Happy Holidays

I had a lot of fun with this piece, which was commissioned by a friend of mine.

ink, watercolor, and graphite on illustration board

Bromide Concept WIP

I know it's been a while since I've posted any art so here is something new:

Some of you may remember the Art Order challenge about the Bromide race. Well, I've actually had a bit of free time lately and I started working on a color illustration based on the initial graphite sketch, which can be found here. I'm using mainly gouache with a bit of watercolor on hot pressed watercolor paper.

This is a few hours into the painting:

And this is after a few more:

I'm only working on this in between other obligations, so progress is slow. I hope to have this completed before the deadline of the "Best of Art Order" book submission deadline in January. Read more about that here.

Bitesized show this Friday!

Stop by Aurora Coffee at little five points and enjoy the show:

I'll have some prints and several originals for sale. If you are looking for a unique gift, this is a great opportunity to get some reasonably priced art. If you don't live in the Atlanta area and are interested in purchasing prints, visit my Etsy shop.

Now On Ebay

Check out some prints that I have listed for sale on eBay.

Warlord Preview

Warlord is releasing another expansion pack entitled "Sands of Oblivion". Here is one of my cards:

Visit the Warlord weblog at www.warlordccg.de for more info.

Baltimore Comic Con

I just got back from the Baltimore Comic Con and had a great time. This was really a fun experience and if anyone hasn't been to Baltimore, I highly suggest visiting. It was great to see some familiar faces from other conventions (like my friend Charlie Harper) and also to meet some new friends. We sat next to Mike Maihack, the creator of Cow and Buffalo, as well as R. M. Rhodes from Oletheros Publishing, both of whom were very nice guys and had some interesting products. Be sure to check them out.

It was also nice to have some sketching time, and I indulged in drawing one of my favorite creatures - giant monster spiders with freakishly large fangs:

DragonCon Day 4

DragonCon this year was the best yet. Even though I had some work up in the art show and print shop, I chose to put business aside and just have fun.

It was a real treat to see some of the props and costumes that some friends made for the convention. Check out the Volpin props Flickr photostream for pictures and the Volpin Props blog for more info. He and his fiance make some awesome stuff. Here they are in costume at the con:

Big Daddy, Little Sister, and a Splicer from the game Bioshock

DragonCon Day3

Too tired...to write.....anything....else........

Watercolor, Ink, Colored Pencil

DragonCon Day 2

Saturday is the busiest day. There are tons of great costumes. Here's another piece from the show:

Graphite, Watercolor

DragonCon Day 1

Here is a new piece that is on display this weekend at the DragonCon art show.

Watercolor, Ink, Colored Pencil

Kingdoms of Legend Preview

I recently created an illustration for the upcoming game Kingdoms of Legend by Interaction Point Games and have been given permission to show a preview:

Here's some info on this guy from Interaction's website:

"Kingdoms of Legend is the name for the upcoming line of fantasy roleplaying game products from IPG. KoL is an alternate past Earth of ~1415 AD. This little guy is a cross between a maggot and a tunnel boring machine. That spits acid. Look for him in the upcoming first adventure in the new Kingdoms of Legend line of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatible products. "

To find out more about the game visit www.interactionpoint.com

Tube Girl

I've been interested in bio-mechanical stuff lately.

Graphite

Experiment

This is something I've been working on for the past few days. I don't think I'm done with it, yet. I've been playing around with mixing inks (both pen and brush), watercolor, graphite and gouache.

Mixed Media

Dragon Sketch

A sample from the sketchbook.

Catastrophic Dragon

Time has been quite slippery lately, and as such I have neglected the blog. Here's a dragon:

This guy is my entry for the Catastrophic Earthquake Dragon challenge on Art Order. Check out what's happening on the blog here.

B&W Vampires

Here is my latest entry for the Art Order blog. We were to illustrate two vampires in black and white according to a short description. View more about this challenge here. To make this contest even better, the pieces will be sent to various art directors of several well known publishers for judging. Be sure to check Art Order on Tuesday to see all of the entries.

Also, there are a lot of really exciting Art Order events ahead and I've already begun sketching for the highly anticipated Dragon Challenge. Jon has pulled together a stellar panel of judges, including Todd Lockwood! Check back frequently, I'll be documenting my progress.

ink and photoshop

After the Convention...

