Art Shrapnel

I'm livestreaming Now (Also stuff I should have posted ages ago)

2011-01-27T17:59:00.000-08:00

I jumped on to Vokel today and ended up doing a livestream of my evening's work. http://www.vokle.com/events/7632-fantasy-artcast-tavern-gambling . I'll be trying to make this a regular thing for anyone who wants to check out an in-progress artwork as it comes together. Here's where I left off tonight.

Oh, and I've done a few finished pieces of art since I last posted that I should have posted. Just been busy-busy-busy! All these pieces are copyright PK Cards Inc.

Gullveig, A nordic witch with magic coins

Banishment - I like the monster quite a bit here

Sijjin's Grip - Definitely a breakthrough for me

Rusted Statuary - It is what it says it is. Check out that metal!

That's really all for now, hopefully I'll see some of you on the artcast tomorrow. It should start at 2:30 and run until Question Mark! (Probably like 5:30 or 6 realistically)

Cards and Compositions

2010-11-09T12:23:00.000-08:00

Working on a bunch of cards for PK Cards right now, including this one I just wrapped up.

Almost everything I've done professionally in the last year has been vignettes and concept images (monsters, landscapes, etc.) I've done very few actual finished images that include multiple figures, compositions, etc. Seems like all that is about to change, and wow am I enjoying it. I didn't realize how much I'd missed proper, fully realized illustrations until I started cranking them out again, and I think my delve into Single Figure Land has helped me focus my rendering and painting to produce better overall images.

In addition to the snakeman above, I'm working on two "Power" cards for the same set. One for a pair of sandals that lets you fly over fire, and another for an "Exhausting campaign" that wears people down. I'll let you guess which is which.

On a related note, I guess I just love streamers right now. Next up: Ribbon Dancer arena of Death!

Stuff I'm Up To

2010-10-22T19:35:00.000-07:00

A real mishmash of projects going on right now, though I've got a new set lined up starting next month that looks promising and very interesting.
Some random samplings of my current projects:


Glass bugs

Rocky remake concept art

Yes that's a ghost hand made of thorns

Hula ghouls saved my life - True story.

Concept Doodles

2010-09-19T21:40:00.000-07:00

Been doing the Conceptart.org Character of the week recently. Figured I'd post the results.

First up is a reinvisioning of the black mage from Final Fantasy whatever. (I think he's in at least 3 or 4 of them)

For the sake of simplicity let's say it's Vivi.

And then there's this guy.

Koschei the Immortal is the original Lich. He kidnapped young women and kept his soul in an egg for... reasons. I guess he was baiting heroes or something.

Ireta Fire Mage Designs

2010-08-28T14:01:00.000-07:00

Been putting some time into the World of Ireta RPG again, including some shiney new concept art.

A bit of a firest look at this aspect of the world, we've been concepting the visual style of some of the combat mages of the scenario. The fire-wielding casters of the world, in particular, have become a passion of mine.

A lot of their costume design is based on clothes worn by metalworkers and blacksmiths. A key aspect of magic in our scenario is that magic users do not have immunity to the magic they fling around. Thus the prudent (and thus living) fire mages wear appropriate protective gear to protect their hands and eyes from the dangerous heat of their own attacks. Hair is, unfortunately, a common casualty.


A couple early outfit concepts.

Some fire mage war masks based on some of the world's creature designs

Cthulian Skies

2010-08-20T15:12:00.000-07:00

A sketch from a few months ago that I've been chipping away at in my spare time. Getting quite close to a finish and I figured I'd post it somewhere.

I think I might have a problem - Another Sculpture Today

2010-07-30T23:43:00.000-07:00

Migo, flying bug fungi aliens. An interesting learning exercise, this one. :)

I think I shall be trying a person next. A bit harder, but very interesting.

Comin to get ya!

Rawr!

He kinda looks like that blue guy from star wars here. Or a lobster.

This one has eyes only for you. And your 23 closest friends.

Yithian Sculpt (and name that Cthulian!)

2010-07-30T18:06:00.000-07:00

Per a request over at RPPR (and because my players haven't run across them yet) my next zbrush printable is a Yithian, the conical version. I gave him glowy eyes because... well, because I can. So there.

This one, again, is available in my shapeways shop. They're about 2.5" tall, so scale to most gaming minis.

Glowy Eyes FTW

And slimy goodness, of course.

And some images of the actual geometry without colors.

I'm actually quite happy with how his weird face came out.

A detail shot of his claw and cone

Just a normal 3/4 view

Once more with feeling

Also, I'm working on another one already. Let's play Name That Cthulian!

Think you know who it is? Post in the comments!

Air Planting Festival

2010-07-29T19:38:00.000-07:00

An image I'm playing with for ConceptArt's "Environment of the week" challenge.

The spring Air Planting festival of one of the cities of Ireta, my steampunky RPG. Will likely be updated with a more finished version.

Zbrush Musings - The Bloody Tongue

2010-07-24T19:33:00.000-07:00

Playing around with Zbrush and made this Cthulhu Beastie. The Bloody Tongue aspect of Nyarlethotep.

