the central figure. A base wash first, and then full rendering. The base wash gives a nice underpaint to work into, but also allows me to check my colour choices as I go along. This is a lot easier to alter than a fully rendered finish.

I continue this process throughout the figure. Here I have laid in the armour base, also note I have decided to change the colour of the gorget/cloak clasp. The ultramarine was too similar to the background, and I decided to stick with the overall red based palette for the woman.

For once I saved the face for last. I wanted to keep it light to act as a focal point, and decided to resolve a lot of the other values around it first. Secondly this was the single most important element of the piece, and I lavished  a lot of care and attention on it.

The woman is complete and I progress to the Goblins. I now deliberately started using larger brushes, and looser marks to help contrast with the woman, and keep her the central focus.

Just a few touches to go, and the piece is finished, and approved.

Gates of Neverdeath

Gates of Neverdeath

Acrylics. Approx 34" x 31"

Original artwork for sale.

Copyright Wizards of the Coast.

I enjoy being challenged by a piece of work. Fresh hurdles offer the opportunity to grow and improve as an artist. The Gates of Neverdeath was just such a work; whilst the subject matter allowed me to paint one of my favourite subjects (Zombies!) it was the size and multiple requirements that were trickier.
The image needed to function as an adventure cover in  a vertical format, but also be usable for marketing purposes in  a horizontal format. Similarly it required lots of additional space where different trade dress could be placed, or the painting cropped in multiple different ways. This all meant that what would normally be an 8.5" x 11" cover, which I would work up at 200% actual size ( 17" x 22"), became a 34" x 31" painting which barely fitted on my drawing board.

Necromancer detail

I spent quite some time working on thumbnail sketches before I was happy enough to work up my ideas into a finished graphite line sketch.

Note the guidelines which demarcate the cover area and mark room for the variety of potential trade dress.

I then worked up a loose digital value study. This guides me during the painting, and helps the Art Director (in this case the lovely Keven Smith) make sense of all those lines!

Having a clear scheme in place for the lighting, values and palette made tackling a large piece like this a lot easier. Like most of my paintings I worked from back to front. Below you can see a fuzzy photo of the work in progress.

The Necromancer has been completed and I am working my way onto the foreground elements. You can see part of my process, whereby I lay down layers of wash, before adding more opaque elements to tighten up the shadows and highlights.

After the painting was completed I sent through a scanned, uncropped, copy of the final, but I also included a mock-up of how I saw the cover working.

It is interesting to compare this with the final editorial decision, and crop, that adorned the printed product.

It was great to work on such an epic piece, containing such fun elements, but it did also serve to remind me how following the discipline of my processes made the whole painting much easier to work on.

The Court of Green Scales

The Court of Green Scales

Acrylics, Approx 14.5" x20.5"

Original artwork for sale.

Every now and then I create what I think of as a 'transitionary' painting. This is a piece that seems to sum up where you have come from and where you are going artistically. A culmination and expansion...  I think of 'The Court of Green Scales' as just such a piece.

It began with the art brief. The commission was a for a full page interior illustration for a Dungeons & Dragons supplement, and this was the summary:
"The Court of Green Scales. In a secluded valley, we see a Green Dragon in deep consultation with a kobold wyrmpriest (see the Monster Manual for reference for both creatures). Surrounding the dragon and the wyrmpriest are a collection of kobolds of the Green Scale tribe, including a pair of dragonshield warriors (see Monster Manual for reference)."

I loved the fact that it gave me enough information to convey the salient details and mood of the image, without being prescriptive in the detail. It showed that that the art director ( Mari Kolkowsky) had faith in my abilities to create the narrative and drama.

I wanted to emphasis the inequalities in the relationship between the Kobolds and Dragon, it might be a mutually beneficial arrangement, but it was clear who was boss. Thinking along those lines, and with the necessity for Dragons to have a treasure hoard, the notion of tribute seemed a logical step forward. The Wyrmpriest might be asking for/offering something but to come empty handed would seem foolish.

I played with that that idea further in the composition. The undercut hillside helps provide the sense of an underclass level, and has an almost throne like function. This is cut through by the two strong verticals of the waterfall and tree, allowing the sinuos s-shape of the Dragon  to have a nice contrast.

The Line Sketch.

I feel that I managed to include a lot of elements which are a culmination of my craft; the storytelling, composition and detail. This was carried through into the painting through the dynamic red/green palette and value range. Where the transition takes place is in the rendering. This was the first large painting wherein I used a lot of gel mediums, in particular the 'Liquitex Gloss Heavy'. This gel gives a more buttery consistency to the paint and increases drying time. It allows for a smoother blending, and softer mark making.

Consequently I felt I managed to introduce greater contrast between tightly defined areas and looser ones. Which in turn keeps the focus more where I want it. I also played around a lot more strongly with 'lost edges' than I had previously. This is best demonstrated with the Kobold guard on the bottom right and his merging with the shadows.

I liked the qualities this addition to my tools allowed, subsequently  exploring and refining it. This painting however is held in affection for being one more stepping stone on the neverending path of self improvement.