Running with Paintbrushes

Lis's Viking Final - "Rán's Embrace"

2012-01-25T00:28:00.005-05:00

Here is my final piece! Watercolor/acryla gouache/digital - I want to make the corrections in the painting that I made digitally. I just did them digitally first because it's easier to see what I'm right and wrong. Submitting it to Spectrum tomorrow along with two others!

I found some more great information about Rán here - http://reclaimingthedarkgoddess.blogspot.com/2010/03/ran-norse-goddess-of-sea.html

From the link:

"She has been called cruel, greedy and insatiable. She reigns over the the Underworld found at the bottom of the sea. Ran mated with Her brother, Aegir, the sea god, and they had nine beautiful daughters, the Waves... Her name means "robbery", and She could often be found lurking on the dangerous cliffs and, with the help of Her daughters, enticing mariners to approach; once within Her reach, She spread Her fishing net over them and calmly draws them down into Her realm.

"The Norse people believed that drowning victims were not admitted into Valhalla; instead, they went to Ran's realm of the dark. She was, therefore, also considered to be a Goddess of the Dead. If the dead had gold, they were treated well within Her deep sea abode, and the mead would flow freely... Ran represents water; and, as such, She controls the life force of all the creatures on Earth."

Craig's Viking Underpainting

2012-01-20T09:48:00.000-05:00

Inspired by Petar Meseldzija I decided to do an underpainting for this piece.

http://petarmeseldzija.blogspot.com/2011/12/conan-commission-part-2.html

He, of course, has a lot of experience and I'm sure his handling of the thinness of the paint sets up a better underlayer than I've created here. Also I know a warm underpainting can set up some great contrasts and warm shadows but I simply used a grey palette made of Burnt Umber, Ultramarine Blue, and Titanium White. This was an experiment in planning tone for me. I spent too much time blending the background instead of just laying it in but I'm happy with the way I simply blocked in the forms on the rest.

P.S. I had a family friend pose for the face and made my viking even younger. This will also contribute to a better expression on his face. I added a bundle of sticks on his back for a little storytelling ... "I was out collecting firewood when suddenly ..."

Lots of painting still to go!

Becca's Viking Painting - In Progress

2012-01-18T20:33:00.004-05:00

Hey All! Soooo I'm a bit late on this thanks to some commissions, but I'm posting the progress to see what you guys think of where it's going. I need to darken up that shield and play a bunch more with the background... basically everything can use some more work, but I'd love your thoughts before I finish it up! Thanks! (Also FYI the colors look a lot duller here than on my computer! Ug. Technology. Anyone have suggestions for that too?)

Lis's Viking Teaser

2012-01-16T12:00:00.003-05:00

So my viking painting is finished but I'm expecting a critique tomorrow and might have a few changes. I don't want to post it until those changes are done! Here's a teaser (:

Becca's Vikings - Underpainting!

2011-12-21T20:24:00.002-05:00

Hey guys! OK so I'm just so excited about this piece that I wanted to share the under-painting (in progress). Yay!

Ragnarok: Fenrir Swallows Odin Whole Sketch

2011-12-20T20:52:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the quality of the picture, this was as good as I could do right now. Fenrir, the huge wolf, eats Odin whole as Valhalla is destroyed in the background by falling meteors or fireballs or something epic like that. In the final I'm thinking Fenrir will be tones of red, pretty much the entire pice will be in a reddish hue. Snow will be falling, people will be running out on the gates of Valhallah. It's gonna be fun.

Craig's Viking Drawing

2011-12-16T20:01:00.002-05:00

Here is my Viking drawing. I need to do a color sketch next and in it I will be paying a lot of attention to planning out the tones of the various layers involved here including all the atmospheric hazy levels. For now I'd love to hear which details of the drawing work for you and which need tweaking. I'm pretty happy with most elements but I'll let you comment first. Thanks!

Lis's Viking Sketch

2011-12-16T17:53:00.006-05:00

So here's the final sketch... I will be printing it out lightly and then drawing it nicely with pencil. As you can see it has really changed! It was super horizontal and kind of boring before. Brought it into my mentorship with Rebecca Guay for critique. Super excited to paint this... hopefully painting it won't be a nightmare--in particular the water and froth. But if all else fails... photoshop! :P I need to edit the hand with the hair entwined around it... fingers are a lil weird.

And here's a color comp... but it's not really complete... it'll probably end up a lot different with more contrast and color, etc.

Becca's Viking Sketch(es)

2011-12-16T12:38:00.010-05:00

Full size image

Cropped in close

Cropped a bit less, and flipped horizontally

Same as above, but not flipped.

Okie dokie, here's what I've got going so far! An intimate moment between father and daughter, before the father goes off to... somewhere in one of those sweet ships. The focus is really going to be on the girl, and I'm curious what you guys think about which direction they should be facing. I'm playing with cropping too. I'll be working up some tonal and color comps as well, and really trying to pay attention to maintaining my focal point - Jesper Ejsing recently did a nice post about this on the Muddy Colors blog. I'm avoiding going into a ton of detail until I've got the basics really hammered out - let me know what you all think, the more input the better!

Craig's Viking Thumbnail

2011-12-13T12:26:00.000-05:00

After talking with everyone and getting their comments I wanted to push my thumbnail farther. I wanted more going on in the picture and more fantasy elements. I'm going for a drawing and painting that hopefully are more challenging for me. The scene is more dramatic but the viking is more subdued. A young man having a vision high on a hill as Valkyries ride an oncoming storm.

Craig's Viking Thumbnails

2011-12-02T21:33:00.001-05:00

Scott's right, so many ideas for vikings!

This is how the idea progressed. I just want the most intense, fierce looking warrior I can paint. Hopefully a real contrast to the Unicorn piece. One was a little wonky. Two introduced a cool storm filled sky with vertical shafts of light streaking down, but much too posy. Three is a much more interesting pose to me, how does it work for you? Four is vertical possibly like a Magic planeswalker and I'm trying to push the half barbarian/half viking idea farther, but way too posy. Five is starting to look better, he's on the dragon ship about to hit shore, throw his spear and attack, more perspective and depth. Crazy storm filled sky with these sort half angel/Valkyrie things (from two) looming above and a strip of sea and bright horizon line way in the back.

Anything good here? Let's all get in Spectrum!

Owen's Viking Thumbs

2011-12-02T17:36:00.001-05:00

After a lot of different ideas, I felt I needed to do a piece based on existing mythology. I'm really excited about the last thumbnail; it's based on one of the events in Ragnarok, the Norse armageddon. At one point, Odin's giant wolf, Fenrir, swallows Odin whole. Later, Odin's son cuts the wolf open and Odin is set free. So I want to show Odin being gobbled up by Fenrir, while Valhalla is on fire in the background. I'm pretty sure I want to do the one on the far top right, but I did a horizontal version on the bottom right also.