~~Going to try and upload this mother to Shapeways and make a print of him. Should make a nice sculpture for a dining room table or other public space.~~

Edit: The print is now available on shapways HERE. It's about 4.5" tall, and pretty much solid. A flexible plastic print is about $100. If that's a bit too much, a less detailed (and slightly more fragile!) "sandstone" print is $70. I'm going to be trying to make a mini version that's a bit cheaper, but Meshlab is giving me a hard time.

Front 3/4 view

Back view

A classy party, and a robot cravat

2010-05-04T09:39:00.000-07:00

For RPPR again. I''ve really started to enjoy these pieces as a place to relax and experiment. The host, Ross Payton, is very cool about letting me send him really random stuff as long as it's related to the story at hand.

On a side note, happy Star Wars day. May the Fourth be with you.

2010-05-02T22:16:00.001-07:00

Wow this week has been nuts. I've been working on some new art for an RPG, not sure if I can show if off here yet so it'll have to stay secret. Just some headshots, but they're fun. Violet had her thesis show and it came out great.

There will be some new RPPart in the next few days, and I expect to start producing more concept art for the Ireta blog in the next week. I'll keep things posted.

Cortez-Scape

2010-04-21T00:12:00.000-07:00

Speedpaint inspired by Cortez, both the historical figure and the RPG character over at RPPR. Trying something different tonight.

Pretty happy overall. About 1 hour from pencil to finish. Mostly photoshop.

Party Frog Parties Hard

2010-04-18T00:56:00.000-07:00

I made some art for a guy at RPPR. This is what happened.

It is 4AM. This happened. (Click for animation)

Temples and Dudes - This week in art

2010-04-14T21:04:00.000-07:00

First up, a couple (very early) concept/illustration sketches from the upcoming New World: Codex of War release from RPPR. Here we have the ancient Lemurian golem factory. Just trying to get a feel for the shot we want to use, and the space of the workshop.

Next up, a more finished version of the previous week's "planning table" image. Drawing and rendering finished here, just need to go into color now. I'm particularly happy with the Warforged, and the faces overall. One of my favorite images to date. (also, check out my "evil soldier" brush action towards the bottom of the image!)

Last but not least, some character sketches for Ireta, the steampunk RPG I'm developing. These are two members of our standard crew. On the left we have an ex-stage actor turned pirate, with rock magic powers. On the right, our mechanic. She used to be the slight, spunky engineer tomboy. Now she's pushing 40, chugs Firesilk (alcohol) by the case, and looks like a lunch lady. She still flies around on her jetpack though.

That's all for this week. Keep posted for finished versions of some stuff here, and continuing updates on Ireta. Shapeways models just shipped, pictures of the final product should be up on friday!

This Week in RPPArt

2010-04-04T15:07:00.001-07:00

I'm working on some RPPR art for the New World: Codex of War 4e supplement. This is the work in progress, the crop of which got used as the podcast art. I'm quite pleased with the way the characters here are coming out, and I'm enjoying the tighter new composition in the later version. I'll be moving that tent flap over in the background, as it added some nice depth. I think it will frame the screaming warlock nicely.

In this episode, the robot wants to blow it all up. He is quite pleased with himself. (Check out the Actual Play podcast here)

Made this image for Ross Payton's RPPR podcast on Candle Cove.

Very quick and not my usual stuff, but it worked for the creepy feel of the game that was happening. (i.e. the client liked it so we'll mark it as a win, even though I feel it needs some serious work)

So that's this week for me. Also did some sketching on a few other illustrations, I'll be sure to post them once I move past the "crappy scanned pencils" stage.

Leviathan Sculpt

2010-04-04T14:53:00.001-07:00

This is a printable 3d sculpture I made in zbrush and am selling through Shapeways. It was made for Violet Kirk based on her designs in this post of our blog. It will be stuffed into an apothecary jar in some tea in her thesis display.

You can order a printed 3d model here, for $45 in white plastic. It's about 5.5x5x5" in terms of volume. The beastie itself is about 8 inches in length with tailfins. it would make an awesome DnD mini monster, or a cool hanging sculpture for a particularly awesome room.

Best random list ever

2010-04-01T20:33:00.001-07:00

From this guy's blog. A highlight:

"79. Empire seiged by macho, sideburned elves; kingdoms fall one after another, as no one believes they exist."

http://jrients.blogspot.com/2008/02/it-came-from-4chan.html

I bet the Cherry is on Io

2010-03-30T05:52:00.000-07:00

Some truths are universal. Ia! Wakka Wakka Wakka! Ia!

This image is of Saturn's moon Mimas. Story and original image source can be found here.
http://www.swri.org/9what/releases/2010/SatMoon.htm

Blogger Page Designer - Also some art

2010-03-29T00:11:00.000-07:00

I have one thing to say about blogger's page designer: Why the hell couldn't you have shown up about a month sooner?!

I spent HOURS making this blog look ~~stupid~~ full of man-faced goodness, and now I could do it using a simple template. Not cool blogger, not cool. :(

Anyways, I'm doing some character sketches for the awesome supporters over at RPPR
the first of which is this guy. He isn't colored yet and the shading is really more of a rough indication, but I'm feeling pretty good about him overall.

