A commission I did at Nittany Con of the Cybernetic Unicorn villain Cy-Corn from Lords of the Cosmos.
Another difficult character design to pull off, but very rewarding to get done for my client… who was the same gentleman that commissioned the Mordantix artwork I made in November 2014.
You can see that 2014 artwork here to see the other Lords of the Cosmos commission.
This was a fun commission from Setsucon I created for my friend Jeremy of him and his daughter as a family of cannibals!
The artwork is self explanatory and very fun to create. While the final artwork is not as polished as most of my pencil work this one shot really has that convention energy and urgency that working under a time limit brings out in me.
Here is the artwork…
…and a photo of Dad and Daughter with me at the show!
The completed Gorgon Medusa artwork!
Another highly detailed ink piece- slight changes from the pencils- the breasts, eyes, and center head relationship with the top two snakes were changed to make some corrections on minor anatomy and layout errors.
The snakes were hard to do, especially the complex mouths and jaws, but the final results were really worth the efforts as they really bring the entire composition together as small gems of detail for the viewer to explore.
Final words on this commission-
This was done for my friend and client, Carla Knapp. Just a quick word about Carla, when I got back into the art scene as a public figure (read:doing conventions, selling artwork, making comics etc.) about 3 years ago, I was introduced to her as a supporter of fantasy art at her store in Huntingdon, PA. She asked to buy what I had (at the time one book) and gave me $20 and said “we need to you making artwork”. Carla has always thrown up flyers for conventions I have been at locally and always supports just about whatever I am up to. Recently she fixed my computer as well- so I would ask any of you that are in Huntingdon to support her business if you want to help someone that actively supports my art, and the fantastic art scene in general.
Im excited that she can have some of my original artwork to put with her other awesome pieces of original art!
Huntingdon Computer Workshop
600 Washington Street
Huntingdon, PA 16652
(814) 641-7312
https://www.facebook.com/HCWorkshop
A really fun commission of a mythological creature I have wanted to draw for a while, and when a client asks, for this I couldnt resist.
Of note-
1- I really wanted to make a pretty woman under those snake scales, and do an angle to enhance the fact that her face has depth and form- not a front on portrait style composition.
2- The snakes- gorgeous but hard to get them right. My first draft (below) had it like a headscarf with 5 snakes, it just didnt really look good, even though it was easy to “account” for all the snakes. Then I mixed it up and made her hair more of a forest of snakes, which visually looked much better- it was just harder to make sure the physical layout of the snakes made sense. Finally- getting the “curve” on the snake bodies was a trick, I kept drawing them straight, and it seemed wrong, I had to really get into the less simple snake layouts and make myself get into the snake anatomy (like you thought there was any?!) Then those changes affected the physical layout at times (mentioned above) which made that part difficult to say the least.
I loved the final pencil art here, but it was a rough road. This piece really ends up being a companion piece to “Vampire Lich King”, which is highlighted by the square shape as a framing device behind her. You can see that other art here.
Final Draft
First draft
So this was a personal milestone- the first time I got paid to do a commission of one of my own characters- one of the villains from LORDS OF THE COSMOS- the living acid tank… Mordantix.
I forgot how complex his design was- so I tried to give it all to my client at the Hershey Comic Con in his sketch book, which was filled with other sketches from amazing artists! Check out your first LORDS OF THE COSMOS Commission- hopefully one of many!
This was a really fun commission to ink, having Smaug coming out of those rich dark shadows, and the great texture on the bony ridges on the bottom jaw and the scaled texture just built out those two clear eyes as the main focal points- unlike my Hydra with the lifeless clear blank eyes from earlier this year- this is a highly intelligent creature from The Hobbit and to viewer, that aspect should be told via those evil eyes!
enjoy!
A fun commission for a client- the Peter Jackson Hobbit film version of the Great Dragon- SMAUG! I really didn’t like the film design, but I think I was able to pull something good out of their design. Full disclosure, I love the Rankin Bass version of Smaug from 1977 better. I used the same square edge composition I did on “Skull King” for this one, and It had a really cool graphic design result to the final pencils.
Really loved how the background of the Darkened Tardis worked out to highlight the Angel’s face- and the muted pointilism gave that slight stone shade to the whole project-and that face- just gorgeous twisted love in those inks, I had to pull back to not over-do the inks, and hopefully, I got it just right!
Enjoy- the WEEPING ANGEL!!
So, my client from Pittsburgh asked to have this small commission inked- I was REALLY happy with how this little one off sketch turned out, especially that Owl. Enjoy your Wizard and Familiar-!
Like a game of pictionary for geniuses, the citizens of Pittsburgh put me to the test with no less than 10 commissions last weekend. Enjoy.
