If I Was a Vampire

This week on CHOW it's vampires vs werewolves and your alter ego has to choose a side!

Not only would I totally be a vampire, but I used to LARP one and my last surviving character was a Malkavian.

I Am a Rock

Animal Sketches 3

Animal Sketches 2

More animals from the ol' sketchbook.

Red foxes have oddly long legs. I'm not sure I've ever noticed that before.

Animal Sketches

I'm finally getting off my butt in submitting my portfolio to magazines and publishers. Unfortunately, looking over what I've got I need a few more finished pieces, especially ones featuring animals.

To get in the right mental state I've been doing quick sketches from photos found on various sites.

Titania

Last time I posted a half-finished CHOW redesign, and this one is an old CHOW I never finished, Titania the Fairy Queen:

I think I'm going to be working on this one for a while, I'm in no rush to finish and I'd like to try for detail

Harajuku Warrior Redux

I've been noodling around on some old CHOW entries. Here was one of my other designs for the Harajuku Warrior:

Speaking to Fishes

I was doing some rendering and lighting practice all last week:

I used this wonderful reference photo by Jaymasee.

I had some thoughts of making this into a full illustration (hence the fishies) but since this was all done on the same layer adding a background turned out to be too much of a pain. I'd already spent about 3 extra hours rendering drapery (I just love all those folds. LOVE THEM.) and I didn't want to spend another 6 on coral. Next time!

Anyway! That's why October updates have been slightly scarce. All I have is this and a bunch of unfinished doodles.

Poison Apple

An experiment!

Futuristic Botanical Garden - Final

My final entry for Illustration of the Week 6. I expected to do really poorly against the other people (there were only 3 entries this week and one was clearly more professional) but at this point I seem to be in the lead, which is a nice change.

I'm not sure I'm entirely happy with the lighting but I've got James Gurney's book (Color and Light) coming in the mail next week and I'm really looking forward to putting it to good use. And I think I've definitely improved since I started entering in the CHOW competitions three years ago.

University Farm

Well, I muffed up the perspective and proportions good, but I console myself with the fact that this isn't the worst thing I've ever painted.

And in my defense there was a huge trailer blocking the last third of the barn that wasn't nearly nice enough to paint.

River Valley

Started this one weekend several weeks ago. Today the weather is finally bad outside to finish some paintings.

This fall has been particularly nice for both colours and weather. The Edmonton river valley, near McKinnon Ravine Park.

Futuristic Botanical Garden

I've got like... four landscape paintings in progress that I need to finish. In the meantime, though, I'm throwing my hat in the ring for this week's Illustration of the Week topic:

Werewolf Shaman

Fooling around while waiting for the sun to come out.

Whitemud Ravine

This was the first painting I worked on when I got back from the Badlands trip. I got out late, though, and had to cut that session short. I finished it up yesterday from some reference photos I took.

Pumpkin Girl and the Candy Thief

Something based on an old sketch from my sketchbook.

Corner Street Players Final

Mill Creek Skyscape

The last time I went out the clouds were just amazing. I had to get this done quick because the wind was whipping them across the sky.

And then I got rained on.

Barcelona Sketches - Cacti

There is a cactus garden on Montjuic in Barcelona full of nearly every kind of cactus imaginable, just growing outside. It was so great I went there twice.

Corner Street Players

They were playing a lot of CCR at the pub that night.