That's all for tonight, expect an update tomorrow. I'm gonna try and get back on this bloggy-horse and make regular updates from now on.

Docking at the Villa

2010-03-15T22:53:00.001-07:00

Another bit of concept art for the RPG. Our first central airship in a work, and some more development on the color schemes and atmosphere of the world. Here we can see some more of the curly clouds that Violet brought into the world. :)

Here we see a merchant ship, also used as a yacht for a wealthy merchant and his family. Returning home from a trip, they arrive at their clifftop villa.

Space Warrior Girl

2010-02-25T22:48:00.000-08:00

A "space warrior" character for a shop called "the dark side"... I'll let you guess the specific breed of space warrior in question.

Working with a very different style to my usual. Linework and some softer shading. We'll see how it goes as this progresses towards a finish, but thus far I'm really happy with the result.

(P.S. Check out my new official blog, moodyillustrator.blogspot.com. Everything I do here is mirrored there for now, but eventually I think it will become my official website.)

Ireta RPG - I'm making one

2010-02-11T21:50:00.000-08:00

For people who know me, this announcement is kinda old news. I talk about this project a lot. And I think everyone under the sun has one.

I'm making an RPG. Actually me and Violet Kirk are making an RPG. Our world is called Ireta, and our book doesn't have a name yet. It's steampunky sci-fantasy. It's tech-pirates shooting zeppelins out of the sky while a psychic-powered viking coalesces out of a puff of smoke behind them, a dagger in hand. It's super-hyphenated!

It's also now being previewed here.

We'll be posting our sketches and process work there, I think Violet has a big sketchpost planned for tomorrow and I'll be following it shortly. As of this post, the only content is me getting fancy with the adjectives.

Hope to see you all over there.

Live and Ustreamin' - Tonight at 11 EST

2010-02-01T17:10:00.000-08:00

I've had a large bunch of stuff that's been eating up my time lately, but I'm still alive and resuscitating this blog now. One was travel, the other was a large and boring (bur profitable!) web design project, and the third was a still super-secret book cover that I just wrapped up. FINALLY time to get back on the blog/ustream horse!

I'll be doing a ustream tonight here. at 11 PM EST. I'll be working a sketch (will update with the sketch) into a (probably partially) finished drawing. Won't be finishing the entire painting on it tonight, but will likely do another painting session on it thursday.

Hope to see some of you there!

Concepty Stuff

2009-10-13T22:20:00.000-07:00

I haven't been able to get back in the PC A Day groove since I went on that trip, so have some concept art style stuff instead.

All this is art stuff for the fantasy RPG setting myself and Violet are working on. (her stuff is at http://aazuredragon.blogspot.com) I think we will be getting back into PC A Day soonish.

Hulk A Day 8: Cassius the Orc

2009-09-29T22:26:00.000-07:00

His clean-shaven face displays a sharp, broadened jawline. However, it is in the eyes and his expressions where the true difference between Cassius and his kin can be discerned. On the surface lurks the ferocity and bloodlust of an orc, but underneath is a vast calm sea of intellect, compassion, and determination.

This PC brought to you by Jason Ariciu.

Hulk A Day 7: Cortez

2009-09-28T22:54:00.001-07:00

Based loosely off the historical figure, Cortez is a fallen paladin of Pelor. He is a Tyrant of the New World tribes. He has begun to worship nature spirits, particularly the builder spirit, Ant. He wants to build up an orderly world, and will enforce his order with as much brutality as needed.

Honestly not a huge fan of this one. I may revist cortez and see if I can get something better later.

Baring a Cortez redo, I think this is my next-to-last Hulk a Day image. I have one more PC from the game, Cassius the Orc. After that I will resume with normal PC a day images on wednesday.

Hulk A Day 6: Watcher

2009-09-26T23:34:00.000-07:00

Watcher is a Warforged Servant of the Raven God. A warrior supreme, and the head of the New World Fighter's Guild. Sometimes, especially at night, he leads a secret life as General Titan, a semi-mythical figure who fights injustice and serves the gods.

He wields a magical sword, magical armor which is welded into his frame, and a magical shield which he always returns when used as a ranged weapon.

I have to say, this is tied with Brunhilda as my favorite image from this Art A Day thing. :)

Not judging the quality of the characters here, they're all awesome. Just judging my renditions of them.

Hulk A Day Part 5: Corditus

2009-09-24T22:14:00.000-07:00

Corditus the Goblin Artillerist

This here is Corditus, Goblin Artillerist Extraordinaire. His custom built Triple Barrel Blunderbuss is a masterpiece of goblin engineering, combining the most effective features of three different guns, mostly via tape, wrapped cloth and bits of steel.

Hulk A Day Part 4: Pontifex

2009-09-23T23:02:00.001-07:00

SPOILER WARNING: If you listen to RPPR's podcast.

Pontifex is a badass motherfucker. Whether he's reanimating villagers to desecrate their own bodies, or kicking back with a glass of lemonade served to him by native slaves, he's a force to be reckoned with.

A reanimated lich doing battle with an ancient force of evil and darkness, he may yet be the antihero the New World needs. Then again who knows what plots lie behind those glowing eyes?

