Calendar Progress

I've been holed up in my studio for about a month working away on these two commissions. I can share the calendar, but not the other. Here is the finished Aquarius piece. I ended up changing the head so that she would engage the viewer more.

Here is where I am on the calendar's cover. Watercolor wash has been put down. It's been sealed with Acrylic Matte medium and then proceed with oils...

...and finish by MONDAY!!!!

Astro Cal Progress

Continuing with the calendar- met my deadline for another interior thumbnail and the cover concept. Rather than simply stick the 12 zodiacs randomly in the scene, I tried to "step into the picture" and make a story. This is what I came up with. Aries lights the way next to the Leo masthead, Gemini twins do the paddling, Sagittarius has her bow ready next to Virgo (sheaves of wheat), Taurus blows a bull's horn to signal their approach next to Libra on the banner, Capricorn plays with Pisces while Aquarius (the swan) and Cancer (crab) look on. The herons flying in the background are for Scorpio but they asked me to also include a scorpion on the banks. I asked if I could do a stencil of it on the boat instead and they said yes.

Here is Aries which has received the okay. That's dogwood in her hair with Mars in the background. The symbol with be in her earrings.

 I also redesigned the swan for Aquarius and changed a few things for a redo. It's ready for oil glazes.

Now I have a month to finish all three. Yikes!

Age of Aquarius II and Fantasy Con

Here's a progress shot of Aquarius. Probably one more pass with the oils and I'll call it finished. 

FANTASY CON

Detail from The Fellowship of the Ring- Descent from Caradhras 

I was able to attend one day of Fantasy Con here in Salt Lake City. It was the first time coming here but after the continued success of Comic Con's debut here in 2013, I believe there will be a future for these events in my area. Fantasy Con was held the weekend of the 4th of July which might have hindered the attendance some. I had offered to help Donato Giancola when I saw he was one of the guest artists on the website. He took me up on the offer so on the 3rd, I headed down and helped him set up and watched his booth when he attended panels. Howard Lyon, Justin and Annie Stegg, Heather Theuer, and Steve Argyle were there as well as others I was less familiar with. The picture above is a detail shot of Donato's largest painting to date. Measuring 6' x 10', it captured everyone's attention.

 Lots of LOTR and plenty of families that truly embraced the Middle Earth spirit. 

Donato's Booth

 This last picture is so geeky/Ringer funny. Here's Eowyn, Arwen, and Galadriel viewing Donato's Middle Earth Art book in front of his huge painting. 

Age of Aquarius

As stated in the previous post, I'm doing an Astrology Calendar for Llewellyn Worldwide. They gave me permission to post on my blog about the progress. I sent in the two sketches and they selected this one. I finished the sketch and am now playing with some textures and colors in Photoshop.

Running to Catch up

Shame on me. Two months. Summer months, but still a long time to go without updating. I am going to try to get back to blogging; not just here, but visiting other blogs like I used to. I miss it. I use Facebook to do much of my networking but I miss the interaction and inspiration I receive from visiting blogs and seeing what everyone is doing. So...more blogs; less Facebook.

So, where was I? Here's the update on the Morrigan assignment. I ended up finishing her digitally and not very well. I hope to get back to the sketch and finish her in oils.

 Last month I received an email asking if I would be interested in illustrating the 2016 Astrology Calendar for Llewellyn Worldwide. It's the biggest commission I've ever accepted and though nervous, I'm actually excited to take on the challenge. Here are my thumbnails for Aquarius (my month). I haven't heard back yet but did get their permission to post any progress shots here on my blog.

That's it for now. Next post will be about my experience at Fantasy Con.