Grandmother Troll

It was always my intention to get back to this one and finish it - soon I hope. Now that it's been a few months since I put it away it looks a bit better to me, so I guess I'll call this a work in progress - for now anyway, until I finally get back to it.

Magic Card - Weird Old Auntie

Another one from the Lorwyn set I worked on. This was one of my favourite cards. I was actually pretty surprised that they let me put all those weird looking kids in - fun !

Jeffrey Jones is Disappearing

I just noticed that one of my favourite artist's website is down. Jeff Jones is now harder than ever to track on line. This is very heart breaking. I managed to scare up a couple of images but they are now few and far between and seemingly becoming more rare by the day. I have always loved this picture, it seems kind of appropriate some how. Jeff Jones, wherever you are, I can't wait to see something new from you. Cheers. - and to be clear, this is a painting by Jeff Jones, not me. I'm a fan of his work and felt the need to post an ode to him :)

Sketchbook - Faeries, Giants and Ogres

More goofy drawing.

Sketchbook - Old Trolls

Finally finished the book project I've been on since January - hoping I might have time for a personal piece before the next one gets going - until then, some more morning pages.

Grandmother Troll and Pixie Waifs

More messing around. These were both morning warm up pages. One from yesterday and one from today. I'm finally coming into the home stretch of the book project I've been on since January.
In another couple of days I'll wrap it up - whew !

Sketchbook - Poses

Just messing around with poses - seeing if anything sparks an idea. You never know what simple pose will lead to a picture concept - keep drawing, keep dreaming. Simple is best for this kind of thing, I find anyway - brown pencil with gel pen outline.

Sketchbook - More Crusty Old Gnomes

More drawing and gearing up for the new project. I can't really talk about it of course but it is for the same UK publisher as my current project and will involve drawing lots of fun, mythic characters.

Sketchbook - Old Gnomes

Some recent activity. Gearing up for a new project that will likely involve drawing some pretty earthy characters - can't wait.

Arctic Troll

This image comes from a project I worked on last summer with my pal Neil Christopher for Chickadee magazine. Neil lives in the north and researches Inuit legends and tales and has become somewhat of an expert on Northern Mythology. We have worked on several projects in the past and are currently gearing up for another one. This character, known as The Amautalik is usually shown to be rather more gruesome but we decided to tone her down this time because the audience was going to be younger kids. The contraption on her back is where she keeps the children she collects before she eats them !

Sketchbook - Sherwood Forest

Some recent doodle activity. I think my admiration for Charles Bragg and Jack Levine may be showing in these ones - also my love for a certain purple pencil.

Blind Troll

Some recent doodle activity. I've got this idea for a blind troll. I'd like to get a rider of some kind on his back that guides him by playing a recorder. It's magic - there's no explanation beyond that. Together they travel secret and mysterious paths over lonely hilltops and through the dark and haunted woods. The rider should be a witch - that would make sense, to me at least. Maybe an old crone or perhaps an old crow or even some type of dark faerie. It's all up in the air at the moment, but with me being so bogged down with commercial work at the moment it could be months until I have a chance to sort this one out. More drawing required :)