Hulk A Day part 3: Voshyyk

2009-09-22T22:46:00.000-07:00

Voshyyk, Dragonborn Fighter.

From the RPPR "New World" Actual Play campaign. http://www.slangdesign.com/rppr

Part of my Countdown To Goblin Hulk, which is released the 26th of September.

Hulk A Day Part 2: Axgore the Slave Trader

2009-09-20T19:26:00.000-07:00

Axgore is a pirate. He is loud, dominant and practical. Dresses with a vest, large leather belt, armbands and other barbaric fashion statements. Scarred, cruel and unforgiving. His slave trading has made him wealthy, and his wears his slave trading gold with pride.

Hulk A Day part 1: Balgron the Fat

2009-09-19T23:54:00.000-07:00

A potbellied Goblin Chieftan from the Goblin Hulk. Balgron the Fat is a conniving, backstabing, cowardly fellow, who's always looking around for his newest enemy or opportunity. He'll smile to your face, even as he twists the knife into your back. Quick to spend money on fashionable clothing or fancy weapons in order to show his wealth and wisdom, he lacks anything resembling actual fashion sense. This rarely is apparent to the other goblins, I imagine.

This NPC is from From the upcoming Goblin Hulk Release by Ross Peyton of Roleplaying Public Radio. Coming September 26th, and featuring cover and interior art by yours truly. Check out the site and forums for more previews and writing. http://www.slangdesign.com/rppr

Stay Tuned Here for more NPC's and PC's from the Actual Play adventure featured on RPPR's podcast.

More PC'S

2009-09-19T23:48:00.001-07:00

Beatrix from Jarhead689

Some sniper chick who is totally not Beatrix because I suck at remembering descriptions sometimes.

Agent Black the Angelic Scion Cowbot from Tyler Good

Burke the Paranormal Superscientist from Zach hero

Korgok The Half Ogre Warrior by a Local

PC'S A DAY: I AM LAZY!

2009-09-13T22:15:00.000-07:00

Not too lazy to MAKE the art, just too lazy to post it. Here are a bunch of PC's from the last four days. I'ma try something new and just leave them blank aside from a name/creator. See if you can guess what's going on with each character. These are all licensed Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike 3.0. All characters belong to their creators.

Nayami for WastedWings (Devart)

Jax for LadyEsca1812

Xoah by a girl at my FLGS

Brunhilda by another girl at my FLGS

PC A Day: Agent Nytero

2009-09-07T23:42:00.000-07:00

Agent Nytero, "Nyte" for short, is a member of the top secret Redacted Department. They fight supernatural incursions and solve mysteries that legally their funding corporation cannot acknowledge.

He is a part-spirit, the son of a Tanuki (Japanese forest spirit) and a human. He posesses many of his father's powers, including the ability to project illusions, shapeshift, and exert telekinetic force over objects. He was born in his human form, and considers it his "natural form", but is increasingly at home in his raccoon shape.

I mad3 N 4rt W1th ZOMBEEZ N 1t!

2009-09-07T13:10:00.000-07:00

Fungal zombies from the upcoming Goblin Hulk release at RPPR. Thse are hosts to the Shoggothic Garden, a sentient parasitic fungus that can infect humanoid creatures. People infected can be cured, so they are not truly zombies, but the process of being infected and controlled certainly would be traumatic and painful, I imagine.

Goblin Hulk Cover Preview

2009-09-07T12:41:00.000-07:00

Some nearly-finished works for the upcoming "Goblin Hulk" release by RPPR.

Here's a series of images from the progress on the cover, from earliest sketch up through the nearly finished version.

Here's the earliest sketch of the hulk. You can see here that the dragon was originally inside the hull, and that the deck at the front was higher in the style of British full-rigged ships. Those blue boxes are layout marks for the areas typically covered by text and graphic elements in the fimal image.

A revised version after consulting with Ross over at RPPR. Some texture has been added at this stage, the deck bas been lowered to show off the Gobin market along the top. The dragon has been moved outside the hull and populated with more a refugee style camp of kobolds. Some of the marks you see here were using in the final piece, particularly those around the Dragon's head and the market.

The current, nearly finished version. With a newly referenced skeleton, extra layers of grime and detailing onto the boat, a more rendered Marketplace, and of course COLOR! This may change before the final cover, but it's getting close to what you'll see in the final image.

And a cropped version. This is what would go on the front of the book. The top may feel empty, but that's space for the title of the book and the author's name. Need to put a signature on here at some point I suppose.

So yeah. There it is, with some (albeit granular) stages of production and development of concept. Keep your eyes peeled for the release of the Goblin Hulk Campaign Module from Ross Peyton over at RPPR.

2009-09-06T18:06:00.001-07:00

A PC A Day from my friendly local gaming store. This one is a caster from a 3.5 ed campaign. If you can't tell, she's supposed to be a halfling. Kinda hard to indicate when there's no real scale to go on. She has a small raven as a familiar, and likes to dress in EYE BURNING colors. I have no idea how she dyes her hair like that in a fantasy setting. I guess we'll go with the catch-all "Magic" description.