Becca's Viking Thumbs

2011-12-02T17:09:00.005-05:00

Here's my idea so far for the Viking piece. I'd like to do a piece that can play to my children's book portfolio, but also have enough of a fantasy element to be a good entry for Spectrum. The image will be of a young girl and her father, who is about to leave on some sort of expedition. I'm not sure if he's going to war or trading or what - that will determine whether he's holding an ax, shield, etc. They are having a tender moment before he has to leave - I'll have to play with their expressions a bit, I'm trying to decide how stoic to make him, and how sad to make the girl. I'm going to have to do some research, but I'm really excited to design their clothing (lots of furs and heavy cloth). I plan on using a very limited palette, with muted tones except for his beard and her hair. I'm thinking of it as a book cover.

Anyhooo these are just my ideas so far, and I know these thumbs are suuuuper simple, but hopefully they get the basic idea across. Also, let me know if you think any of these might be better flipped to face the other direction.

Scott's Viking Thumbnails!

2011-12-02T12:55:00.001-05:00

RARRGG! VIKINGS! So at last I can manage to get back in here with another RWP project! It's been way too long!
This one's been both fun and tough so far for me because vikings are just so cool...and I've had waaay too many directions pulling at my brain. So it's been a little tricky to get my mind to slow down for a minute so that I can settle on some solid ideas. One could literally spend a lifetime trying to illustrate all of the tales and images that vikings conjure up!
Anyway, here's a few of my favorite thumbs. Please be as critical as possible because I really want this piece to be sweet. If you think they all suck...tell me! and I'll start over. There's plenty more images in my head to contend with.

Ok, this one is kind of a wraparound cover sort of thing. Pretty straight forward. The leader or hero or whatever of the viking army stands facing us while the others are pointing to a distant village which has beams of light cast on it.

Next, we have a brave viking chick who is valiantly sailing across the seas to conquest or something. She has her pet falcon with her also. But she has a grim side because there's a head and skull hanging from the side of the boat in the Foreground cast in shadow.

This one is not looking nearly as badass and I have in my head...yet. But its a really gnarly looking viking dude walking towards us with an evil smile and a raven on his shoulder. he is lit by moonlight on top and fire from below as if from a torch. The background is fire and silhouetted figures.

This one is from the story of Sigurd and Fafnir the dragon. Sigurd has killed the dragon and removed the dragons heart to consume. (Though I suppose that the heart would be a lot bigger?) Anyway, pretty explanatory.

And this one is of a viking ship just about to be attacked by a dragon. The leader is yelling a warning to the others.

If I had to pick favorites I'd have to say I like 1,2, and 5 best. But I would have fun will all of them! What does everyone think?

Lis's Viking Thumbs

2011-11-30T21:53:00.004-05:00

So I think I have a pretty clear idea of where I'm going with this, I just need help deciding on the composition that works best... It's kind of a wrap-around book cover size (but it doesn't necessarily have to be composed like a book cover)... but I don't know if I want the goddess turning her face toward the ship, or away from them with her eyes turned toward the ship, or if I want her flipped in the other direction! :P

Anyway, Rán is a Norse sea goddess and she likes to drown sailors (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rán), so I have a viking ship in stormy seas struggling to stay upright and get to shore (or just away!), and Rán is rising from the sea. I'm pretty exciting about painting this!!!!

I envision Rán to have multiple 'tiers' - her bottom half is foamy with waves and water splashing (water spout-like), and she still has some hair dragging in the sea, but in the middle her body becomes less water and more of just a transparent-ish being, and at top i want the rest of her hair to be flying around and kind of blending in with the clouds. In the foreground the ship/sea will be the darkest with bolder outlines, and there should be a nice atmospheric gradient to the distance. I also want there to be lights visible on the shore from torches/huts. Oh... and she'll be wearing some clothes... though one boob might be hanging out.... goddess style.

New RWP Project: Vikings!

2011-11-27T20:18:00.001-05:00

Vikings from the movie How to Train Your Dragon.

The RWPers have been busy little bees recently, but at long last we will be doing a project that all five of us will participate in. With the Spectrum 19 deadline coming up in January, the time is ripe for some kick-ass new paintings. The theme is, you guessed it, Vikings!

Viking: The term Viking (from Old Norse víkingr) is customarily used to refer to the Norse (Scandinavian) explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.

Thanks Wikipedia!

This theme can be twisted and turned any old way you please. Just have some Viking in there.

Deadlines:
Thumbnails - December 2nd
Sketches - December 16th
Final Painting - January 16th (extra time allotted because we expect these to be extra awesome)

Have at it!

New Art from Lis: Marguerite

2011-11-03T16:31:00.003-04:00

Always fun to see how sketches turn into final paintings and what changes. Look back a few posts and you'll see my initial sketch for Marguerite. I finished it during a mentorship I'm doing with Rebecca Guay, along with another piece - Night Song.

Go check out Night Song, from Hans Christian Andersen's "The Nightingale," over on my blog!

Craig's New Unicorn Horn

2011-10-19T22:35:00.000-04:00

I was experimenting with better lighting to photograph my art - and it helps a lot! Here is a new picture of my Unicorn. I tweaked the horn and seriously hope it looks centered at last. I also toned down its color and texture. I think it blends in much better now, more ivory than gold.

Becca's Recent Work

2011-09-25T18:55:00.003-04:00

Hey guys! I've recently been working on a couple of children's book dummies, and while I can't share most of it here, I can show you this exploratory piece that I did a little while ago, and the the new process I've been working on of late - I've set aside the watercolors for a bit, and am trying something new (and fun!). You can read more about the process and what I've been up to on my blog Something Artsy. I'll post a new project for RWP soon too!

New portfolio piece for Lis

2011-09-18T16:35:00.005-04:00

Hey all! It's been quiet around here /: Well we aren't working on any group projects, but we can still post sketches for our own ideas! This is portfolio piece idea I had.. kind of a book cover for young adult or early reader. The first one was my initial sketch, but then I made the foreground bigger and made the background smaller so I think I like the second one best. I'll need to get photo reference for the girls body, I think the arms around the pig are a little off. Please let me know what you think!

