Assignment: Mother Nature

For our next project, we asked Dennis Nolan, a fantastic illustrator and a former professor of ours from the Hartford Art School, to come up with an assignment for us. And boy oh boy did he deliver! This is what he sent us:

"Your illustration assignment, should you choose to try it, is a painting of Mother Nature (in all her glory, of course). You may use any imagery you like as long as it qualifies as an allegorical interpretation. You can invent the setting and include as much flora and fauna as makes your picture work and may choose any storyline you wish to pursue. In regards to the last, clarity of intention is paramount (sound familiar). Sharpen your pencils, the clock is ticking."

Demanding, creative, timely, and open-ended - a classic Dennis Nolan assignment! And speaking of a ticking clock, here is our project schedule:

Monday, June 8th - Thumbnails due
(June 14-21st - Master Class!)
Monday, June 29th - Sketch and reference
Monday July 13th - Final due

Time to get cracking - thanks Dennis!

Also, keep an eye out for postings related to the Master Class assignments - it's comin' up fast!

News and Results!

Hello All! Thanks so much for all your GREAT comments on the Agents of Artifice assignment. We are very happy with the finished paintings, and loved getting feedback, so thank you!

And, in an exciting twist, Becca's piece got an honorable mention from Wizards of the Coast! See it here.

We are now preparing for the Illustration Master Class, which will take place at Amherst College from June 15-21. It is sure to be an enlightening (and sleepless) week! We will also soon be posting a new assignment from the venerable Dennis Nolan, one of our favorite illustrators in the whole world! Stay tuned!

Scott's Final

So here's mine hot off the drafting table. I'm pretty happy with how it came out, and I think it'll be a nice addition to my portfolio in the direction I want to be heading. Now I think I need sleep....

Becca's Agents of Artifice Final

The deadline for the competition is today, and I think we've all squeaked in just under the wire (I know Scott and I were both burning the 3am oil last night). I'll submit the painting to Wizards of the Coast this evening. Results won't come out for at least a few weeks, and I'm sure there will be a lot of high quality entries, given the huge fan base (there are a lot of us art nerds out there). No matter what the outcome of the competition, I am happy to have done this painting.

Owen's Agents of Artifice Final

I know it's been a few weeks since we updated this thing, but it's been a busy time.  Anyway this is the final image as I sent it to Wizards of the Coast.  I'm quite happy with it, if it doesn't win the contest, it was still a great excuse to incorporate some more high fantasy into my portfolio.  I haven't done a dragon since college.

Newcomer's

For those new visitors, we are working through our newest painting. See the beginning here.

Check back for weekly updates!

Becca's Drawing

So here it is! Click the image to view it larger. In the scene, Baltrice and Jace are in the the village of Kamigawa, which is located in a jungle swamp. Baltrice is meant to have flames in her hands and eyes - she is holding a ball of fire in her right hand, and in her left the flames are dying out a bit because it is raining. Let me know what you think is working/not working/missing, etc!

Scott's Drawing

Here's a quick color comp that I did up in photoshop the other day before starting my drawing. This helped me to think more clearly about colors (though they will most likely change), and the general composition and pose. Sometimes I like to do this if I'm having trouble with an image.

...And this is my final drawing ready for printing and mounting. I couldn't get my photo to lighten up enough without washing out some parts. So to help, I did a little highlighting in photoshop to show where the lightest areas will be. I think I need to hit the face a little more just to give it that pop, since it's the most important part of the image. Any suggestions or comments are encouraged!

Owen's Drawing

So this is the final drawing for the Agents of Artifice piece. I guess it's pretty straight forward. It will start looking a lot cooler once the painting aspect is started.

Scott's Thumbs

So here we go. I've managed to conjure up 5 thumbnails that I'm fairly happy with. #1 and #2 are images of Lilliana towards the beginning of our story. #1 is supposed to be more of an above view while she is levitated conjuring...something. #2 is  similar to #1, she is levitated with a long tunic and cape bellowing around her. The shapes all around her are of this dark matter that is described as flowing all around her as she summons. She also has glowing purple tattoos that are on her skin when she is casting. #3 is a scene from Grixis, Jace is standing in a floor of zombies and bones and corpses that have come to life and are pulling him down, when Lilliana appears through the cyclonic storm hovering down towards Jace. Her head is described as being thrown back in concentration and her eyes glowing the same deep purple as her runic tattoos. Her arms are said to be outspread while she coaxes the demons back to inanimate state. #4 shows Tezzeret on the ground in the foreground after being thrown through the bronze doors of his tower. There is fire and smoke filling the large arched doorway and the figure of Jace is seen emerging from the smoke. His eyes are glaring blue in his concentration. We can see Tezzeret's metal fist. #5 is an action scene of Lilliana underneath a large bronze mechanical spidery thing that is about to come at her. it is said to have needles for a face and made of various gears and steam.