Harrenhal Concept Art

A depiction of the ruined remains of Harren the Black's once mighty fortress.

Sketch Meat 022

Apparently, women in the age group of 25-27 who are earning pharmaceutical degrees and who also spend an offensive amount of time looking at cute things on the internet do not find my monsters to be "cute enough". So in an attempt to appease this fan base, I have created a few creatures that will hopefully be more in line of what would be considered "cuddly and fuzzy" (with a liberal sprinkling of horns and claws, just deal with it).

Creature Concept: Spike Leg Monster

What do you get when you mix a chicken, a butterfly, and a random bunch of invertebrate parts? Why, it's a spike leg monster of course! This concept was originally designed for a CGHub activity, the description of which may be found here.

Creature Concept: The Ancient One

This guy was created for another CGHub activity - Creature Planets Activity #32. The concept was "the ancient one" and we also had to create an idea for the planet on which this critter lived. I thought of an animal that would grow large in maturity and would have no natural predators as an adult. The planet has abundant resources and a mild climate. These combined factors allow adults to reach extreme old age. That's the basic idea, anyway. I think there is more potential in this design and I plan to develop it further.

 I'm very excited to announce that my design won this challenge and it was featured as an editor's pick on CGHub!

Creature Concept: Tuk-Tuk

The Tuk-Tuk was created for a weekly activity over at CGHub. It's always fun to see what sort of descriptions the moderators will come up with. This one in particular caught my interest. The Tuk-Tuk is a medium sized flying creature with four eyes. It lives on cliffs near the ocean, is a carnivorous hunter, and is aggressive when provoked. Another part of the challenge required that we depict a male and a female in their natural habitat. The male is the more colorful of the two.

Marowak Resdesign - Final

Alright, here is the final version of the Marowak. The poll is up over at CG Hub, so if you are a member make sure to go vote for your favorite entry! In case you missed the description of this guy, check out this post I made last week.

Photoshop

Marowak Redesign

This WIP is for this week's CG Hub Creature Planets Activity. The topic is to redesign a Pokemon as though it were a real creature. Naturally, I picked something involving skulls and death. Marowaks wear the skulls of their dead mothers, have an ornery temperament, and walk around throwing bones at their enemies. Cool.
The original Pokemon version:

And my version so far:

The entries are due on Nov. 24, so be sure to check out the thread over at CG Hub!

Log Monster Concept

This is a digital WIP and some sketches that I've been working on for a bit. It was created for the Log Monster challenge for Art Order. I'm also working on a traditional painting of this concept. 

graphite sketches and Photoshop

Tuber Troll

This is what he looks like in color:

Gouache, Ink, and Watercolor

Oddly enough, I have a sweet potato that has sprouted in my kitchen.

Volithar: Mutant Lionfishman

This is the final version of my entry for the Mutation Nation challenge over at Art Order. Check out the specs for the challenge here.

While brainstorming ideas for this guy, I began to build a story about the behavior and culture of these mutant humanoids. Lionfish and humans share a few traits (as far as behavior), so it wasn't too difficult to merge the two together.

The Volithar are slow moving, yet incredibly strong. They use their strength to swim through the turbulent post-apocalyptic oceans to scavenge and pillage from weaker species (like humans). They generally travel in tight knit family groups, usually no more than twenty individuals. Volithar are fiercely loyal to their own families, and will often fight or kill other creatures perceived as a threat. Because of this, vast areas of ocean may be devoid of large predators if a Volithar family has claimed it as their territory.

This species is opportunistic and will make use of any material for weapons (even their own bones and spines) and will consume just about any organic matter for food. They have an extremely high tolerance for radiation, pollution, and other toxins and will often live in areas where other creatures can't survive. A unique feature of their metabolism allows the Volithar to safely absorb toxins which are then secreted as a potent poison from glands at the base of their dorsal spines.

The hide of the Volithar is extremely thick and tough. Sharp objects are often used like needles to secure clothing to their bodies. Colorful bits of cloth and trash are added in layers to create a crude form of clothing. Although Volithar have a basic form of culture, their language is complex. Comprised of guttural rumblings as well as body posture and position of dorsal spines, Volithar can communicate audibly as well as visually over great distances. 

Gouache and Watercolor

Lionfish Man WIP

This guy is something I've been working on for a bit. I've always liked lion fish and I thought it would be really cool to imagine what a mutated anthropomorphic version would look like. I'm entering him in the Mutation Nation challenge over at Art Order, which is due April 11.

There are several other sketches I've done, and I have a few other ideas for compositions, so my final image may change. Right now, he's naked and has no bad-ass weapon to pillage and plunder with - other than his venomous spines, of course. I'll have to remedy that in the next post.

Photoshop

Demon Assassin Final

You may remember the WIP I posted a while back of the Demon Assassin inspired by an Art Order challenge. Well, I finally got around to finishing it. It's mixed media - gouache, watercolor, ink, graphite, and Photoshop.

This was quite fun to work on. I've got a bit of free time coming up, so I plan to enter the next challenge for Art Order (Mutation Nation). There is no way I could resist the urge to create horribly mutated creatures in a post apocalyptic setting - nothing but win can come from this. Sketches and WIPs will be posted in the coming weeks.

Monster Cat

It's a monster cat!

Gouache on illustration board

Demon Assassin WIP

I started this piece for an Art Order challenge but wasn't able to complete it on time. This is a second version that came from the first draft I started. Originally this looked quite different, but part of the way through I hated it and just smeared the paint around. I really liked how the brush strokes turned out and so I was inspired to continue with the current version.

Gouache, Ink, and Graphite on Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper

Bromide Final in Color

Alright, I finally finished it. I ended up working much larger than I normally do, so it took a bit more time. It was a challenge to choose the color palette for this piece. I wanted something that would be plant-like, yet I also wanted to suggest that this guy is a bit alien. I looked at a lot of orchid and insect photos and eventually developed the palette from those references.

Gouache on hot-pressed watercolor paper

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.

Tube Girl

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

Graphite

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.

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