Lis's Troll Painting

2011-08-22T21:41:00.003-04:00

Finally!!! My troll is finished (: I couldn't continue working on it for the past month because I've had nonstop guests... but once they left, I was able to finish in four days. Pretty pleased with it... I was really disliking it before I started to paint, but I think I was just sick of looking at it unfinished on my desk. Now go rent TrollHunter!!!

Running With Paintbrushes at GenCon!

2011-08-12T11:07:00.001-04:00

Scott and Lis at Scott's booth, Day 1

I was going to take pictures of the booth each day, but that never happened. Scott, in my opinion, had a very successful Con. He sold a couple originals, a lot of prints, and got Best in Show for a Running with Paintbrushes assignment! It was a lot of fun to watch.

The Billy Goats Gruff

2011-08-03T19:59:00.000-04:00

Ahoy, everyone! So this is finally done. I have been working on 2 pet portraits while I was doing this one, thats why I didn't finish earlier. I'm happy with this piece. I want to do another piece showing more of the character design and less perspective, cause I think if anything, the proportions aren't exactly clear. I'm very happy with his face and how the bridge came out. Anyway I hope everyone likes it, and If you don't know the story, SPOILER! (the goats do not get eaten, crafty little guys they are).

On a nerdy note, I will be wandering around GenCon, in Indianapolis, this weekend, Scott and Lis will be there also, so come by Scotts booth we'll probably be there.

The Billy Goats Gruff, 10" x 14", Oil on Paper on Masonite, 2011.

Craig's Unicorn Painting

2011-07-18T16:28:00.005-04:00

Owen's Troll Sketch

2011-07-15T16:33:00.002-04:00

Here is my sketch for the Troll assignment. It's a take on the tale of the Three Billy Goats Gruff. The big bad Troll is holding onto the youngest goat as it pleads for it's life, and to eat his father, for he is more of a meal. The goats father and grandfather look over the bridge wall in the upper left corner. Let me know what you think!

Lis's Troll Sketch

2011-07-13T23:49:00.008-04:00

Hi folks! So here is my troll sketch... I included a few rotation variations so it may not be as straight on... depending on what people think. I ended up making the troll less dumpy... I was getting annoyed by his dumpiness and I wanted him to be a little more scary looking. I had a lot of trouble trying to figure it all out, composition, looks etc. I think I'm finally satisfied though. Will be a good portfolio piece for Gencon! I'll probably post a color comp in a few days. I have a vision!

The first one is the original. The other two are tilted toward the right or left.

And click this to see an larger one for detail...

Owen's Troll Thumbnails

2011-07-08T09:14:00.000-04:00

For my Troll piece I tried to come up with many different compositions and things for trolls to be doing, but I kept coming back to the 3 Billy Goats Gruff. Oh and I hate myself because for the past 2 weeks I have been drawing trolls nonstop, I had pages and pages of trolls and I wanted to show my evolution of drawings to get to these 2 thumbnails. Then of course I left my sketchbook at work and didn't realize it until I was way to far away to turn back and get it. Anyway, essentially these are my 2 favorite ideas. I think I personally like the one on the left. Let me know what you think.

Lis's Troll Thumbs

2011-07-06T20:02:00.002-04:00

Hey all! Here are my troll thumbs.

The first two - Troll shepherd with goats (if you think a troll being a shepherd is weird, I'm not the only one that thought of it! Google and you will see one of those popular troll statues as a shepherd with goats! haha. He eats them later :P), or a troll fishing with his hovel behind him. I'm going for the fishing scene I think. I want it to be kind of a portrait, a troll in his comfort zone.

This second thumbs are just a comical idea - giant troll with itty bitty sheep... in the left thumb he's bending down and picking one up delicately, and the others are running away. I think it's a cute idea, but I'm still leaning toward the fishing troll... maybe I'll do this later.

I will, of course, work on my troll character design more for the final. He's a bit boring right now.

New Project: TROLLS!!!!

2011-06-29T13:36:00.000-04:00

Recently, a few of us went and saw TrollHunter, an amazing movie from Norway. A documentary style film, it follows film students who think they are making a documentary about bear poaches but it turns into so much more. It's hilarious, and the trolls are fantastic! It inspired our next project - Trolls! This project is for Owen and Lis, as everyone else is busy on personal work at the moment. If anyone else would like to join in, feel free!

The due dates are as follows:
Thumbs - Friday July 8
Sketches - Wednesday July 13
Final - Wednesday July 27

Summer!

2011-06-28T13:31:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone! As you can see, there hasn't been a post in a while. Everyone has been super busy this summer on various personal projects, commissions, and exciting travels. Becca is even getting ready to start her MFA! You should check out all our blogs and websites for updates.

I recently finished a painting that you can check out over at my own blog:

We may start up a new challenge again soon, those of us who aren't ridiculously busy. Until next time!

Becca's Unicorn

2011-05-28T13:03:00.007-04:00

Hey all! Here's my unicorn! I had a great time working on this one. It was a challenge, but I got it to a place where I'm happy with it. I looked a lot at Charles Vess and James Jean's work (esp his Fables cover art) for color palette ideas and general inspiration on this piece.

Question - the colors look a bit dull on my monitor - how do they look to you?

Owen's Unicorn

2011-05-28T12:43:00.001-04:00

Finally I have finished my Unicorn painting. I really loved working on this piece, so I wanted it to be the best it could be, I reworked and repainted far more than I usual. There should be a second layer to all my paintings, but I rarely have the time. I hope this comes off as a good young adult or children's book type piece.

Lately I have been using a very limited palette of Raw Umber, Ult. Blue, Yellow Ochre, Naples Yellow, a bit of Burnt Sienna, Titanium White and Ivory Black, and maybe a few other colors for the flowers. The outcome feels very natural to me.

If anyone looks at the Unicorn in Captivity Tapestry from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, you can see that I modeled the flowers, unicorn, and pomegranate tree on that piece. I still think that's probably the best, most sophisticated unicorn. My fiance has a poster of it in our living room. What a great piece.

The Unicorn, 21"x16", Oil on Paper on Masonite, 2011.

Lis's Final: The Light in the Weald

2011-05-06T00:30:00.004-04:00

Hey! Here is my unicorn final. I actually ended up using acrylic, and I really enjoyed it!! I printed the image on watercolor paper, put a green wash down, then covered it in a few layers of matte medium. I then worked with washes of acrylic (and some opaque acrylic in the light areas), before spraying it with varnish. Took a little longer than my watercolor work, but overall I am pleased. I want to work this way again! Unicorns <3...

It ended up quite different from my color comp... but that's how it goes with me. I always get more saturated with my colors than I intend. I guess that's my style? It's not as ominous in feeling... more Disney-esque. But I love Disney so it's cool. Tried color correcting in photoshop to make it more like my comp, but I like this.

