Post #20! Nimbus Wings and Highland Berzerker

These two pieces were just released, both are from the new Magic set.

Both 11 x 16 in.

Process...or something

I was asked recently to post some process stuff to show how I put a painting together. I've actually only photographed my process once, it was for a larger scale packaging illustration I did for Magic in the summer of '08. This was a while ago and I've changed things up a little since then but this is still pretty much how I go about working. Click to enlarge.

1 - value thumbnail, usually I do this in pencil but here it's digital.
2 - color sketch, this is what I submitted to the art director for approval.
3 - final drawing (they're never pretty).
4 - final drawing transferred to masonite over acrylic tone.
5 - acrylic underpainting...I don't really do this anymore.
6 - oils!
7 - everything's in but unrefined.
8 - final painting as I submitted it.

Halo Hunter

This is a piece for the next big set that Magic is releasing called Zendikar. He's a demon that specializes in hunting angels (grim, I know). I had a ton of fun with this set because I got to really jump into some dark content, it was a good break from knights in gold armor.

15 x 20 in.

Jenara, ready for her close-up

I was asked (by Capprotti) recently if I'd post a couple of close-ups of the armor on this piece. As you can see, a lot of what looks like detail from a distance is actually just looser, and in some cases sloppy, brush work. In terms of scale, these files are actually a bit larger than the original painting.

Quick Sketch

Occasionally I like to do a quick painting without any planning, just sketching in thin paint and seeing where it goes.

6 x 9 in.