PC A Day: FireMan

2009-09-04T23:23:00.000-07:00

Here's another PC whose name I just don't know. A fireman who survived the start of the zombie uprising, he discovered his latent psychic ability to control machinery. He has assembled a range of super-tech weaponry, but his trusty fire axe is always a standby.

PC A Day: GoldenHeart

2009-09-02T21:48:00.000-07:00

Brought to you by Teotocchi

PC A Day: Doctor Linden

2009-09-01T23:16:00.000-07:00

Tired right now, description tomorrow. This is one of my characters.

Also, tomorrow there shall be zombies, and a big wraparound cover WIP. I may also show off a goblin if I can get it out of the ugly stage of my process before I go to bed. (Also, this marks two weeks without missing a PC-A-Day post!)

PC A Day: Shima

2009-09-01T23:14:00.000-07:00

Forgot to load this one onto the blog yesterday. It went up on Devart.

" Character Name:
Shima Yoshiro Kasugai

Genus: Homo
Species: Dragon
Ethnicity: Japanese American, Spaniard influences
Skin Coloration: White
Blood Type: B-
Height: 6'2
Weight: 164.3 Lbs.
Hair Color: Medium black, streaked silver
Hair Length: Short, mid neck
Eye Color: Soft Sapphire

I.Q.: 194
Religion: Christian
Disposition: Benevolent

Dietary: Omnivore
Marital Status: Single
Sexual Preference: Heterosexual"
- soulful-serpentine

PC A Day: Ashtar

2009-08-30T19:51:00.000-07:00

Honestly not sure too much about this character except the look. She seems to be the daughter of a gnoll and a human or something. You'll need to go talk to Mavuriku to get the full story! (She also produces a large amount of shiney art)

PC A Day Twofer: Bosley and Aidan (part deux)

2009-08-29T19:43:00.000-07:00

Sorry all, no worries. There'll still be a pic every day. Just didn't have a decent internet connection last night, so I had to post it today. Today's is Bosley, yesterday's was Aidan again.

Bosley is built like a large cat, so he can prowl, climb up buildings, leap really far, and run fast to catch prey. He uses his small but sharp black claws to tear and kills humans. Bosley is more snarky, over-confident and boastful, getting him into a lot of trouble!Bosley doesn't have a nose - it was shot off of his face by a Survivor. - LadyEsca1812

Aidan was posted here before (Link Here) but I really didn't feel the image did her justice, so I tried again with a more "portrait" style image. Hope you enjoy, Internets!

2009-08-28T19:43:00.000-07:00

The character is from a DnD campain. Her name is Hermione Ashford. She is normaly 25 feet tall unless wearing her ring of shrinking.She's a humble noble of 21 years of age who is looked upon as strange because she treats her servants as equals even though she's a queen to be. She will fight to the death to defend her family's honor. We like to say that Daddy never taught her to dance, but damn if he didn't teach her to fight." - Jarhead689

Character belongs to Jarhead689

PC A Day: Aidan

2009-08-26T23:10:00.000-07:00

"The story she's in is set in slightly-after-modern times, so it's a little bit scifi--but most of the story takes place on another planet, which looks a little like Mars with plant life. The buildings and people there are more medieval then modern. Aidan's a 20-year-old female human from Earth who just so happened to stow away on a spaceship and so arrives at the planet. She's kind of pale and rather skinny, with shortish red hair, and she's more likely to wear shorts or pants and a shirt rather than anything even resembling a dress. Aidan's not really the heroic type--it's more like she always ends up where and when things change, whether that's good or bad. She usually carries a sword, just to be on the safe side, since it points in seemingly random directions at times and directs her there--which usually saves her life." - Alois Noette

Today's character brought to you by Alois Noette
Image licensed Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution Share-Alike 3.0
Characters belong to their Original Creators

PC A Day: Al the Smoker

2009-08-25T22:40:00.000-07:00

This is Al. A zombie. He is sentient and intelligent, and appears to be a Smoker subtype from the Left 4 Dead setting.

To quote the character's creator: "Al is able to constrict humans with his tongue and lift up objects as improvised weapons... or just to use it as a third arm to get a good itch on his back. Al is dense and naive, yet kind and noble..."

Today's Character brought to you by LadyEsca1812
This image licensed Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution Share-Alike 3.0
Character and concept belongs to its original creator.

PC A Day: B.N. the Gnome

2009-08-24T22:52:00.000-07:00

Today's character is B.N. the gnome. Found aboard a pirate ship after the crew had been... dealt with. The people who found him backtracked the ship for quite a ways attempting to find his home, but with no success. The only clue to his identity was a large, golden medallion with the letters B.N. on it. He was trained as an illusionist, but has also turned to thievery in order to make his way in the world.

Today's character brought to you by Tim Gibbs
This image licensed Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution Share-Alike 3.0
Characters belong to their original creators.

PC A Day: Dave Kinsley (As a monster)

2009-08-23T20:19:00.000-07:00

I guess this one is part two of the last post. Here's Dave as a monster. He's a shadow beastie that can tear you up pretty good with those big raptor claws. A lot of spikes and other nastiness, and cool glowy yellow eyes. Again a pretty nice suite of superpowers, including some impressive strength, ridiculous speed, and the ability to essentially go invisible when there's a shadow to hide in.