I've finally caught up on sleep after attending Heroes Con last weekend. I had a great time and made some money, too. It was a pleasure meeting up with some old friends. My friend from ConceptArt.org, Charlie Harper, was there and he introduced me to Bobby Chiu from Imaginism Studios. Although we only got the chance to hang out one night, I had a lot of fun and Bobby is really good at storytelling. He also offered some very sage-like advice regarding our portfolios and the presentaiton of our art.

Several people asked for commissions over the weekend and I only have a picture of one of them (one of these days I will be able to afford a digital camera).

Namor Convention Sketch

I also had the pleasure of meeting Scott Adsit who plays Pete Hornberger on "30 Rock" which is one of my favorite shows. I have to admit, I geeked out a little and my friends at the table will probably never stop making fun of me for it. He was a really cool guy though, and he seemed to enjoy speaking with the various artists at the con.

Next up is Dragon Con!

Dragon Mountain

I just finished up this dragon piece that I have been working on to show at Heroes con in Charlotte, NC this weekend. I've been wanting to do a piece with a dragon rider and harness for a while, so this was a great opportunity. Prints of this guy will be available and I'm hoping to get my hands on a friend's large format printer. Otherwise, they will be 8"x10" on 8.5"x11" paper.

If you plan on attending the con, stop by and say hello (small press table 340). I'll have a variety of prints for sale (including a self-published book of my sketches), and I will also be taking commissions. My friends Billy and Adam will be there, there art is kewl.

Watercolor, Gouache, Colored Pencil

Ink!

Ink is one of my favorite mediums to work in. I love how it lends itself to a more free flowing style and I also like the fact that you have to commit to a stroke before you paint it. It's sort of a mixture between painting and drawing.

Ink on Bristol

Character Concpet

A result of a bit of brainstorming and experimentation the other day:

Mixed media and Photoshop

16 Minute Monster

I did this sketch a while ago to practice for a quick sketch contest. As the title states, it took 16 minutes for this guy.

And, just for MuYoung, the yellow-faced wizard pirate:

Below is the progress so far. I still need to punch up the highlights a bit and define some areas. His hair and eyebrow are not completed, yet. I've been contemplating taking this into Photoshop and combining some digital elements. Using digital and traditional media together is very interesting and I haven't quite been able to mesh the two in a satisfactory manner. Perhaps it will work well for him.

Wizard Pirate Line Sketch

What would be better than a pirate? A wizard pirate. Yes, that's right. Here's the line work:

I got a bit ahead of myself and started coloring it before I scanned the line work. My under paintings are usually really bight and obnoxious colors, so I figured I would spare the wizard pirate the embarrassment of having a bright neon yellow head in public. His face has been grayed out to preserve some dignity.

Here's a close-up:

p.s. I'm trying to win a contest! Please vote for the Chimera Familiar on the Art Order blog! Leave your vote with my name (Kim Feigenbaum) in the comments section of the blog. I could use the publicity. Even more importantly, I could use any jobs that would come from that publicity :)

Here is the link to visit: http://artorder.blogspot.com/2009/05/concept-tuesday-unfamiliar-familiars.html

Chimera Familiar

Art Order had us illustrating an "Unfamiliar Familiar" this week. Of course, I couldn't decide on just one animal and why should I when I can combine several different ones into one awesome Chimera Familiar? Well, that's exactly what I did and I think he could be quite useful in many situations. He has all the attributes of the normal familiars (cat, raven, snake, etc.) but with their powers combined (just like Captain Planet) he becomes a creature capable of much greater power than that of the individual familiars (but without a mullet).

Cloak of the Leech

Here is another card from Crimson Coast:



Also, summer is fast approaching and that means convention time! I'll be listing any conventions that I will be attending on the right side bar of this blog. The first one is Heroes Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina from June 19 - 21.