Craig's Unicorn Color Sketch

2011-04-27T13:21:00.003-04:00

I have my copy mounted on board. I wanted to see my color idea before I dove in to paint. The first idea is very straightforward white sunlight and blue skies with shadows falling into grey-purples. The atmospheric perspective will just be a fade into pale blue. Pinks on the girl and gold-yellow on the horn and hair will bring attention there. Right now the sea needs a little more brightness and glitter. Maybe too tame? Try storm filled sky or deep golden light?

P.S. I'm on the header! Thanks, header maker person.

Craig's Unicorn Drawing

2011-04-20T23:25:00.003-04:00

Here's my drawing. Sky and sea and a small island peeking through at the right. This will need a color sketch to figure out color and values. Should be a challenge with a white dress, white birch trees and a white unicorn.

Owen's Unicorn Sketch

2011-04-19T21:19:00.000-04:00

Sorry I'm so late with this, I finished it saturday but for some reason I thought monday was the due date, and then I realized monday night I had to go to a passover seder. Anyway, this is my sketch. I really like it, I tried to incorporate as much of the unicorn tapestry as I could: the pomegranate tree (I'll paint the leaves in later), all the different flowers, and I tried to make him less a horse and more a hybrid goat-horse. I do need to know what you all think of the girl. I made her looking at the unicorn as a compositional thing, eyes going toward the center of interest. But technically she can't be looking at the unicorn. You could make the argument that she is reacting to the hoof noises on the roof, or plants growing in from her ceiling. Should I change her face to be looking at the hoof prints on the side of the building (which will be growing flowers and grass as well), or keep her as she is?

Craig's Unicorn Thumbnails

2011-04-19T14:59:00.006-04:00

First of all thanks to Becca for inviting me to be in on this Unicorn "assignment" and thanks to everyone for letting me be part of Running with Paintbrushes! Let me dive right in ...

I like the upshot of the Unicorn. For some reason I think a unicorn should be with a young woman, maybe a "barbarian" girl?A much more active shot. The woman has just jumped on.

But I think I like this more. A little "posey" but I like the interaction of the unicorn, woman and landscape foreground and background. I'm going to start drawing this up but there's always room for input.

Becca's Unicorn Sketch

2011-04-18T19:01:00.004-04:00

Well here it is! I am pretty pleased with how it's looking so far, and excited to play with the color - the top part with the bull will be done in reds, the bottom part in blues/greens... I think I'll try to do some sort of color comp like Lis.

My new goal is to do better thumbnails. I definitely didn't spend enough time flushing out my idea initially - I was impatient to get to the 'real' drawing I guess. I'm curious what ya'll think about my horse anatomy (esp you Lis, as our horse expert). I want the unicorn to look dainty, and not totally realistic (tiny hooves) but still plausible.

Welcome Craig!

2011-04-18T09:54:00.000-04:00

We are excited to announce that RWP has a new member, Craig Maher. Hailing from Poughkeepsie, NY, Craig has worked for clients such as Alderac Entertainment, Third World Games, Hidden City Games, and more. See his great work at his website, http://craigmaher.net/.

Lis's Unicorn Sketch

2011-04-17T16:08:00.002-04:00

So here is my final (kind of) sketch and a color comp. I want to make the trees more gnarly and interesting.. right now they're a little too straight, the foreground trees at least.

I realllllyyy love this color comp and I have a sinking feeling I won't be able to replicate it with watercolor... but we'll see. I still struggle with watercolor sometimes and feel like I try to do things that watercolor aren't meant to do, but damnit, I can make it happen!!!! Just need patience!

Scott's Unicorn Thumbs

2011-04-12T16:38:00.000-04:00

A bit late to the game here. Too many things going on lately and not enough time in the day. Anyway, here's the two i came up with quickly.

1. Is of a dreadful unicorn thing with a twisted gnarled root looking horn, being ridden by some dark character. The poor fellow in the front is cowering on a pile of bones...kind of a judgement scene. I want to contrast the darkness of the unicorn/rider to the paleness of the naked guy and the bones.

2. Is of the same scene but looking past the dark figure/unicorn to the poor soul.

and the unicorn demon horse will look somewhat like this:

Maybe working on a young adult project makes me crave dark evil things?

Becca's Unicorn Thumbs

2011-04-10T21:29:00.003-04:00

Hey All!

So here are my thumbnails for the Unicorn project. The first two ideas are based on the unicorn that is mentioned in the Chronicles of Narnia, which Peter rode into battle (I've included Aslan the Lion in the images as well). I think a piece like this would enhance my portfolio, because I don't really have any teenage boys in there yet, or anyone in armor, and it could be a good book cover sample. BUT I really like my other idea, which is from the story The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle - in the story, a unicorn ventures out of her protected enchanted forest to find the rest of her kind - the Red Bull has chased all of the other unicorns to a far off land. I thought it would be cool to juxtapose the red of the Red Bull with the gentle blues and greens of the Unicorn - it's less of a concrete scene, and more of an image that might describe the story as a whole.

Lis's Unicorn Thumbs

2011-04-10T20:44:00.002-04:00

So I only have two thumbs, because I became pretty set on the 2nd one! :P

It's going to be a scene around dusk, and like Owen's, at the unicorn's feet and the trail behind it, there will be glowing plants growing (it's a unicorn thing, you know) and the unicorn will also be glowing!

Owen's Unicorn Thumbs

2011-04-10T20:36:00.000-04:00

My favorite one is by far the 7th one. The window would have a girl looking out of it, trees and grass would be growing everywhere the unicorn has touched, and it would be glowing in the night. I did a sketch today, that isn't included here, where it's a bit more of a perspective and you are looking a bit more under the unicorn, which I like a lot, very dynamic.

I like the 3rd one, but I think it's ripping Palencar off a bit too much. All the others I think are a touch too boring. But I would love to know what you think.

New Project: UNICORNS!

2011-04-06T11:58:00.000-04:00

Oh yes! Oh YES! They are magical and majestic and... and... and sparkly and pretty and rainbows and kittens and fuzzy things!!

But seriously, our next project theme is unicorns. This is going to be an open-ended assignment - as long as there is a unicorn (or unicornS) involved, it'll pass.

Why unicorns? Well, because they are awesome.

I mean, look:

Even Boris Vallejo likes unicorns!

