Digital/Published: Memories
Memories;
Digital; story illustration for Memories by Peter Crowther (Cemetery Dance Magazine, 2009)
Digital/Published: Fetal Position
Fetal Position;
Digital; story illustration for Fetal Position by Joel Arnold (Wicked Hollow Magazine #1)
Also featured in the Spectrum 9 annual
Spectrum coming up
Most years, when I can spare a little extra money, I try to enter a couple of competitions. First on the list is always the annual Spectrum competition, for the best of the current year’s fantasy/genre art. I was lucky enough to have been chosen for Spectrum 9 many years Read more…
Digital/Published: The Attic
The Attic;
Digital; cover of the published short comic The Attic by Russell Dickerson and Marc Shemmans (Horror Express)
The Golden Ratio or Fibonacci Spiral
Now, before we begin, let’s just say that my years of being an engineering student are way, WAY behind me. But I was looking at a couple of sites today that discussed the Golden Ratio or the Fibonacci Spiral, a quasi-magical scientific idea (let that roll around in your head Read more…
Two New Ink Cards
Over the busy weekend, I’ve still managed to create two new ink cards, both based on ancient stone sculptures. They are also both ink on 5″ x 7″ 140 lb. Cold Press paper. The first is a gargoyle, based on one that I have here in my office. I’m having Read more…
Maelstrom Cover #2: Of Crows and Obsessions
This cover is a bit unlike Kelli’s, and many that I’ve done, in that the story was already available to the public.
From start to finish: The Cover of Brian Keene’s Scratch
I like seeing how art evolves, from the beginning of the thumbnail sketches all the way through the final product. I think you can literally see an artist’s though processes as they work through issues, try new things, and complete what their vision is. In my case, it might be Read more…
Approaching art from all angles
I never just charge into a piece for the sake of doing art, I always let it mull around in my head some first. Sometimes I have a pretty good idea and I just need to smooth things out. Other times, there’s a lot of thought in what the scene Read more…
Toying with color and grayscale
In the case of grayscale art, often I’ll look at it and see if I can enhance it with color.
My art for Brian Keene’s novella Scratch
I’ve been very anxious to show everyone this, and now, upon the release of the novella, I can do just that. Below I’ve attached a number of pieces of art that I did for author Brian Keene’s book Scratch, just released from Cemetery Dance Publications.
Scratch, if you don’t follow Keene’s work (and his followers are Legion), is the story of a giant snake. One that gives our characters quite a bad time.
I have to say, working on such an in-depth and extensive project was a daunting idea at first. But working with an author like Brian, who is so open to ideas and so helpful with the ones I came up with, was just fantastic. All the fine folks at Cemetery Dance are very supportive and wonderful to work with as well, and overall this was a great experience.
Now, the art itself is spread quite thoroughly throughout the book, and while the esteemed Mr. Keene doesn’t think that the art alone gives away the story, it’s certainly a possibility.
So, fair warning. The art is chock full of spoilers.
One more time, for those Keene fans (and others) who haven’t read it:
SPOILERS!!!!
If you’d just like to see what the art looks like, please enjoy the full gallery below. Every image in Scratch is there, please let me know what you think.
[nggallery id=6]
If, however, you’d like a bit more “meat” with it, follow along below this (and to the next page) for comments on how I created the art, thoughts on it, and so forth. REALLY spoiled then, and I mean it.
After this, there’s no going back, because the rest below contains
SO MANY SPOILERS!!! NOT KIDDING!!!
Without further ado, follow along to the next page for my insights.
New Art: My first acrylic – no giggling
Sometimes, I shudder to post new ideas or new techniques that I try. I never know if they really work out, if they are ok but just need work, or if they are so awful that the sun will shrivel up and we’ll all die. But, I also think that Read more…
Russ’s Art Blog: A Wolf Had Not Been Seen in Salem for Thirty Years
I’ve been thinking of trying out one of Howard Pyle’s works for some time, but they’re kind of difficult to come by online.
Russ’s Art Blog: N.C. Wyeth, Gunfight
This is N.C. Wyeth’s Gunfight (1916. Oil on canvas, 34″ x 25″), a piece that really caught my eye when we were going through the museum.