We are only over a week away from a date that will mark twenty years for me in the gaming industry, and this is also my twenty-sixth year as a working artist. I have made a lot of work over these years, and as I focus on larger projects with multi-year timelines, it is hard to keep this blog updated regularly. I have kept this thing going since 2009, and I would like for it to continue. To that end, I thought I would look back at works I particularly liked, enjoyed making, or seemed to fall through the cracks and went unnoticed. 

Today, I have another piece for Pathfinder released for Paizo fifteen years ago. This one received a lot of attention when I originally shared it from a particular demographic, that being those that enjoy the Furry fandom. They were really excited and wanted more, but this was only one assignment and I haven't been asked to do more. So soon those fans drifted away and this piece quietly vanished over the years as I shared more and more new art. It felt fitting to dust this one off and let it see the world again.

That's all for another exciting week on the blog. See you back here on Monday! Until then...

This coming June will mark twenty years for me in the gaming industry, and this is also my twenty-sixth year as a working artist. I have made a lot of work over these years, and as I focus on larger projects with multi-year timelines, it is hard to keep this blog updated regularly. I have kept this thing going since 2009, and I would like for it to continue. To that end, I thought I would look back at works I particularly liked, enjoyed making, or seemed to fall through the cracks and went unnoticed.

Today, I have ANOTHER piece for Pathfinder released for Paizo fourteen (but painted fifteen) years ago. This was a transformative piece for me. I brought in a lot of reference for this one to get the lighting and figure correct. It also has more of an environment compared to a lot of what I was doing around this time. It is by no means perfect, but it was a big leap for me. This was the piece where I learned that reference can be misleading and that you can not be beholden to it. If it doesn't look right in the reference, it will look even worse in the reference, and you need to be able to correct what you are making so that it is informed, but also correct in its appearance.

That's all for another exciting Monday on the blog. See you back here Wednesday! Until then...

This coming June will mark twenty years for me in the gaming industry, and this is also my twenty-sixth year as a working artist. I have made a lot of work over these years, and as I focus on larger projects with multi-year timelines, it is hard to keep this blog updated regularly. I have kept this thing going since 2009, and I would like for it to continue. To that end, I thought I would look back at works I particularly liked, enjoyed making, or seemed to fall through the cracks and went unnoticed.

Today, I have ANOTHER piece for Pathfinder done for Paizo sixteen or so years ago. There are only a few, but there are some classic D&D monsters that I have never illustrated for Dungeons & Dragons. And of those few, there are even fewer that I HAVE illustrated for other companies. One in particular is the Mimic. For some reason, I have never had to illustrate a Mimic for a D&D product, but sixteen years ago, I painted a Mimic for the new (at the time) Pathfinder GameMastery Guide. It was on a section about risk and reward... or shall we say Mimic and Reward.

This coming June will mark twenty years for me in the gaming industry, and this is also my twenty-sixth year as a working artist. I have made a lot of work over these years, and as I focus on larger projects with multi-year timelines, it is hard to keep this blog updated regularly. I have kept this thing going since 2009, and I would like for it to continue. To that end, I thought I would look back at works I particularly liked, enjoyed making, or seemed to fall through the cracks and went unnoticed.

Today, I have ANOTHER piece for Pathfinder done for Paizo fifteen years ago. Things are SUPER busy, so we are looking back again. This was always a fun piece for me. As with the Troll Auger,  I was starting to figure out a lot about painting, using reference, and what it takes to get a good image. I make monsters, it should be obvious by now, and one of the things I really like about making monsters is presenting them in non traditional ways. Sure, big scary monster saying 'RAWR' is fun, but showing what they do when they have alone time is ever better. This Naga thinks they are very pretty, and I support that type of monster energy.

As a side note, when looking back at this piece, I realized I never shared a process post for it. Not sure that sharing it now would help anyone, but it's interesting that I never took the time to post more about this one.

That's all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog. See you back here Friday! Until then...