Thumbnails due: 4/10

Sketches due: 4/17

Final due: 5/4

Becca's Shadow sketcn

2011-03-19T13:38:00.002-04:00

Welp, it's been a week of technology crises at my apt, so right now I am without a scanner AND without photoshop. And, since I am hopeless when it comes to taking photos of my work (gotta fix that), I am not posting my final parade painting just yet. In the meantime, this is what I'm working on! It goes with a Robert Louis Stevenson poem titled "My Shadow", and it starts like this:

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.

It goes on, but I won't post the whole thing. I took this as an opportunity to work on designing a cute animal character with a lot of personality. I may want to change the bottom image - the mouse is a bit close to the edge of the page... and the shadow could probably be more interesting there too. What do you think?

Scott's Goblin Engineer Final

2011-03-17T16:18:00.000-04:00

At long last here is my final for the Goblin Engineer painting. Many layers of glazing as well as needing to put a few actual commissions first has postponed this sucker long enough. But i'm happy the way it turned out.

Lis Art: The Distraction

2011-03-09T20:19:00.002-05:00

Here is my final painting, The Distraction.
Watercolor, ink, gouache

Really enjoyed working on a good ole fantasy piece... but I think I stared at it too long. Usually I can finish a painting pretty fast, but this took me around two weeks off and on... I like it, but it's gotta grow on me more.

Murderbot Takes a Holiday

2011-03-07T20:25:00.000-05:00

Just finished my Murderbot piece. I haven't done one of those complimentary color schemes since college, it was a nice change of pace. I could focus more on my lighting and whatnot, without having to figure out color relations too much. I really hated this piece up until the last day of painting, it just was not looking good. Funny how putting rust and weathering to metal really makes it look better.

Muderbot Takes a Holiday, 8.25" x 11", Oil on Paper on Masonite, 2011.

Becca's Pandora Sketch

2011-02-25T18:41:00.003-05:00

Hey guys! This is a sketch that goes with a larger project which is in the works. I'm sorry I can't post the whole story behind the image, but I'd love feedback anyway! I haven't had this many figures in a painting in years... and I think the last time it was rats, not people...

Lis's current project - sketch

2011-02-15T14:05:00.003-05:00

Hey dudes, so this is my next piece. Two kids huntin' dragons. One is distracting, the other is sneaking up behind. I'm having trouble deciding which direction the image should go in, so here is the sketch in both directions! Also, if you see anything else worth noting before I start on the final drawing....

It was originally in this direction, which I think I still prefer...

but maybe it should be like this?

Becca's Alice Final

2011-02-14T15:34:00.002-05:00

Hey all! Here is my final Alice painting. I had fun with this one, although I found it trickier than usual for some reason. It was a challenge to paint a white rabbit in shadow, and keep the foreground separate from the middle and background, but I am pleased with the result. Let me know what you think!

Goblin Engineer Drawing

2011-02-14T00:22:00.001-05:00

Here's my drawing for the latest project!

Lis's Painting: The Cheshire Cat

2011-02-13T14:49:00.002-05:00

Hello all!

I'm very pleased with my Alice in Wonderland painting... and not just because at the very end I nearly accidently destroyed it, but was able to salvage it with gouache. Whew, that was scary. D:

Anyway the exact moment of this scene might be after Alice leaves the Duchess and drops the pig, and finds the cat up in a tree... although there might be other scenes with the cat in the tree and Alice below...

Owen's Murderbot Sketch

2011-02-12T15:15:00.000-05:00

Here is my sketch for "Murderbot Takes a Holiday". I think I gave him enough detail, but if you guys think he needs more weapons or little metal things let me know. The background is wrecked apartment buildings. Its all going to be done in orange and blue tones, I might do some color comps but I think I'm pretty settled on how its gonna look. The sun will be setting behind the tops of the buildings, so a lot will be somewhat silhouetted.

Owen's Murderbot Thumbs

2011-02-07T23:13:00.000-05:00

So after a lot of struggling to create a robot, I came up with Murderbot. The top one has a thumbnail kind of what I'm doing. A robot on a hill having a relaxing day off, and flying a kite. The robot doesn't understand the point of a kite, so it's using it's jet engines to propel the kite into the sky. I'm planning to build the robot somewhat for reference to the angle is likely to change a bit, maybe a perspective looking up at the robot that would make a cool angle for the kite. The design is based on those security cameras they have in museums and Vegas, so it has a 360 degree sight.

Scotts Engineer Thumbs

2011-02-07T22:18:00.000-05:00

Well i've done a wonderful job of stumbling along on these thus far without much sucess. But here's two i've managed to come up with. I wanted to have more of these, but a surprise root canal held me up a bit today. It's a goblin engineer either a: working on a mechanical bug thingy. or b: releasing his newly made creation into the air. Either way, let me know what you think.

Lis's sketch: Cheshire Cat and Alice

2011-02-04T21:56:00.003-05:00

My original idea was to do Alice looking up at the caterpillar, but it was too stagnant. So my new idea has more of the dramatic perspective that the project should have. Wee! Anyway... it's the scene where Alice is looking up and talking to the Cheshire cat in the tree.

Just a rough sketch so a lot of stuff has to be worked out - the cat's face and direction of gaze, alice's face, etc. I'm pretty excited to work on it though.

Becca's Alice

2011-02-03T20:47:00.002-05:00

Hey All! Here's my Alice Sketch. Of course, I had to do the White Rabbit :) This is the scene where Alice first sees the rabbit. She's been sitting with her sister, reading, under a tree, when the White Rabbit hurries by, and off they go down the rabbit hole!

Becca's Aesop's Fable final

2011-02-03T20:26:00.002-05:00

Here is my painting for the Aesop's Fable project! And as the old adage goes, "Never trust your enemies"...scumbags!

Lis's Final Painting: Aesop's Fable "The Fox and the Goat"

2011-02-01T23:15:00.006-05:00

Hello!!!

Here is my final painting of The Fox and the Goat. I may use a similar style for the Alice in Wonderland project... I was avoiding ink for a while for some reason, but I think I want to use it again occasionally.

Here is the fable again:

By an unlucky chance a Fox fell into a deep well from which he could not get out. A Goat passed by shortly afterwards, and asked the Fox what he was doing down there. "Oh, have you not heard?" said the Fox; "there is going to be a great drought, so I jumped down here in order to be sure to have water by me. Why don't you come down too?" The Goat thought well of this advice, and jumped down into the well. But the Fox immediately jumped on her back, and by putting his foot on her long horns managed to jump up to the edge of the well. "Good-bye, friend," said the Fox, "remember next time,

"Never trust the advice of a man in difficulties."

Machines

2011-02-01T21:42:00.001-05:00

So our excuses have finally run dry. It's time for Owen and Scott to start a new blog project. "What is it??" you ask? Well, it's engineering my dear friend. Our next project will be to incorporate some kind of mechanical engineering into our image. Whether it be a weapon, creature, invention, etc...will be up to the artist.