Boll Deevil Concept

I'm having fun over at Art Order again. We were to use the tiny, yet highly destructive Boll Weevil as inspiration:

The concept behind this critter is that he is a weapon and armor eating beast. These guys roam around searching for unsuspecting humans that just happen to carry their favorite food - metal. They use their long frontal dexterous appendages to seek out and procure edible material. Because of their size and strength, fighting back proves futile and the unfortunate humans are robbed of all armor and weapons. The beasts eat the objects, metabolizing the metal, which is then secreted as alloys to form a nearly impenetrable exoskeleton.

Watercolor, Gouache, Colored Pencil, Graphite

Really Big Weapons are Neat

This is yet another concept for the Art Order blog. This time, Jon had us designing a huge weapon that would strike fear into the hearts of any advancing enemies. Well, I had a lot of fun with this one. Of course, my initial inclination was to make a weapon so massive it would have been downright ridiculous. Instead, I settled for a size that was only slightly ridiculous.

Putrescence...What a Great Word

Here is another preview from Crimson Coast that was spoiled on The Price of Defiance Warlord fan site. In case you missed it, here is the Warlord link: www.warlordccg.de

Urvogel Dinogloth

This sketch was originally intended for this week's "Art Order" concept sketch, but I just didn't have enough time between projects to finish it before the deadline. Anyway, the idea was to create an undead demon dinosaur, which quite frankly is the best concept idea ever.

My favorite dinosaur is Archaeopteryx, so naturally I chose to model my idea around it. In the end I think it looks more like a cross between a phoenix and a dragon, but it was fun.

On a side note, zombie demon dinosaurs would be the most disappointed among the undead. It would take an incredible amount of energy to bring down a living dinosaur and they would only be rewarded with walnut-sized brains. What a pity.

Crimson Coast Preview

One of the cards that I created for Warlord: Crimson Coast has been previewed. She is a Selkie of the Free Kingdoms - a creature that is half human, half seal. The newest expansion pack is due for release on April 30th. For more info, visit the Warlord blog at www.warlordccg.de

Watercolor, Gouache, Colored Pencil

"Bromide" Concept

This another sketch for the "Art Order" blog based upon the concept of the "Bromide Race". Basically, the idea was to create a plant-based humanoid character. Since I love gardening and have many different strange plants at home, it was quite fun to combine several influences to create this guy - or girl. Actually, I think they would be asexual.

Construct Concept

Well, after some major computer problems that took most of a month to sort out, I am back on the internet and able to post! I have a bunch of new stuff in the works that I won't be able to show until the end of April, but in the meantime I've been doing some sketching:


I like the idea of mechanical creatures, especially ones inspired by crustaceans or insects. This guy reminds me of a mecha nautilus mixed with a bit of giant squid and some crab. It was created for a weekly activity on Jon Schindehette's blog "Art Order".

Fairy Concept

I've been practicing with Photoshop lately. This new piece is a character concept based upon Queen Titania.

It's Whistle Pig Day!

Happy Whistle Pig Day to everyone emerging from their winter hibernation. Here's some new art to celebrate:

"Two Roads"
Photoshop

Warlord Prints Now On Sale

The three pieces that were created for the collectible card game "Warlord" are now available for purchase on Etsy. Purchasing from Etsy is secure and easy, but you must sign up for an account. If you do not wish to sign up for an Etsy account, please contact me at darktreestudios@yahoo.com and let me know what print you would like - include "Warlord Print Order" in the subject. Each print costs $10 plus $2 for shipping/handling via USPS for US orders. If you live outside the US, you will have to contact me for a quote. At this time, I only take payments through PayPal.

I print all of my own prints on premium glossy photo paper with HP Vivera ink. Each images is signed and titled with archival black ink. All prints are shipped flat and are enclosed in an acetate envelope with cardboard backing.

Fire Seeds, Incessant Waves, Flying Carpet

Horse

Here's a horse in the woods.

Serpentine

This is one of the images that was removed from the website during the recent renovation.

ink on bristol board

New Website Design

I just completed re-designing my website. The new design is a bit more stylish and makes use of pattern and texture (which was lacking in the previous version). The color scheme is similar but more dramatic.

I separated my work into "illustration" and "concept art" and removed the sketchbook section. The sketches will be posted here from now on and the website will only feature my professional work. This should keep things organized a little better. It will also give me lots of material to publish here on the blog in the next few weeks.

Attached is the photoshop template I made while deciding color, pattern, and layout.