This coming June will mark twenty years for me in the gaming industry, and this is also my twenty-sixth year as a working artist. I have made a lot of work over these years, and as I focus on larger projects with multi-year timelines, it is hard to keep this blog updated regularly. I have kept this thing going since 2009, and I would like for it to continue. To that end, I thought I would look back at works I particularly liked, enjoyed making, or seemed to fall through the cracks and went unnoticed.

Today, I have for you a piece for Pathfinder done for Paizo fifteen years ago. This was always a favorite of mine. I was starting to figure out a lot about painting, using reference, and what it takes to get a good image. This was also a fun assignment to depict a troll carving out its own guts to read the future - because the troll can just shove them back in and naturally heal from this severe self-inflicted wound. I painted this in my old style of layer arrangement and structure - which might be only interesting to me. Not matter what, I am still happy with this little painting, and I think it deserves a second look.

As a side note, when looking back at this piece, I realized I never shared a process post for it. Not sure that sharing it now would help anyone, but it's interesting that I never took the time to post more about this one.

That's all for another exciting Monday on the blog. See you back here Wednesday! Until then...

I have for you today another piece of my Pathfinder art that made an encore appearance. I am not sure how I missed so much in 2012, but here is another publication from tweleve years ago that only recently showed up on my radar. This time around it is the Advanced Race Guide. It is always interesting to note which pieces show back up again and again and which do not. To start things off, here is the cover packaging for the Pathfinder Advanced Race Guide.

The piece that returned in this publication is the Gnome Blacksmith. This was originally designed and painted for the Gnomes of Golarion book back in 2010 (though I may have made the work in 2009). I did several pieces for the Gnomes book and I had a lot of fun working on it. Of all the Gnomes that I painted in the book, it has continued to surprise me that this is the one piece that shows up again and again. I assume it is becasue it depicts a specific task that aren't seen in many other pieces. Or, someone just likes it. We may never know. Here is a look at the final painting of the Gnome Blacksmith.

Lastly, here is now the piece looked in the Advanced Race Guide. It did always print well, which is a plus. OH, how I would do this piece so differently now. But, that said, there are still some things I like about this one.

That's all for another exciting week on the blog. See you back here next week! Until then...

In another blast from the past, today I have for you a monster that saw another life in a second printing that I was not really aware of until recent - sort of. Back in 2012 the folks over at Paizo released their Bestiary 3 and it included the return of one of my monsters. Looking back I apparently made a passing mention of this on the blog twleve years ago, but never actually shared all the images and details. I didn't even own a copy of the book until a few months ago. To start things off, here is the cover packaging for the Pathfinder Bestiary 3.

The monster that made its return this time is the mighty Tojanida. I designed and painted this monster for the Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Misfit Monsters Redeemed. This has always been a favorite of mine and it marked a turning point in my career as became much more serious about monsters. This one also was the perfect mix fo things for me: reptile, fish, texture, pattern, color, weird, and alien. Here is a look at my final painting of the Tojanida

Lastly, here is a look at how the Tojanida printed in this book. Always nice to see how they turn out and this time around it gets to look to its right.

That's all for another exciting week on the blog. See you back here next week! Until then...

Back in 2013, I did some work for Piazo on their Pathfinder Adventure Path #75: Demon's Heresy. I was tasked with creating some demons for the adventure and had a lot of fun doing it. I was unaware that the following year, 2014, some of the demons were used in the Pathfinder Pawns: Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path Pawn Collection. This second appearance went unnoticed for nearly six years. I am always interested in seeing my work appear on different types of products, and these little cardboard pawns are different than the usual incarnations of my work. Here is an image of the packaging for the pawns set my work can be found in.


Of the work that I did for the Pathfinder Adventure, two of the demons returned to be pawns. These demons are the Skulgrim and the Vorimeraak. They are some of my favorites from the adventure and seem to have held up over the last seven years. Here is a look at their pawns.


Here are the full paintings for the Skulgrim and the Vorimeraak so you can get a better look at what these demons look like. Lots of wings, blood, and other viscous fluids - some of my go-to elements.



