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...
Today, I have for you a miniature based on one of my designs. I updated the Gorgon for the release of 5E. This is acutally the second release of a miniature for this design. An unpaintned version was released in 2021. This one is always a funny monster to me and is not the only time I have working on the Gorgon. To start things off, here is my design of the Gorgon.
Here are a pair of images of the miniature so that you can compare them to the design.
That's all for another exciting week on the blog. See you back here next week! 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 the beginning with my second pass through the book with the Beholder. Enjoy!
That's another exciting Wednesday on the blog. See you back here on Friday! Until then...
A few years ago, I discovered the remains of a raccoon along my daily walk. I am unsure of its fate, but I would assume a car was involved. The body was a very short distance off the sidewalk in heavy brush. I covered it, marked the location, and allowed the elements to do their job. I watched over the remains, checking in on the status of the decomposition over many months. Finally, when the skull was free of organic remains, I harvested it and the jaw and brought it home. I cleaned the skull and got it ready to be reassembled. The skull sat as a pile of teeth, jaws, and skull for a while on top of my flatfile. Over the weekend, I finally removed this job from my mental to-do list and put the teeth I still had into the skull and assembled the jaw and got it ready for display. Now that it is all done, I thought I would share some images of it.
That's all for another exciting Monday on the blog. See you back here on Wednesday! Until then...
In 2009, I was hired to design a series of miniatures for Fantasy Flight Games. They were gearing up to make plastic minis of all of their Arkham Horror/Call of Cthulhu monsters, and I was at the right place at the right time to get the bulk of them. It was a fun project with a lot of freedom for a grotesquely small amount of pay. And then nothing. It wouldn't be until 2011/12 for the monsters to finally be released as unpainted figures in board game sets and as fully painted premium minis. By and large, they all turned out great, and I still look back at them favorably. As it has been 17 years since I made the art and 15 years since they were eventually released, I thought it would be nice to revisit some of them. Next up in alphabetical order, we have the Wailing
And, as an added bonus, something I have never shared before, here are the thumbnails that I created for this piece. Over the past 17 years, I had forgotten how loose and sketchy these were.
That's all for another exciting week on the blog. See you back here on Monday! Until then...
During Gen Con 2022, I had an excellent opportunity to speak with the folks behind the upcoming documentary about Magic
In the interview, I was asked to discuss the cards I created for Magic
That's all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog. See you back here on Friday! Until then...
The last five months have been a blur. I began writing book two on January 1st, and I have devoted multiple hours a day, every day to writing and working on the book. And if I needed to miss a day, extra work is done on another day to make up for it. I have been burning the candle at both ends, but I am seeing results, and the book is taking shape. I could not be happier with how things are progressing, and it is exciting to see the book taking shape after working on it for the past six years. There is still plenty of work to do, which is why there is a 2027 completion date, and not one in 2026.
All of this and MORE was already shared with those following my mailing list, and if you want to see things first and see everything, then all you need to do is join my mailing list.
The State of Writing
The third column, listed as The Completed Circle, is the story within the story of book two. It is also, by far and away, the largest and most involved part of the next book. And it is all completely written. It was the very first thing that I tackled because I had to, as everything else will be in response to this story in the book (and a lot of other stuff, because nothing is simple or easy when I make things).
With the Street Voices now completed as well (they were an absolute joy to write, and they all went SO quickly), I went through the Completed Circle again as a whole to edit and update before I started writing Reginald's sections. It took a little work to find the voice for a young and enthusiastic Reggy, but I have locked it in, and his sections are taking shape as I type this.
Needless to say, things are progressing well, it is all taking shape, and I just need to stay focused, and soon I will have another book for you!
This is not an image of what I have written so far. This is what I have written for ONLY the third-to-last chapter of The Completed Circle story within the story. There is a lot going on and a lot to resolve, and this one got big... really big. And book two was supposed to be a smaller book! Hopefully, this is a proof of concept image for all of you!
That is all for another exciting Monday on the blog. See you back here on Wednesday! Until then...
