SOULSPARK WORLDWIDE RELEASE MAY 7TH!

Yes yes, not a post with cool pencil drawings in it but, HEY, I've been busy. Been busy helping to create this kick-ass app game for IOS mobile devices called SoulSpark! 

The game will be released worldwide Thursday May 7th and it will be free to download.

I did all the illustration work for the game - some 71 characters and creatures - plus another 78 illustrations of maps, icons, weapons, equipment, and splash screens.

Still not sold? Check out this kick-ass video trailer!!!

Like I says, it is free to download so do check it out. If you're a fan of strategy, deck-building, and intense action wrapped up into a real-time game of card battles featuring delightfully fun artwork, I'm guessing you'll fall in love with this game. And if that's the case, help us spread the word of SoulSpark!!

Midwestern Over-Saturation Tour 2015!!

I apologize for posting a non-pencilsketch post on my blog that is exclusively about drawing BUT this blog gets way more traffic than my other blog and I'm looking to get some public appearance news out there.

So yes, starting at the very end of February and ending in mid-August, I will be appearing at FIVE shows (and one college presentation) - all within a 6 hour drive radius of Central Ohio. Despite the appearance, this is not a conscious attempt to saturate the midwest and make everyone sick of seeing me but I'm assuming that's how it will feel by the end of Summer. Never-the-less, here's a breakdown of everywhere I'll be in our beloved 'flyover' territory:

First is a fledgling convention called ShumatsuCon that is right here in Columbus, Ohio. It's a small convention that is essentially everything geek culture: movies, comics, games, cosplay, animation, etc. The show is February 27 through March 1. You can find more information HERE. I encourage you to check it out - but if you're only interested in seeing me and/or my artwork, I will only be there on Saturday February 28th so plan accordingly!

Second up is Magic:The Gathering GP Cleveland! The dates of the event are March 13, 14, and 15. I'll be there all three days signing cards, doing painted alters, selling prints and APs, and doing playmats sketches - the usual Magic artist stuff.

My next appearance after that isn't until the first weekend in May and it's not even in the US! I'll be at GP Toronto on May 1, 2, and 3 for my first ever Magic event in Canada! I'm pretty excited about this one - I haven't been to Toronto in over 25 years - which was probably the last time I was in Canada, too.  So all you Northern North Americans, come on by!

After GP Toronto, I'll have a couple months to prepare for mighty GenCon which is always a great time. If you're a gamer of any sort and love a good geeky/nerdy convention spectacle (and especially if you live within a reasonable traveling distance), GenCon is a must-see. GenCon is July 30th through August 2nd. I'll be there all four days selling art, prints, sketches, playmats, books, etc. Tons of other great artists will be there as well - the artist guest of honor is Tony DiTerlizzi! For more information, go HERE.

Last on my Midwestern Over-Saturation Tour is GP Detroit which is just two short weeks after Gencon: August 15-16. As with the previously mentioned Magic:The Gathering events, I'll be signing cards, doing painted alters, selling prints and APs, doing Playmat, sketches, and all that film flam. PLUS, one of the exclusive GP Detroit playmats will be done by me so get there early and make sure you get one!

And so will endeth my Spring and Summer appearance schedule. Anyone outside of the MidWest and doesn't feel like traveling for any of these shows, well, I'll just have to catch ya somewhere else someday.

Hallowed Spiritkeeper

Here's the sketch for Hallowed Spiritkeeper for Magic: The Gathering.  If you're familiar with the card, you see that I flipped the drawing when I went to paint the final.  In this instance, I have no idea why I did that (it's been almost 10 months since I think!) Sometimes I will just get a feeling like I'd like it better if the subject was facing the other way. Other times it is because I drew up another illustration at the same time and both had similar poses or something.

You can check out the final painting HERE.

Oh yeah, and if you're in the market for collecting Magic originals, well the painting (NOT the sketch) is currently up on eBay right now. Go have a look HERE!

And just so this post isn't left with only one sketch, here's a bonus drawing. This one for Siege Dragon (also not for sale).

Hey Sweden!

Guess who is coming to Stockholm in October! That's right, 80's hair metal shredsters: Dangerous Toys! And they're going to be playing all of ABBA's greatest hits!

All right, I have no clue what Dangerous Toys are up to right now - I made that shit up. However, what I'm NOT kidding about is that there is a Magic Grand Prix in Stockholm October 24-26 and the visiting artist will be me and fellow acrylic-slinger Jesper Ejsing.

We'll be there signing cards, selling prints, selling artist proofs, doin' sketches - all that stuff. And oh yeah, Jesper and I teamed up to do a dual-artist playmat exclusive just for GP Stockholm that you won't want to miss. If you want one of those kick-ass playmats, better book your trip to Stockholm post haste! (I'll post the artwork for the playmat in upcoming days here).

Finally, check out my sweet sketch of everything that Sweden is known for: gummy red candies shaped vaguely like fish, meatballs, stylized viking helmets, their own flag, and bikini teams (even though the Swedish Bikini Team is an American invention). Finally, if you look closely, you can see that this platinum-haired lass is totally atheist.