Thumbnails: Feb.7th

Sketches: Feb. 14th

Final: March 4th

Alice in Wonderland

2011-01-31T18:13:00.001-05:00

Becca and Lis are kicking off their next illustration assignment a bit early this time. The theme is Alice in Wonderland, and the assignment is to illustrate any scene or aspect of the story that inspires. The story does not have to be taken literally, and the image can represent a moment, a chapter/event, or the entire story (e.g. a book cover). The little twist we will add this time is that the image should convey some sense of dramatic perspective. The due dates will be flexible this time, but we will shoot to have the drawing done this week, and the painting done next week.

(Image by Maria Kirk, 1904)

Lis's Final Drawing - Aesop's

2011-01-24T19:04:00.004-05:00

Hi! So I decided to post my drawing before I go on to ink, make sure there's no major last minute changes. There area few things I'm tweaking, but other than that, I think it's ready. I added a bit of the shading with photoshop just so you'd get a better idea...

Finally a Death King!

2011-01-24T12:14:00.000-05:00

I am extremely sorry it has been so long since my last post. I have been busy doing anything and everything besides artwork. I have just bought an apartment with my girlfriend, Sarah. That and the holidays took up so much of my time that a painting that should have taken me 2 weeks, took me closer to 2 months to finish. I'm very happy with it now, though, and I'm glad to have finished it. This was one of those pieces where I was looking at it for so long and it wasn't progressing at all; getting to the point where it wasn't fresh in any sense, and when I started painting it again it was more of a chore than a privilege. That changed at some point last week, when I started putting the finishing touches on it. I love skeletons.

My next piece will be a personal piece that I've wanted to do these past couple months. I have a vacation from work now so hopefully I will be able to get through that quicker than this one. It isn't fantasy at all really. But Scott and I are in the midst of coming up with another assignment for this blog that we will post soon enough. We'll get this ball rolling again soon I promise.

Death King, 14" x 10", Oil on Paper on Masonite, 2011.

Becca's Aesop's Fable Sketch

2011-01-20T17:56:00.003-05:00

The Ass, The Fox, and the Lion:

I think I've made some major improvements from my initial sketches. I am really working on making the characters expressive, in facial and body language. This is something that I haven't pushed myself to do very much, so I am really excited about this piece.

Lis's Aesop's Fables sketches

2011-01-19T10:56:00.003-05:00

Hello!

Here is my idea and a color comp (:

The fable I chose is the Fox and the Goat. There are two slightly different versions of this story, but here's one of them:

By an unlucky chance a Fox fell into a deep well from which he could not get out. A Goat passed by shortly afterwards, and asked the Fox what he was doing down there. "Oh, have you not heard?" said the Fox; "there is going to be a great drought, so I jumped down here in order to be sure to have water by me. Why don't you come down too?" The Goat thought well of this advice, and jumped down into the well. But the Fox immediately jumped on her back, and by putting his foot on her long horns managed to jump up to the edge of the well. "Good-bye, friend," said the Fox, "remember next time,

"Never trust the advice of a man in difficulties."

The fox is stuck in the well and is looking toward the viewer with a mischievous laugh, kind of a "Get a load of this guy!" expression. The goat stands dumbly, unaware he's about to be duped. I think I might ink this piece before painting, too... I miss ink! The color comp is a bit saturated on this computer... the one I made it on has a duller screen... I'd prefer it a little less saturated. Also, perspective of the rim of the well is a bit wonky at the moment, gotta make some reference somehow with a roll of paper or something.

Blast from the Past

2011-01-17T21:15:00.001-05:00

Here's the finish of my Elven Huntress painting I finished up last week. You may remember it from the unfinished post I did back in September. I'm glad to have it off of my table finally.

Becca's Aesop's Fable roughs

2011-01-16T11:50:00.004-05:00

OK, I'm torn. Here is the fable that I chose:

The Ass, the Fox, and the Lion

The Ass and the Fox, having entered into partnership together for
their mutual protection, went out into the forest to hunt.  They
had not proceeded far when they met a Lion.  The Fox, seeing
imminent danger, approached the Lion and promised to contrive for
him the capture of the Ass if the Lion would pledge his word not
to harm the Fox.  Then, upon assuring the Ass that he would not
be injured, the Fox led him to a deep pit and arranged that he
should fall into it.  The Lion, seeing that the Ass was secured,
immediately clutched the Fox, and attacked the Ass at his
leisure.

Moral: Never trust your enemy

In the first one, the fox and lion are conspiring, while the poor donkey nibbles away obliviously. In the second one, I took it slightly less literally, and show the fox and the lion conspiring, while the donkey nervously looks on (whether or not he realizes he's about to be betrayed is left unknown). In the third image, the donkey has fallen into the trap, and the fox suddenly realizes he is now in danger.

Thoughts?

New Project: Aesop's Fables

2011-01-05T14:42:00.001-05:00

Hello 2011! We here at Running With Paintbrushes are finally ready to get down with some more art. Scott has returned from Egypt; the holidays are over.

The Aesop's Fables project is for Becca and Lis. Take one of the fables (you can read a bunch on http://aesopfables.com/) and illustrate a scene. The main goal of this project is to add an animal illustration to our childrens book portfolios. Everyone likes animals and art directors always ask to see animal images.

Dates:
Sketches: Thursday, January 20 2010
Final: Thursday February 3 2010

And an important moral brought to us by Aesop, particularly relevant to illustrators: Don't count your chickens before they hatch!

Becca's Egypt Painting

2010-12-01T21:22:00.002-05:00

Here's my final Egypt painting. I'm pretty happy with how this piece turned out, but this scan of it has made me realize that it's time for a new scanner (it's a little blurry in spots)! Yeesh, it's always something!

Anyway, I had fun with this one. Let me know what you think!

Lis's Egypt Painting

2010-11-29T18:03:00.002-05:00

Hi! Finished the painting. I think I'll call it "The Call of Hathor"... maybe. Titles are always difficult! I originally had white around the image and border, but it was too bright so I brought in the dark blue color on photoshop. Night paintings, especially with watercolor, can be challenging, but I think I pulled it off... The glow was achieved by missing chinese white with greens/blues/yellows, made me want to play with an opaque medium like gouache again! maybe next time...

Maybe I should send this over to Neil deGrasse Tyson who wrote Death by Black Hole. He mentioned, with annoyance, how artists always paint either a full or crescent moon. Since reading the book, I've always wanted to make him proud with a gibbous moon! Hmm... apparently he is now too famous to personally e-mail. Ah well, this is for you, Dr. Tyson!