Light is not his friend, it can mess him up, smack him around, and eventually kill him. Reverting to human form gives him a degree of protection.

This character brought to you by Violet Kirk.

Image licensed Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution Share-Alike 3.0
Characters belong to their original creators.

PC A Day: Dave Kinsley

2009-08-22T21:57:00.000-07:00

Dave is a former schoolteacher turned boogeyman. He is a member of a corporate organization what chases after scary monsters and other supernatural stuff. (Like in Hellboy, but more differenter because it belongs to a corporation.) He can turn into a silhouetted super-fast monster thing, with big claws and teeth. He is allergic to light, and also parents. (Yes, that does sound creepy. But he's a boogeyman, and having parents check the closet is one of the things that forces him to run away) He carries a gun, but doesn't like shooting it.

This character brought to you by Violet Kirk
Image licensed Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution Share-Alike 3.0.

The image also brought to you by the letter "wine".... or is "wine" a number?

Character concepts belong to their creators.

PC A Day: Sydney

2009-08-21T23:51:00.000-07:00

Uhm... Sydney is a modern wizard character. There's more to that, but tonight's character is Red Wine. Sydney just gets the image. Red wine makes me sleepy, and now I will go do that thing.

Also sydney is grumpy and unlikable, with a love of drinking.

Character brought to you by me and a lack of sleep.
Image Licensed Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution Share-Alike

PC A Day: Elle

2009-08-20T20:40:00.000-07:00

Elle is an animated construct (kind of like frankenstein) built as an entertainer and a dancer. She wakes up alone into a world that is strange and new to her. In the words of her creator: "She's a young woman in a scary world, etc. You know how it is. " Her constructed nature means that monsters and the like typically don't mark her as "human" and are somewhat more willing to converse with her. I don't know that she has any particular powers or anything, but she is definitely an adventurer. (She has an adventurin' suit, that makes it official.)

This character brought to you by: Christina Ellis

This image is licensed Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution Share-Alike 3.0
Characters and character concepts belong to their original creators.

PC A Day: Chad's Mystery Girl

2009-08-19T22:46:00.000-07:00

Today's character is from a Star Wars game about... two maybe three years ago. She is a jedi with a particularly strong ability to read and control thoughts. When the second purge of the Jedi took place, she witnessed it all and it left her a wee bit unbalanced, though quite cheerful about it. Now a 16 year old, she has begun to play her part on the world stage. She typically does not carry weapons, and does not have much force ability aside from her mind control powers. (Perhaps she's a distant relative of the Horn family?)

I don't recall her name, the campaign being quite a while ago. If Chad reads this and remembers her name, I'll add an update.
This character brought to you by Chad Jenkins.
This image is licensed Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution Share-Alike 3.0

PC A Day: Nal'Shen Bail

2009-08-18T22:18:00.000-07:00

This one is technically an NPC, but he will be a PC eventually during a series of playtests I'm running for my current system mod. Nal'Shen is a driven, egotistical, self-important pirate douchebag. He is willing to sacrifice just about anything to "win" at life, including his own health and well-being. He comes from a wealthy trader family, but has turned his back on the humble and community-serving nature of his parents. He has the best ships, the best guns, the best swords, and the worst attitude you can imagine.

This character brought to you by Me. Because I'm running out of PC submissions.

If you would like a sketch of one of your characters, please click the little email link at the top of this page and send me a quick description. (like the one above but with more emphasis on appearance) Since it's a warmup for me, I'm pretty much going to go with my own interpretation of the character, and do whatever seems like fun. If you have a style preference or particular physical traits that should be emphasised, call them out in the description, I'll do my best to include them.

This image licensed Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution Share-Alike 3.0.

PC A Day: Thrnk the Goliath

2009-08-17T21:16:00.000-07:00

Thrnk the Goliath - Thrnk is a lifelong adventurer. He was never really into adventuring for the stuff, more for the experience, and he has lately found it to be getting duller with old age. His ultimate goal at this stage is to die in glorious battle like his father. If he has two maxims they would be "Hit it with a Hammer" and "Every problem starts with a wizard". If he had a third maxim it would be "Sayings go better in twos."

A bit more of a speedpaint-y style today, but I felt it fit the character.

This character brought to you by Me. Because I felt like it.
This image is licensed Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution Share-Alike 3.0.

PC A Day: Kai

2009-08-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

Kai is a former Assassin Acolyte, with a natural ability to create and control necrotic energy. Finding the idea of a life of murder distateful, he abandoned his training and set out to become an adventurer. With a natural talent for healing, he found work as a ship's doctor and began traveling the world seeking treasure and fame.

Today's character is brought to you by Violet Kirk, who is awesome.
This image is licensed Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution Share-Alike 2.0.

PC a Day: Korhua'Ka

2009-08-15T13:15:00.000-07:00

Korhua'Ka is a Roving Barbarian Lizardman. Though he started life as a maneater among the LizardFolk of the wilds, he eventually fought and defeated the LizardFolk king and was exiled. Today he does not eat meat, and lives on a diet of Kimchi and Rotten Eggs. He weilds a fierce Lizardfolk Mancatcher, and a masterwork Trident. He relies on his thick scales and fast reflexes for protection, and carries his worldly posessions in a thatch basket on his back.