Just kidding Swedes, I already dig your country and I'm sure I'll think it kicks even more ass after I have visited it in about 3 weeks. One thing though, when you come up to say hello to me and Jesper, male sure you wear your bikinis.

More Teaser Art!

I've been away for what seems like most of the last two months. Well, it "seems" that way because it has been. I was back out at Wizards of the Coast for three weeks in May doing conceptual design work for an upcoming Magic:The Gathering set. Then I came home for a few days and went back out the door on vacation.

But now I am back and pushing full force on these little stocky creatures and characters for the upcoming game: SOULSPARK.

As of right now I am working predominantly on the colors because I am mostly done with the drawing part. I still go back and retool details here and there as I see fit but I can consider the drawing part finished.

The drawing part did prove to be quite a challenge though. Not in amount of drawing that had to be done - but fitting the subject matter into the right style.  Each piece had to hit just the right note on many levels.

One factor I had to contend with was fitting them into a roughly playing card shaped dimension (a stocky vertical rectangle). Thus the restraint on their silhouettes not straying too far from the core. That meant that wild flourishing "action" poses or weapons that projected way outside the central area had to be held in check for the most part.

Obviously, the exaggerrated proportions was really the key factor in the look of these. For the humanoid characters especially, I had to get just the right amount of stockiness on different parts of their bodies for them to not look like fat dwarves. The first 12 or so drawings I did actually weren't QUITE on the mark with this and I only saw it after I hit my groove later on down the line. I subsequently went back and retooled many of those first drawings to bring them up to date so to speak. Even more difficult was fitting animals into this style!

There is also a tone for the artwork that had to be reached. It's something hard to describe in words - it's more of an "I'll know if it's right when I see it" kind of thing but essentially I wanted these to be cool and kick ass, but with some humor and whimsy, too - a smaller target area than you might think. Many times I erased and redrew monsters that were too dark and not that note of playful-cool that I wanted. Likewise I redrew many pieces that veered too far into "silly" territory.

As I went along in the drawing phase and came upon all these tricky hurdles, I had to smile to myself that these were all my own parameters for the look and feel.  All the extra hours of redrawing and erasing and redrawing and struggling through were of my own making! Which of course is why I loved doing it, why I love the results, and why I think that my enthusiasm will show in the final product and help make the game successful.

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Another reminder that I will have a table in the GenCon Artshow this August. SoulSpark's release date has been pushed a couple months into October but I am hoping to have some promotional material available in Indianapolis for the show. I'll of course have an array of other items of interest: original artwork, prints, artist proofs, art books, etc. Hope to see you there!

Time To Start Teasing!

Haven't posted much on either of my blogs as of late. That's due to mostly lack of time but also lack of sharable content. At least, content that is pertinent to the now and the few-months-from-now.

That is because I have stumbled into a fantastic and fantastically fun project that is a bit of an adventure. And though still in essence a fantasy game, it is most definitely unlike anything I have done in my career so far.

It is extremely exciting on many levels. Besides being outside my comfort zone of my usual array of TCG art and RPG manual covers, I have a tremendous amount of creative freedom - plus, I will retain rights to the artwork. The work done for this game will certainly be a career highlight - and possibly, if the game proves popular, will become a major part of my life for quite some time.

Vague enough? Yeah, I'll leak out more about the game in greater and greater detail the further along we move. But besides the drawings at the top here (of which they are but 3 of some 75 or so - eventually full-color), I'll dish out a few other tidbits: I'm working with a company in Denmark. My art director and liaison to the Danes is fellow acrylic-using goblin-painter Jesper Ejsing. And finally, the game is set for a late Summer or early Fall release so expect lots of promotional stuff at my GenCon Art Show booth in August. You didn't know I was going to be at GenCon this year? That's right - I'm back! August 14-17, baby!

Pssst!…..Check it out!

About 4 years ago I worked on a bunch of concepts for a project I shall not (yet) disclose. As far as I have ever seen, the project never reached a final phase and was shelved early on in the creative process. Never-the-less, the company involved might get a bit ruffled and cause me financial distress should I blab about it openly so I'm going to remain annoyingly vague about what it was I was doing these drawings for.  I have since lost my contact information for the art director I worked with - and talking to the legal department I know will most likely get me a disappointing answer. So I shall remain for now like a seedy stolen watch dealer in the shadows of a grimy alley - showing my illegal wares to those interested.

I actually forgot about these drawings until just recently and was pleasantly surprised at how much fun they are still. Which, of course, made it a little more painful that I can't share them. The rarely-present risk-taking bad boy in me convinced the rule-follower that we should pick out a couple of the more vague drawings just to give them life outside of my closed sketchbook.

So here are two of maybe only 25 drawings I did for this. There's probably no way in Hades that you could guess what product these were concepts for - which maybe adds to the excitement.  If you were one of the very few I talked to about this project a little more openly, you best keep your comments to your damn self! The rest of you feel free to enjoy this meager sample and wonder about what was the greater scheme going on here.

You may also feel free to comment on my open innuendo about "showing my illegal wares".