Death King Sketch

2010-11-22T19:06:00.000-05:00

After a long day of work even Death needs to relax. Let me know what you think.

Winter: Last Flock

2010-11-19T14:38:00.000-05:00

This is my final for my "Winter: Last Flock" piece. I have finally finished my "Winter" series, for which I have been working on for the past year. I am truly proud of this series and personally feel it is some of my best work thus far. I doubt I could do something like this for any other season, I have grand feelings for autumn, but I don't think I could show 4 vastly different feelings or images to make a series. Winter is a very unique season. I can't quite put into words why it has inspired me to do this series, but I hope it comes across in the paintings.

Winter: Last Flock, Oil on Paper on Masonite, 27" x 9", 2010.

Becca's Egypt Sketch

2010-11-13T14:46:00.003-05:00

Hi there! Well, it's been a while! I've been back from Egypt for a couple of weeks now, and am going through the somewhat painful process of getting back into the groove of working. This is my sketch for the Egypt-inspired piece. It's a scene of a mother and child on the banks of the Nile in Luxor. The mother is putting an amulet around the child's neck to protect him. Children were considered very precious, and often had amulets tied to their wrists and ankles as well. This child is holding a toy and is accompanied by his dog (oddly enough, modern day Egyptians tend not to have dogs as pets, but it was common in ancient times). The sketch is pretty rough right now - I pieced it together in Photoshop, and I still have a good deal of designing and refining to do, but let me know what you think so far!

Death King Thumbs

2010-11-10T19:43:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone,

So Scott is off in Egypt, as we have said many times, and he has been doing some commissioned projects for some card companies. So my next piece will be another personal piece for my portfolio, a "Death King" image. A Skeletal character with armor, more a character based image than story based. My idea is based around this character having a nice relaxing smoke after a day of hard work.

So these are my thumbs. I will be doing the horizontal version to make more of a card based composition. See you in a week or so.

Lis's Egypt Final Drawing

2010-11-09T18:07:00.002-05:00

Hello! So here is my final drawing, much better than the first sketch...

Lis's Egypt Sketch

2010-11-03T22:04:00.002-04:00

So here is my idea! I already see things I want to fix... lower the frame so there is less sky, anatomical issues, make the papyrus clearer (that will really happen in paint though). I wanted to do an action scene, something that could be suitable on a book cover.

Story in brief: Some young Egyptian wealthy/princess/priestess-esque girl has been possessed/sleepwalking, hearing a goddess and heading toward some unknown destination. She's holding a sistrum, an ancient instrument typically associated with women and either the goddesses Hathor or Bastet. It's a night scene, with a boat on the nile (that she disembarked from, or perhaps someone is trying to catch up with her?), and a temple on the shore across the river. I plan on making her eyes and the sistrum glowing.

Oh... I just realized if the moon is just a sliver, as I have it here, there probably wouldnt be much moonlight. Hmmm... perhaps I should make it a full moon or even a gibbous moon, the kind artists rarely paint.

Border with egyptian motif or no? Don't have any pieces with borders, so it could be nice...

"Who's the fairest of them all?"

2010-10-29T16:20:00.006-04:00

Hey dudes!! Yes, it has indeed been slow around here. But that is now ending! Here's my latest piece, the Evil Queen from Snow White, finished just in time for Halloween! And next week, Becca and I will be posting the sketches for our next project.

Sorry about the grainy reproduction - currently without a scanner and had to take an icky photo.

Oh Hallo

2010-10-28T18:30:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone! Sorry it's been slow around here. You can blame me. I've been far away in Egypt for a while doing work for my day job. I also happened to drag Becca along with me. She's on her way back home now though, so things should get rolling around here again real soon. But for now here's some watercolor studies i've been doing while here.

What Owen is Working On

2010-10-26T19:33:00.000-04:00

Since Scott and Becca have left we haven't updated this much at all, so I thought everyone should know that Lis and I are still working on paintings. Mine is a personal piece, the final addition to my Winter series. This one is called Last Flock. It's inspired by an event that is described in "Sometimes a Great Notion" by Ken Kesey. I feel like this moment captures the start of Winter perfectly, the last leaves falling from the trees and the last flock of geese flying south.

Once this is completed we will go back to working on fantasy stuff and posting a lot more often, but for now this is what is on my easel.

Elf Hunter (Unfinished)

2010-09-27T13:14:00.000-04:00

What happened to the time! Ahh!

Well, anyway, today I am off to Egypt for the next 11 weeks so I will have to put this painting on hold. I was hoping to finish this up before leaving, but another unexpected job turned up at the last minute and need to be worked on. As you can see she still needs her belt, dagger, and bow. Also, the grass at the bottom and right of the image needs to be done (would've been hard to do over the wet white dress right now anyways). So here's my image as it stands for now. The photo is kind of yellow because of my table lamps. I will see if it can fit into my travel bag, but it may have to wait until December :(.

Recharge!

2010-09-24T16:01:00.000-04:00

I just finished this today. Although I've painted dragons before, they had never been the focus of the painting/ good. I'm happy with the way this came out. I hope the element of addiction comes across. I wanted it to look like the dragon needs lightning in an unhealthy way; the old bent spears and such melted to his skin.

Recharge!, 11" x 14", Oil on Paper on Masonite, 2010.

New Project: Egypt!

2010-09-23T22:14:00.000-04:00

Since Becca and Lis's project is complete, onto the next one! However, things are gonna be a bit slow around here for a while. Becca and Scott are both leaving Monday September 27th to work for the Metropolitan Museum in Egypt at their dig site (yes we should all be jealous). Becca will return by Halloween, but Scott won't return until just before Christmas.

In honor of this Egyptian adventure, our next project will be... "Egypt!"
This is a pretty limitless project. Becca and Lis can basically do whatever they want, children's book style, but they must incorporate some research into it, whether it be for accurate costume, architecture, style, landscape, anything that has to do with Egypt.

Due-date for thumbnails will be whenever (since Becca will be fairly busy, she'll get to them when she can).
The due-date for the drawing will be Friday, November 5th.
Due-date for final painting will be Friday, November 19th.

Meanwhile, Owen and Lis will continue to work on personal projects and may post updates here.

Woo! Egypt!!

Becca's Final: Taming the Battlebriar

2010-09-15T22:13:00.002-04:00

I have to say, I had a ton of fun with this painting! Using only watercolors (no colored pencil) is still fairly new to me, and with each painting I'm getting closer to the effects that I want to achieve.

