Almost a month since last post- I stink. Still awaiting for NDAs to clear and such, but I do have some little projects and news to share. First thing that prompted this post is I got this awesome book in the mail today:
The Future of Fantasy Art
I have 2 images in the book, and there are a ton of amazing images by many of the top illustrators in the world. The reproductions really impressed me, and I love the square format. Very cool.

Over at Gorilla Artfare, my fellow artists and how celebrated our 2 yr. anniversary by covering another members' artwork. I was randomly selected to cover the amazing Alice Duke. I decided to cover her 'fish' sketch, probably because it was less intimidating to cover something that wasn't completely finished.



Lastly, here's a quick little job I did for my friends at the local college for their theatre production of Bells Are Ringing. It's about a 1960's telephone operator who falls in love over the switchboard...hence the hearts :)



Got a bunch of covers in the works, so hopefully I'll be back to share them sooner than later. Thanks for stopping in- s.

Here's a little something before 2010 rolls in. I wouldn't exactly call this a "personal piece" -just a little something I would do on work breaks. It started off as a creature and just kept expanding. There weren't any sketches or thumbnails - just kind of playing. I'm not sure if I am going to keep working on it, but if you see anything that could help the piece I'd love to hear it!

Also - I apologize but I had to add on that secret code box when you comment. I really didn't want too , but the spammers are slamming my blog!

Happy New Year - scott

all digital

Wow- sorry for the delayed posts. Trying to get a bunch of deadlines done before the holidays, which unfortunately I can't show just yet. So for now, I'll just post some thing lying around and catch up the last few weeks.

The first thing I wanted to mention was how amazing lluXcon2 was. And yes...if you click on that link you will see IlluXcon 3 is already in the works. If you would like to attend, think about it now, because tickets are very limited. It was designed to be kept intimate and small, and they are sticking by that.
The Wilshires (responsible for IlluXcon) have also released a very cool book called Visions of Never
It covers art from very awesome, but slightly under the radar artists like Rohb Ruppel , Marc Fishman and Mark Zug (among others) . I think I've seen it at really good prices too, so check it out if you are into that sorta thing.

I'll include some photos of my booth at IlluXcon. Not to show off my scruffy mug, but some of you might be interested in seeing how some of my originals look.



I grabbed these off various forums. websites, so thanks to those who took these pics!

And although I look sad, I was just sketching and practicing my inks. Those inks are hard!! Here's one of the more successful ones that day:


Lastly, I stumbled across this image on my older HD the other day and thought it might be fun to share:


I guess you can say this is a variant version I did for myself while I did this card art for Magic: The Gathering / WoTC a few years ago. The image I did for them was this
I think I was just messing around at the time and made a version without all the flames. It's a little rough and unfinished, but it may be worth a gander.

Last bit -some of you have inquired about prints and such. Well there is good news. I am in the discussion phase of getting a webstore! No seriously- -I really am . It's only been 5 years of procrastination but I think it is safe to say in 2010 I will finally have a place where prints and art will be easy to purchase. If there are any suggestions of what you would like to see, I'd love to hear them. That goes for any images you would like to see available as prints too.
Cheers-s.[

11.10.09 -eventful events

I will have my piece, "topside" at the Strychnin Gallery, as part of their group show, Magistrates. Kind of gave me a reason to paint that sketch I posted fairly recently. The show opens November 13th, and runs until December 6th, in Berlin, Germany.

A little closer to home, I'll be gladly attending IlluXcon2. Just check out that guest list of artists. That runs from Nov.12- Nov. 15th in Altoona, PA.



"topside"
oil on linen
about 11" x 22" . I think ?


From Imagine FX magazine, Issue #49. I haven't seen the issue yet , but I basically discussed combining traditional oil painting with digital techniques. Still haven't seen the issue myself, but it is out there.



a little ink and digital experimentation. Well ...experimental for me since I am still trying to learn the nuances of inking.


A cover for Oxford University Press , "Ronia, The Robber's Daughter"
digital

Oct.2 - cover
Thanks to everyone for dropping by and leaving the good words of support. Always good to hear your thoughts- critique, praise...I welcome it all.

Here's another cover I did for the fine folks at Harper Collins. This was a pretty cool story as the author, Katherine Langrish, draws from old Welsh tales (I believe Welsh) which gives it a really unique flavor in a very saturated genre.
When I submitted the sketches, they liked them all, and wanted to "frankenstein" a bit of each into one. The heroic pose from the first one, the setting and in the 2nd, and the horses in the background in the 3rd. I was just asked to leave out the "elf" creature. Although she is a major part of the story, she is a wild, feral looking thing, and they did not want to scare away younger readers. Would have been fun to include her...but I understand their point.

All digital - which I am slightly regretting, because I think it would have made nice oil. I gotta get those oils out more...the shame....the guilt.....

:)
Scott

New Cover- The Rush Job

An art director from Random House contacted me over the summer requesting a wraparound cover within 2 weeks. I was busy at the time so I declined. She then emailed me back saying the cover concept is already in place, and I would just need to get the front done in time for a sales pitch. The story seemed cool and the art director really seemed to be in a tough situation. So I took it.
At first the art director and I both wanted to explore a bit of my expressive / distorted figures, but as usual that didn't make it past marketing. I would say 90% of the time I am asked to stick to realism as it sells better. I totally understand this, but I love playing around with proportions and pushing things. It just doesn't have as much of a demand as the more realistic work out there.

The process was super fast for this. I would send a sketch in, get feedback, send another sketch in -get more feedback and that was it. I painted the front in time for the sales pitch, and later completed the rear of the wraparound.

I feel there is a slight gamble to rush jobs. If you underestimate some factors such as time, your energy , or complexity of the job you can turn in an image you might not be completely thrilled with. On the other hand, you can really put yourself in good graces with an art director by helping them out. Fortunately, everyone was pleased with the outcome. Of course, all artists rarely have praise for their own work - I am no different in that regard.

I received the wraparound without the book in the mail the other day, and I thought it would be cool to show the final product. I have a whole blog post about wraparounds in mind for the future. They are a somewhat different beast than the single, front cover illustration. For another time ....
Thank you-S.

2 quickies
Just 2 quick sketches done in between work. I think I might work that diver/bather up in oils- I think it could be a fun one to paint.
Thanks for checking in!
S.