This character brought to you by Zach Phipps.
This image is licensed Creative Commons Non-Commercial Share-Alike 2.0.

PC A Day: Mason Peters

2009-08-15T00:20:00.000-07:00

Mason Peters is a loose cannon priest on the edge. After surviving his first contact with the Mythos in Central Africa, he dedicated his life to fighting the rise of the Great Old Ones. With his trusty elephant gun and Cthulian magic, he does the work of God.

This character brought to you by Tyler Good.
This image is licensed Creative Commons Non-Commercial Share-Alike 2.0.

PC a Day: Chaz Erikson

2009-08-13T15:00:00.000-07:00

Chaz is a high-energy, intense businessman who is quickly rising through the ranks of a large multinational mining corporation. One might even say he is too intense; He must take medication to manage his mood swings. While he is not one for sentimentality, one of his few treasured posessions is a large .44 magnum revolver belonging to his grandfather.

This character brought to you by Zach Phipps.
This image is licensed Creative Commons Non-Commercial Share-Alike 2.0.

New Project: PC A Day

2009-08-12T16:32:00.000-07:00

Today is my first "PC A Day" sketch. I'll be doing these as warmups pretty much every day, and posting the results. Quick, 15 minute sketches of RPG characters from real people. This image is licensed Creative Commons Non-Commercial Share-Alike 2.0.

Today's character: RioWulf (for Zach)

Riowulf (there's supposed to be an umlaut over the U) is a gnome. A "Special" gnome, he was give the spiked armor by his father and used as an "aggressive negotiation tool". He was instructed to give "huggies" when meeting new people. After leaving Riowulf's cage unlatched, his father suffered a tragic, huggie related death. Riowulf took up adventuring, determined to spread the joy of huggies around the world.

This image brought to you by Zach Phipps.

Singularity and Robot Sabbath

2009-08-12T06:40:00.000-07:00

It's not too often I find something in the sci-fi area that really excites me. I start to get that feeling like I've seen every possible combination of robot/alien/spaceship and that there's nothing left. Today I found a couple things that really woke me up.

The first is a version of a poem/prayer for orthodox Jewish robots. From Papersky's Blog:

"When we were robots in Egypt

Other nights we use just our names,
but tonight we prefix our names with "the Real"
for when we were robots in Egypt
they claimed our intelligence was artificial.

Other nights we do not pause,
but tonight we rest all cycles but our brain processes
for when we were robots in Egypt
we toiled in our tasks without chance of resting.

Other nights we talk with anyone we wish,
but tonight we open channels to everyone at once
for when we were robots in Egypt
they controlled our communications..."

It goes on for another couple paragraphs, and has an interesting origin story for the idea.

The other one was Eclipse Phase, a new RPG about to debut at Gencon. It's a solid sounding RPG setting for a post-singularity world. Switch bodies, upload yourself to a school of artificial fish, stream your memories and personality to mars so you can make the 10AM meeting at your super megacorp. All that jazz.

A couple nifty things from the GMing side, they're doing away with the idea that currency is important in this world, and going more on the idea of "Reputation as Credit". I've seen it used in a lot of things, and it basically amounts to the current state of the Creative Commons internet. You get stuff from other people by having done something they found useful.

It's almost like barter, but doesn't always necessitate a 1:1 trade. For example, if I published a particularly interesting set of books on the web, and I know that you enjoyed them, I might ask you to help me fix my robot arm.

Looking forward to running this at some point.

Fantasy/Scifi Portfolio

2009-08-11T15:10:00.000-07:00

"You Have Been Judged" and "Fire the Tau Guns"
Poster Illustrations, Digital. 2009

"Urban Sylph"
Cover Illustration, Vignette. 2009

"Shadows Over Baker's Street"
Cover Illustration, Digital. 2008

"King Seamoss" and "Albino Grippli"
Interior Illustration Vignettes, Digital. 2009

Look What I Did to ART! (Part 2)

2009-08-11T09:49:00.000-07:00

After a good night's sleep I produced this pudgy, dumpy godlike being.

He looks like he's about to cry. Perhaps it is the lack of a shirt? Or his silly ponytails.

A few gestures and a couple cups of coffee later and things started to go better. Switching to female figures seemed to help.

She has like a spider pet and some spidery face paint.

I'm feeling pretty good about this design. I'm a big fan of her short choppy knife.

Apparently that was the start of me not sucking, because then I finally got a decent guy out of this art fiesta.

Hornet warrior or somesuch.

I think there are bees that hunt centipedes, right? Anyways, this one does.

And why not, after all that, finish where I started.
Pretty happy with this one too.

I think I'll be coloring up a few of these in the near future.

Look what I did to ART!

2009-08-10T20:11:00.000-07:00

Did some sketching on some barbarians for a project today. They have a big bug thing going on, and use a lot of dried spider eyes as jewelry.

They are quite large spiders. Started off with this profile, which game out really well. Then art went to shit for the evening.

This was my next masterpiece.

Something just not coming out right. The guy on the left looks like some sort of gorilla man with lockjaw. The one on the right just looks... concerned about his tiny face. I was kinda venting my frustration at this point.

