Gondorian Shield

Gondorian Shield, Oil on paper on Masonite, 13" x 11", 2012. ©Fantasy Flight Games

I finished this piece for Fantasy Flight Games way back in January of 2012.  The project just kept getting pushed back.  Now it has finally come out in the Lord of the Rings: The Steward's Fear deck.  I really loved doing this piece, I felt like I really loosened up my brush strokes and the palette was exactly as I envisioned it in my head.  This was the first Lord of the Rings piece I've ever done.  I've always thought that I was never worthy or that I wouldn't be able to paint a more interesting image than any of the great artists that have made Lord of the Rings imagery.  But when I got this assignment, it was almost a relief that I wouldn't be depicting some climactic scene from the novels.  I can do Gondorian Shields.  And I'm very happy with how I depicted this item for the game.

The Silent Deal

For the past month or so, I had been working on a commission for a book cover for a self-published book called "The Silent Deal".  The author, Levi Stack, got in touch with me because he enjoyed my "Save the Date" image from my wedding so much.  I had used Vladislav Erko's playing cards as inspiration for the Save the Date, and Levi was looking for a similar style for his cover.  He wanted the two main characters to be shown on the king of spades card.  Levi had wonderful descriptions for the way the characters looked and how the personalities differed.  He was a great help, and made making the image an extremely painless experience.  I hope "The Silent Deal" is a success and we can work together again on the next book in the series.

Here is an image of the finished painting:

The Silent Deal, 13.25" x 20", Oil on Paper on Masonite, 2013. ©Owen William Weber

And here is the final cover image.  I personally think this looks awesome, and I'm very happy this came out looking so tasteful.  So please pick this book up when it is released, I will add a link when you can order it.

Fægår the Fearless

This piece has a bit of an interesting history.  I was given a commission to do a dwarf piece, where a dwarf king was kind of contemplating his past and thinking of where he went wrong.  So I did a really nice drawing of this; it was right up my alley(and I will eventually paint it also).  The art director loved it, but his bosses weren't quite on board.  So the art director asked for a dwarf in action.  So, while I was away for a wedding, I spent any second at the hotel sketching this image.  When I got back home, I sent the image to the art director, but because this back and forth had gone so slowly, mostly between the time of the first drawing and the decline from his bosses, this piece was in no way going to meet the deadline.  The piece was cancelled, and I was not compensated, because I had not started painting it yet, as stipulated in the contract.  Whatever, I was angry initially, not because I wouldn't get the money, but because I was happy with both images and they would not be published.  But that's how it goes sometimes, I think most illustrators have these types of stories. 

Anyway, I put this all behind me, and went ahead and painted the piece anyway.  Dwarves are awesome! And I'm not gonna just not paint one because I didn't get paid.  This is Fægår, (pronounced fay-go) a dwarf warrior that will inevitably walk away from this image, and in the future I will paint him in that throne, looking quite weary and old.  I wanted this piece to kind of have that feeling of old sepia toned photos, so when I paint the image of him as an older man, it will seem like he is looking back into his past.  Hope you all like it, I will try to finish the other one before Gen-Con.

Fægår the Fearless, 11"x11", Oil on Paper on Masonite, 2012

Wolves of Winterfell - Ghost

Finally, wrapping this series up is, personally, my favorite direwolf, Ghost.  Ghost is the runt, sort of.  He's the odd man out.  He's albino, and a perfect companion to Jon Snow.  He makes Jon more terrifying to his opponents, and he makes Jon look like a leader to his brothers in Black.  Ghost is one of the only animals in "A Song of Ice and Fire," that moves the story along.  He finds dead bodies in the snow, he brings Jon to save Commander Mormont, and much more.
Here I have tried to show Ghost at his most ghostly.  In a snowstorm north of the wall, his body blending in with the landscape, and all you can see is his deep red eyes.
So here concludes this series, hope you have all enjoyed it.  I will put these images on my website soon and then put prints and originals on etsy.

Wolves of Winterfell- Summer

Today's wolf is Summer. Here I show him when he was still in Winterfell under a weirwood tree. Summer is a wolf that I really loved from the beginning when he killed Bran's assassin. I love how protective he has been and how connected he and Bran have been from the start. Now they have almost become the same character.

Wolves of Winterfell - Lady

Today's wolf is Lady.  She was the first one to die and so we never quite knew what role she would have played in Sansa's life and how things would have been had she stayed in the story.  Would Sansa have been a fiercer character? Would Lady have played a part in killing any main characters? Or would she have been the lamest of the Direwolves and been kept in a life of ribbons in her hair and had a vegetarian diet?  We'll never know.  I like to think she would have made Sansa stronger and made Joffrey fear torturing Sansa so much.
Here we see Lady just a few moments before her impending doom.

And a Happy New Year Everyone!  Last year was the Best Year of my life, so I'm hope this year will be only slightly less good.

Wolves of Winterfell - Shaggydog

This is my second of six posts showing my series of the Direwolves from the "A Song of Ice and Fire" books.
This is Shaggydog, Rickon's wolf. He is quite a fierce protective pet, but I wanted to show him in a calmer state, wandering the snowy terrain.

Wolves of Winterfell - Nymeria

This is the first of the series of Direwolves portraits from the " A Song of Ice and Fire" series of books by George R.R. Martin. These are meant to be seen as portraits of the characters but also they can be seen as just portraits of wolves, coinciding with my series of other portraits of mammals. Here you can see Nymeria with her pack roaming through the woods.
Each of these paintings are only 5" x 5".
Everyday this week I will unveil another wolf, and once that is done I will put them on my etsy page for purchase as an original or as prints.

The Nisse or Glaedelig Jul 2012

This year I am fully immersed in Danish culture. Sarah and I are talking a Danish language course at NYU, we are reading all about Danes in the Xenophobes guide to Denmark, and we are planning our trip to Denmark next year. So, it only naturally feels like our Yule holiday card should be based on a Danish Christmas folklore.
The Nisse is a very small gnome-like character who tends to the farm when the farmers are asleep. But he is also very mischievous if you are not kind to him and he will upset your favorite animal or play tricks on you in the night. He is also know to bring the presents on Christmas Eve.
In Denmark, this is a very lovable character and most people decorate their trees or houses with his likeness.

The Nisse, 17" x 12", Oil on Paper on Masonite, 2012.

Lis's Viking Final - "Rán's Embrace"

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 New Unicorn Horn

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.

The Billy Goats Gruff

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.

Murderbot Takes a Holiday

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.