Bed and Breakfast

Another one just for fun.

Faerie Fix

I'm calling this one Faerie Fix because I have just made a few adjustments, or fixes to this little painting. It is a book illustration for Jim Tague's poem Teeney O'Feeney King of the Leprechauns.
I thought I was finished with this picture and the project completed when it was decided that we would add one more illustration to the book. Adding more art is always fine with me and since the new picture was going to involve faeries I felt like I wanted to go back to this one and make a few corrections before starting the new picture. I made some adjustments to her wings and brightened up the colour in a couple of places and gave her a bit more hair. The changes are subtle but now she looks a bit closer to what I have in mind for the faeries in the new picture and they will all look like they come from the clan. It's watercolour of course, as usual, with some gouache over painting.

Sketches

Some recent rough work for a personal piece I am planning for the spring. I'm still figuring out how it's all going to fit together. I know that I want to have the girl posed in front of the tree but I need to have something in the background that will help tell a story. Is she hiding ? Is she waiting ?

I need to have something back there. At first I was considering a dragon but I think that might be too much. I don't think this is going to be that kind of picture. I want this one to be more about the environment she's in. Maybe a flock of crows. Something has startled them - maybe - don't know yet - still thinking. More drawing required.

Flora

Some more morning warm up drawing. I don't really have any plans for this just yet, but you never know, I may be able to use her somewhere. Mostly I was just interested in drawing the leaves and things on her head.

Witches - Spidery

I've been thinking about witches lately. I have some new personal pieces planned for this spring and I keep coming back to the theme of witches. So here are some witch deigns or improvisations. I'm calling these ones Spider Witches because I'd like them to have long arms, longer actually than I've drawn them here. I think that will give them a creepier look. These will not be the nice and helpful kind of witch but more the mean and nasty type.

Witch Cottage 2

Some more recent sketchbook. Lately I've been experimenting with ideas for  witch cottages. I'm planning a new personal piece and would like to be able to put a really ramshackle looking witch hovel in the background. I'd like it to look very organic, mossy and crooked as if it just sort of grew there, which could be true if it was built with magic using found objects and scavenged bits of other buildings - and of course it will need to be in the misty haunted woods :)

Alan Lee Drawings

Here is a link to some fabulous Alan Lee drawings. If you've not yet seen these amazing drawings I think you will find them well worth a look - a good look :)

 http://goldenagecomicbookstories.blogspot.com/search/label/Alan%20Lee

Enjoy !

Pixie Witch

This one came out this morning while doing some warm-up drawing. I drew it from reference but took some liberties with her likeness to push the character I really wanted to draw. Then I gave her a snail. The hair needs more work but I can come back to that later when I'm in the mood to draw tangles, string and knots. She could probably also use some talismans and magical artifacts woven in as well.
More drawing required :)

Gnome Tower

Some more recent sketchbook. This little scene came to me while I was out walking my dog a few days ago. There is a wooded trail near our home where I can walk him everyday and it gives me a chance to take a good look at the undergrowth and old stumps and fallen logs and general forest litter. Even in the winter with all the leaves off, the random variety and infinite complexity never fail to inspire new ideas.

Ghost Path

Another one just for fun - a little diversion from the Arctic Myths project I'm working on at the moment. I strayed out of the Northern Wastes for a bit and down into the Haunted Forest. I really needed to draw some trees after all the glaciers and snow fields I've been drawing and painting lately. The path runs up and through the trees which are more or less growing over and around the rocks and is extended by a catwalk which kind of leap frogs through the woods, spanning creeks and going over crevices and steep cliffs. Things seen and unseen travel this path so be careful  :)

Witch Cottage

Some recent pencil activity - just for fun. I need to design a really good witch to go along with this cottage and make a complete picture. It could probably use some more trees around it too and some crows. I can't tell yet whether this is the home of a good witch or a nasty one. More drawing required.  :)

The Secret History of Hobgoblins

Two Illustrations from the soon to be released book, The Secret History of Hobgoblins by Templar Press in the UK. This was an absolutely terrific project to work on - really fun. It was written by Ari Berk who also wrote The Secret History of Giants a couple of years back which I was also lucky enough to have had the opportunity to work on. In Hobgoblins we're dealing with all the little critters, good and bad who may be found in and around the home. Above we have a wee goblin spreading mold up the walls and a rather more helpful chap banging the dents out of an old plate.

Wood Sprites - Recent Sketchbook

Wood Sprites - I'm still messing around with these ancient creatures. I have absolutely no time for this as I have several deadlines at the moment but I can't seem to pull myself away from these ideas. The pages are done during the in between moments, usually at the start or end of the day when I'm really feeling the need to put a bit more of myself down on paper. These drawings of course are simply stream of consciousness improvisations done completely from the imagination without any planning or reference - searching, searching, searching.... Boy would I ever love to paint one of these right now - hopefully soon :)

Eragon"s Guide to Alagaesis

This new Eragon book is finally out. It was at about this time last year that I was working on many of the drawings that went into this little volume. My job was to illustrate the people - the various races that live in Alagaesia. The villains were probably the most fun - these big nasty orc-like critters with ram horns. This was quite an enjoyable project to be a part of - a bit more time for the art would have made it perfect :).

Twigs and String - Faerie Witches

Some sketchbook activity from the past few days - planning for a personal piece I have absolutely no time for.
With these ones I'm really interested in their hair and drapery - flowing and morphing it all together - string, moss, spider web and twigs. I want them to look like they just animated right out of the ground.