That's all for another exciting Monday on the blog, see you back here on Wednesday! Until then...

I am away from the computers and the monsters are in charge... so of course they are eager to show how they are made. Next up is the Vorimeraak from Pathfinder Adventure Path #75. I first shared these pieces over a year ago, so here is how the final Vorimeraak turned out...

This may be a surprise to no one who has ever seen this blog, but I started this monster off with some thumbnails. This particular monster is a modified version of an existing Pathfinder monster so a lot of the over all design was already worked out. For my thumbnails I was focusing on a pose and composition that would work for the book. Here is how the thumbnails turned out...


With an approved thumbnail in hand it was time for some drawing! I got to scribbling on some paper and in a short time I had myself a drawing of a crazy scaly bird monster with a scythe. Here is how that crazy monster drawing turned out...


The drawing was approved without issue and it was time to get to painting. Over the years these digitally painted isolated figure pieces got to a point that they started painting themselves. I just get in a grove and they come together. Perhaps in eight easy steps or perhaps not, the painting comes together...


Does it RAWR? I must be done. To better show how this piece came together here is another of those little animated process things...


Another monster is all done, again here is how the final painting looked when it was all done and turned in...


That's all for another exciting week on the blog, see you back here on Monday! Until then...

I am away from the computers and the monsters are in charge... so of course they are eager to show how they are made. Next up is the Svennarobeth from Pathfinder Adventure Path #75. I first shared these pieces over a year ago, so here is how the final Svennarobeth turned out...


This may be a surprise to no one who has ever seen this blog, but I started this monster off with some thumbnails. This particular monster is a modified version of an existing Pathfinder monster so a lot of the over all design was already worked out. For my thumbnails I was focusing on a pose and composition that would work for the book. Here is how the thumbnails turned out...


With an approved thumbnail in hand it was time for some drawing! I got to scribbling on some paper and in a short time I had myself a drawing of a crazy monster with moth wings and a long weird tongue. Here is how that crazy monster drawing turned out...
 

The drawing was approved without issue and it was time to get to painting. Over the years these digitally painted isolated figure pieces got to a point that they started painting themselves. I just get in a grove and they come together. Perhaps in eight easy steps or perhaps not, the painting comes together...


Does it RAWR? I must be done. To better show how this piece came together here is another of those little animated process things...


Another monster is all done, again here is how the final painting looked when it was all done and turned in...


That is all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog, see you back here on Friday! Until then...

I am away from the computers and the monsters are in charge... so of course they are eager to show how they are made. Next up is the Skulgrim from Pathfinder Adventure Path #75. I first shared these pieces over a year ago, so here is how the final Skulgrim turned out...


This may be a surprise to no one who has ever seen this blog, but I started this monster off with some thumbnails. This particular monster is a modified version of an existing Pathfinder monster so a lot of the over all design was already worked out. For my thumbnails I was focusing on a pose and composition that would work for the book. Here is how the thumbnails turned out...

With an approved thumbnail in hand it was time for some drawing! I got to scribbling on some paper and in a short time I had myself a drawing of a crazy monster with wings and horns and a big axe. Here is how that crazy monster drawing turned out...


The drawing was approved without issue and it was time to get to painting. Over the years these digitally painted isolated figure pieces got to a point that they started painting themselves. I just get in a grove and they come together. Perhaps in eight easy steps or perhaps not, the painting comes together...


Does it RAWR? I must be done. To better show how this piece came together here is another of those little animated process things...

Another monster is all done, again here is how the final painting looked when it was all done and turned in...


That is all for another exciting Monday on the blog, see you back here on Wednesday! Until then...

I am away from the computers and the monsters are in charge... so of course they are eager to show how they are made. Starting things of the Neh-Thalggu from Pathfinder Adventure Path #75 has scuttled onto the blog. I first shared these pieces over a year ago, so here is how the final Neh-Thalggu turned out...


