Today, I have a recent Magic
That's all for another exciting Monday on the blog. See you back here on Wednesday! Until then...
I am still looking back while I make new things now. At the start of my career, I did a LOT of work from FFG. I think at one time, they were the on-ramp for many a gaming career. Back then, they had a lot of work to go around. Talisman was the first project I worked on for them, but one of the next was on Runebound. I cannot tell you anything about the game, except that I painted three elder gods for it in 2009, and they came out in 2010. I have a copy of the expansion my three cards are in, but I haven't looked in the box since 2010. This is one of those three elder gods, and it is a crocodile.
I have something extra for you. Here is the original drawing for this piece that I have never shared before. The drawing and the painting are both very small, especially compared to the size I work today. I am not sure if I have this drawing still or not, but I didn't sell many of these early pieces. I was learning a lot about making art and painting sixteen years ago, and in this piece, I can see clearly what I was already getting right, what I was getting very wrong, and some things that I have never been able to escape.
That is all for another exciting week on the blog. See you back here on Monday! Until then...
In 2010, sixteen years ago now, I began a personal project to redesign most, if not all, of the monsters in the original Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual. That original MM had a profound effect on me and led me to eventually work on the game. While I was already working on the game when I began this project, it did prove useful as I have redesigned many D&D monsters in my career on the game. In the end, I completed over 100 drawings for the project and even had a gallery show featuring the work.
I thought it would be nice to look back at some of my favorites. Today brings us back to my second pass through the book with the Giant: Hill. Enjoy!
That's another exciting Wednesday on the blog. See you back here on Friday! Until then...
I have mentioned Pokémon and Pokémon Go a few times here on the blog. And yes, I am a few weeks ahead of the actual ten-year anniversary mark for Pokémon Go, but I feel like I have a significant announcement to make. Over this past weekend, I reached the level cap of 80 in Pokémon Go, and as I said, just shy of a rather big anniversary for a mobile app. I have been playing the app since its release in July of 2016, and I play it every day. In fact, I have played it more, longer, and more consistently than any other game in my life. But I do not see it only as a game, as it is an integral part of my daily routine. Because every morning I get up and walk for 2-2.5 hours and cover 7-10 miles while playing it, every day.
I do more than just walk and play Pokémon Go. That time in my day is both for physical activity as well as mental. I work on my book while I walk, switching over to the notepad to type out notes and ideas. I problem solve, world build, and ponder and ruminate. It is me time in every way. I watch the world wake up, the sun rise, the turtles awaken, and catch a lot of Pokémon. I have also been hit by cars, bitten by dogs, threatened, followed, and have been victorious in reclaiming gyms. After a decade, it is a bigger part of my life than a lot of things. Which is all very strange to me now. Because when I started playing ten years ago, it was only so that I had a distraction and maybe some motivation to walk more. It excelled in both.
Pokémon hit it big when I was in college. And while at the time I had a bunch of cards and loved the idea of it all, I never did anything more with it all. I never watched the show, and I honestly never played a single game - I liked the idea of it, and as a college student, I had no one to play against. I saw the animated feature in 2000 and the 2019 live-action Detective Pikachu movie, but that is it. I just love the monsters and the idea of the game and universe that I have spent the last ten years playing this game every day, and now I have some pretty awesome Pokémon.
For the record, my favorite Pokémon is the Garchomp. I have one that is a shiny, 4*, fully maxed, can mega evolve, and has two charge attacks. This one Pokémon single-handedly got me to level 80.
That is all for another exciting Monday on the blog. See you back here on Wednesday! Until then...
I am still looking back while I make new things now. At the start of my career, I did a LOT of work from FFG. I think at one time, they were the on-ramp for many a gaming career. Back then, they had a lot of work to go around and soul-crushingly low pay rates to go along with said work. Talisman was the first project I worked on for them, but one of the next was on Runebound. I cannot tell you anything about the game, except that I painted three elder gods for it in 2009, and they came out in 2010. I have a copy of the expansion my three cards are in, but I haven't looked in the box since 2010. This is one of those three elder gods, and it is a snake.
If you were wondering, I got paid a total of $100 for this work. That included thumbnails, drawing, and painting. That is a ton of work over many days for that money. Oh well. Live and learn. I think this is my favorite of the three I did, but you might have your favorite from the other two. I will share over the next two Fridays.
I have something extra for you. Here is the original drawing for this piece that I have never shared before. The drawing and the painting are both very small, especially compared to the size I work today. I am not sure if I have this drawing still or not, but I didn't sell many of these early pieces. That said, a quick search turned up MANY other drawings I didn't know I still have, but not this one. I was learning a lot about making art and painting sixteen years ago, and in this piece, I can see clearly what I was already getting right, what I was getting very wrong, and some things that I have never been able to escape.
That is all for another exciting week on the blog. See you back here on Monday! Until then...
In 2010, sixteen years ago now, I began a personal project to redesign most, if not all, of the monsters in the original Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual. That original MM had a profound effect on me and led me to eventually work on the game. While I was already working on the game when I began this project, it did prove useful as I have redesigned many D&D monsters in my career on the game. In the end, I completed over 100 drawings for the project and even had a gallery show featuring the work.
I thought it would be nice to look back at some of my favorites. Today brings us back to my second pass through the book with the Demon: Juiblex. Enjoy!
That's another exciting Wednesday on the blog. See you back here on Friday! Until then...
I am thrilled to announce that I will be returning as a guest to Infinity Con this coming July 11th and 12th in Tallahassee, FL. Infinity Con is a fantastic event, and it is always a joy to share my work with those in Tallahassee. Getting to sleep in your bed while also doing a convention is a treat. I will bring the Grand Bazaar with me again, so you can expect books, art, enamel pins, mystery print bundles, some new art, and more! I will share any additional details as we get closer to the event. Mark your calendars, and I will see you at the Donald Tucker Civic Center in less than a month.
That's all for an exciting Monday on the blog. See you back here on Wednesday. Until then...