(Sidenote: The scan looks a tad pinkish to me. Does it look that way to anyone else?)

100TH POST!!!

2010-09-15T22:12:00.000-04:00

It was a lot of hard work...

We journeyed through the dark woods of uncertainty, hand cramps, and scrutiny...

Sometimes, we REALLY needed a break...

But in the end, we were victorious! Happy 100th post!!!

Images from top to bottom: Owen Weber, Rebecca Solow, Scott Murphy, Elisabeth Alba

Lis's Final: Travelers

2010-09-15T17:56:00.003-04:00

Here is my final! I had a ton of fun with this one.
I fixed the legs of the elf a bit before going on with the paint. I tried a few new things with this piece - trying to be more atmospheric, have the background fade... Just trying to be a little more delicate and thoughtful with my watercolor, less bold colors and lines.

Anyway, elf + drake. Next, send it to the WotC art-drop email!

Lightning Dragon Sketch

2010-09-10T15:08:00.000-04:00

My thumbnail definitely changed drastically. The lightning dragon has transformed from roaring on a mountain to charging itself in a storm. Looking forward to getting started on this one.

Elf Hunter Drawing

2010-09-10T10:29:00.000-04:00

Here's my final drawing for my elf hunter image. i'm looking forward to painting this one. Hopefully i'll have enough time to squeeze it in while working on a few other projects.

Lis's Drawing: Travelers

2010-09-07T21:30:00.003-04:00

So here is my final drawing on watercolor paper, ready to be painted. I combined both sketches. Made them a little more active in their step. Let me know if you see anything that needs immediate correction before I begin!! (:

Becca's D&D for Kids Sketch

2010-09-03T15:43:00.003-04:00

Here is my drawing for the D&D Kids-themed project. I wanted to scan it in, but discovered that my rabbit had completely chewed through the USB cable on one of her recent forays into my room! 'Sigh'. So instead - a photograph.

I chose to depict a young elf and a battlebriar. OK, disclaimer, when I first discovered a description of a battlebriar, it said it was a frog-like creature. I later found out it is supposed to be more lion-like, but I loved the frog thing so I went with it. Either way, it's a creature that is at least partially made out of plants, so I've covered much of it's body with leafy scales. They also have six legs... I can already see that I'll need to give more room around those front toes. Critique away!

A quick thumbnail

2010-09-01T15:41:00.000-04:00

So here's a small sketch for the painting I'd like to do. It's a bit more book cover-y. Been super busy lately with game related NDA's so I want to make sure I am still getting in some sample work for the book cover market. The things behind her are birds....should I do crows or doves?? haha i can't quite decide since they're pretty opposite symbolically. Any preferences?

Owen's Dragon Thumbnails

2010-08-31T19:22:00.000-04:00

I am doing a dragon piece. My portfolio doesn't have many monsters or made up beings so thats my next challenge. Anyone who wants to be a fantasy illustrator needs to show that they can do a dragon. If you can't tell 2 and 3 are of a dragon that breathes lightning instead of fire. Number 1 is kind of a whale shark version of a dragon. And the 4th one is pretty mundane, kind of a vignette type piece. Let me know what you think because I kinda like them all.

Lis's sketch: Travelers

2010-08-29T18:45:00.003-04:00

Travelers or Off the Beaten Track... depending on which sketch I choose. I like them both! Argh! So I think I will do another of whichever I don't choose with different characters in the future. Hmm which one for now?

I chose an elf and a horned drake. I want the drake to be fairly young looking, and I really like that sturdy squat look for the elf (even though it may not be right?). The head is a little too big on the elf so making that smaller would probably help. I could also make the elf younger to fit the body... but I'm not sure! I kind of like him being older, handsome, AND squat, haha! I guess he would be closer to a halfling... but I want the pointy ears :P. Anyway, it probably doesn't matter. There's probably some type of elf thats sturdy and squat out there.

Scott and Owen's Next Piece

2010-08-28T18:24:00.000-04:00

So Scott and I both want to do fantasy compositions (since thats pretty much what we do) for our next painting. But our themes are vastly different, so FANTASY is our theme.

Due Dates:
Sept. 1st - Thumbnails
Sept. 10th - Sketches
Sept. 24th - Final

Scott and I have varying specifics for where our portfolios need improvement, that is why we can't really pick a theme right now. So bare with us, we have no rules, just making good art.

Next Project: D&D for Kids

2010-08-26T10:13:00.000-04:00

When Lis went to Gen-Con and met with Kate Irwin, an art director at Wizards of the Coast, she was introduced to the world of Dungeons and Dragons... for kids! Unfortunately the Practical Guide series was finished, so Lis and Becca have no hope of ever getting work for it. And one of the Practical artists, Beth Trott, does watercolor just like them! Curses! However, Kate mentioned that Lis should make D&D childrens book style art anyway, and send it to her via the Wizards artdrop in case any future projects under Mirrorstone or for kids were done... so here we are. The next project!

Pick a character (human, drow, dwarf, halfling, etc), give them a class (cleric, thief, paladin, etc), and have them interacting with a monster/creature (choose one from a monster manual) in some way. It should be more of a vignette with basic background, rather than a huge finished painting. Concentrate on the characters. And most importantly, keep everything 'kid-ified.'

Sketch due September 2nd. Final due September 17th.

Becca's Baba Yaga

2010-08-23T20:42:00.003-04:00

Well, here is my Baba Yaga! Any thoughts before I pull of the tape? I had a ton of fun with this piece! This one is 100% watercolor.

Watching Over the Princess

2010-08-23T20:12:00.003-04:00

Finished!!! As you can see, I added a little fairy to the right, closer to the bed. I'm not sure which I like better, the pencil or the colored version?

Watching Over the Princess

2010-08-17T19:25:00.003-04:00

This is a portfolio piece I'm working on right now. Kind of an experiment, the way I'm going about it. Scanned the sketch, fixed it up digitally, added some shading to figure out the lighting... now I'm going to print it on drawing paper, do a final pencil drawing on top of it, scan it... and then color it digitally. We'll see how it turns out :P

In other news, Becca and I are plotting our next RWP project. Stay tuned for that!

Becca's Baba Yaga Sketch

2010-08-15T15:42:00.003-04:00

At long last - here is my Baba Yaga sketch. I am pretty excited to paint it! This has been surprisingly tricky to draw. I ended up making a model of the house on chicken legs, and had all the characters on separate pieces of tracing paper (hence, the final drawing on tracing paper). Sorry the reproduction isn't great - try to disregard the shadows if you can, ack! Let me know your thoughts!