This may be a surprise to no one who has ever seen this blog, but I started this monster off with some thumbnails. This particular monster is a modified version of an existing Pathfinder monster so a lot of the over all design was already worked out. For my thumbnails I was focusing on a pose and composition that would work for the book. Here is how the thumbnails turned out...


With an approved thumbnail in hand it was time for some drawing! I got to scribbling on some paper and in a short time I had myself a drawing of a crazy monster with brain pods and tentacles. Here is how that crazy monster drawing turned out...


The drawing was approved without issue and it was time to get to painting. Over the years these digitally painted isolated figure pieces got to a point that they started painting themselves. I just get in a grove and they come together. Perhaps in eight easy steps or perhaps not, the painting comes together...


Does it RAWR? I must be done. To better show how this piece came together here is another of those little animated process things...


Another monster is all done, again here is how the final painting looked when it was all done and turned in...


That is all for another exciting week on the blog, see you back here on Monday! Until then...

It has come to my attention that Pathfinder Adventure Path #75: Demon's Heresy has been released... last year. So I am a little behind in sharing these with you it look like. When it comes to monsters... better late then never, right? Anyway, I produced four demony monstery type critters for the book. I hope their names have not changed during production since I have not seen the final product yet. Without further yammering on my part, here are some new monsters...





I understand that the Skulgrim made it onto the back cover... which of course is really cool! As a side note, I have not worked on the Pathfinder Adventure Paths in a while... actually, it has been a long time. I last worked on the Adventure Paths on issue #29 (PART 1 / PART 2)! How time flies, glad my skill set has improved since then. Not sure what else to add about these, they were super fun to work on and I they really added to my "year of wings" that was my 2013.

I would like to extend a huge thanks to Andrew Vallas for including me on this project! He and I just don't get enough chances to work together, but when we do it is a great experience! Thanks, Andrew!

That is all for another exciting Monday on the blog, see you back here on Wednesday! Until then...

On Monday I shared with you the first part of the process and steps that went into making my good monsters for the Pathfinder supplement, Chronicle of the Righteous. Today I have for you the remaining two pieces from the book. One is a demon having a bad day and the other is a little black kitty. So that we are all on the same page, here are how the final pieces that appeared in the book turned out...


For the Angel Spell, production wanted me to show vines representing all four season wrapping around the demon as every last hit point was squeezed out of it. At this stage in my career I can read an art order and get a feel for which pieces are going to take longer then the others... and when I things like "many vines representing the four seasons" I will be putting more time into this piece compared to others. Not that there is anything wrong in this... it is just how things are and getting a feel for it allows yo to budget your time so much better. As always, I got to work on some thumbnails... some very sloppy thumbnails actually, but I made the demon red for clarity of view for my art director...


All I knew going into this was that I needed to have a spiky winter vine wrapping across the demons mouth... NOMS! Options "B" was picked and I moved onto the drawing...


To be honest I should have spent just a little more time on this drawing. The demon's right hand and muzzle are a little off and I had to correct this in the painting. If I was not working digitally this might not have happened or would have been a lot harder. Another reason to take your time and do things right the first time! It is our craft and our job to do this right and if it takes a little longer to make sure things like the hands and face are perfect... then so be it. If the hands and faces are off in a piece then the whole piece is going to be off. Viewers always look to the face and hands.

Once I had the approved drawing the painting came together in eight easy steps (not really, because I had to stop half way through it and fix the face and hand)...


For the Agathion Familiar all I had to do is channel the inner spirit of our little bad black kitties. The only thing I had to do was give them violet eyes, white markings, and dial down the evil by about 110%...



Option "C" was picked for its attitude and I got to work on the final drawing...

Compared to the Angel Spell this piece was a piece of cake. While the Angel Spell may have required more time to complete this piece came together very quickly, so it all evens out in the end. Here are the eight easy steps (and many hours of work) that it took to back a very sassy kitty cat familiar...


That about wraps it all up. Demons wrapped in vines take awhile to paint and you need to make sure you draw it right the first time and cat monsters do much quicker if you have convenient reference in your house.

That is all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog, see you back here on Friday! Until then...