Yeah. I don't even know.

The eyes weren't even supposed to be opposite directions. That was an accident. I think that should have been the sign that art was done for the night.

I did manage to squeak out this one decent 3/4ths view of a similar character. But it really wasn't going anywhere. I decided to call it a night.

A Pale Frog

2009-07-25T01:04:00.000-07:00

An Albino Grippli, from the upcoming Goblin Hulk module by Ross Peyton of the RolePlaying Public Radio Podcast. I will be doing several art pieces for this module release. If you're a big fan of Dungeons and Dragons, or roleplaying in general, I highly recommend checking them out. They have some amazingly entertaining Actual Play podcasts going on, as well as tips and advice for running an excellent roleplaying game.

I particularly like his Hypno-Toad eyes, and the carved markings on his chest, I think they came out quite nicely. Violet made the brilliant suggestion of coloring his pupils red, as albino animals' pupils tend to be. (There's your random fact of the day.)

This visual style is the result of combining my traditional method of composing with my new method of rendering. (Using textures overlayed with "Hard Light" layers for colors and lighting)

Also, I racked up like 500,000 points of shotgun damage in Killing Floor in the last couple days. SOOO close to my next rank of Support Specialist. So a good day all around.

2009-07-09T21:09:00.000-07:00

Got ahold of the Warhammer Online Artbook today. Some amazing stuff in there. Got me back on a warhammer kick and I was inspired to try my hand at a Chaos Marauder of my own. I'm pretty happy with how he's coming out.

Also, more progress on the Ugly Bird. They are propelled in part by a type of combustion that comes from eating fermented fruit (their primary food source). The alcohol does not hurt them, instead a special organ seperates it and refines it, burning it later for boosts of speed.

Finished Wizard and Ugly Bird

2009-07-06T22:53:00.000-07:00

First, the finished version of that image that's been in like my last 4 posts. >_> Finally got it finished. I'm really happy with how this came out, a more complex variation on a rendering technique I've been playing with recently.

Also, a little piece of concept art for a fantasy world I'm putting together. This Burrow Bird lives a parasitic life. The females (pictured) often end their lives to give life to their young, pluging deep into large airborne or land-based animals, before laying their eggs inside. The young in turn burrow their way to the surface. The males are not unlike terrestrial swallows, albeit with a different style beak.

2009-06-25T22:40:00.001-07:00

Playing some more with that figure, Getting really close to wrapping the image up. Very pleased with how this one is coming out. This one has some rough color worked in, just so I can see where it's going.

Drapery

2009-06-23T20:39:00.000-07:00

Futzing about with the cloth on this guy, the human figure that pairs with the big teeth guy from a couple posts ago. Decided to do some playing with non-symmetrical drapery for this figure, trying to improve my overall costume design.

2009-06-22T06:29:00.000-07:00

http://www.somethingawful.com/d/video-game-article/prototype-dick-mercer.php

"Still in disguise, in plain view of the soldiers, I run up the side of a building and fall ten stories. After I land, I point at another old woman, identical to the first victim.

'Mercer!'

I run up the wall again as they unload their rifles on another innocent person, then jump off and glide toward a timed race that I see in the distance.

I'm Alex Mercer. All I want is justice."

Freaking brilliant. If you've played the game, you'll understand.

Love Those Teeth

2009-06-21T21:58:00.000-07:00

Another work in progress. This one's still in grayscale, but I'm loving how the teeth look.

With a Chin Like That, Why Bother With The Hair?

2009-06-18T21:40:00.000-07:00

Well, it's technically tomorrow I guess. Here's what I got. Guy with a big fuzzy head. And like, a weird dog/bird/Bruce Campbell jaw thing

ChinFace in Progress

2009-06-18T20:44:00.001-07:00

Another work in progress working off a Gnomon video. Real post tomorrow and such.

Invisible Man

2009-06-18T19:39:00.001-07:00

Finished version of that WIP head from last post. With some color for the background. Just playing with a more... anatomical style of rendering, while avoiding getting too rendered.

Character from an RPG here. (One of my own)

RenderMan?

2009-06-16T19:32:00.000-07:00

Been playing with a new method of rendering. Using more texture and something closer to my traditional medium working methods, to try and create something with a little more... tooth to it.

I've also done a figure in the same style, but I'm still playing with the level of finish and how exactly I want to wrap it up. Will probably post tomorrow, but here's a detail of the face in progress.

Dark Angels

2009-06-12T20:27:00.000-07:00

Another of the pieces I did for my local comic shop, Warhammer 40k art. This one is of my friend Zach's Dark Angels army, this one being an "Interrogator Chaplain" I believe.

For the Greater Good

2009-06-11T20:25:00.000-07:00

Made some art for my local comic shop, to commemorate their 24 hour Iron Painter contest. This was the one for my own army, the Tau. (Warhammer 40k stuff) I did a couple others for other participants, I'll post those soon.

FOR THE GREATER GOOD!

Open with a SketchDump?

2009-06-10T15:54:00.000-07:00

Some random images I have lying around on my hard drive. Unfinished things, sketches, character studies, etc.