I continue stumbling across instances of my Star Wars illustrations being reused on various other Star Wars products. This time around I have for you the Imperials & Rebels 2 Adversary Deck from 2016. This one slipped under my radar for three years. The Imperials & Rebels 2 Adversary Deck sees the return of the Viper Probe Droid and Quarren Agitator Monger that I originally painted in 2015 and 2014, respectively. Here is a look at the new incarnation of the Viper Probe Droid and Quarren Agitator.



The Imperials & Rebels 2 Adversary Deck is the first time that either of these pieces, to my knowledge, have been reused. If for some reason you are hunting down the Imperials & Rebels 2 Adversary Deck to complete your collection of my work, here is an image of the front of the packaging so that you can get the correct one.


Lastly, here are the original illustrations for the Viper Probe Droid and Quarren Agitator. Both were initially isloated figures in Star Wars RPG books. They were given background for the cards.



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

Today I have for you the steps and process that went into my 4-LOM character card for the Star Wars LCG. I felt it was fitting since the piece sold at Gen Con a few weeks ago. I have shared a little about receiving the assignment for this piece when it was first announced and I shared some of the ups and downs of my varnishing woes and how it relates to this piece. While I love these stories there is no reason to cover old ground. Here is how the final 4-LOM  painting turned out...


Since I had such a short deadline for this piece I hit the ground running and needed to get some thumbnails done super quick. I dug out my 4-LOM figures and shot reference of myself and the figures to get the ball rolling. The assignment called for 4-LOM smashing through a door and firing off its concussion rifle. Pretty straight forward... and it needed to be with only days to spare to get it all done. Here are the how the thumbnails turned out...


I have not looked at these thumbnails since I turned them in and I am really liking option "A". I might have to revisit that thumbnail for a drawing when I have the time. Obviously, option "B" was selected and after being asked to add more bleed I was approved to get started on the drawing. It seem like no matter how much bleed I add and no matter how strictly I work with the approved templates I never seem to get it right. I am just no good at working with templates or more bleed is purposefully being requested so that the piece can be used elsewhere at a later date. Anyway, here is how the final drawing turned out...


The drawing was approved and I was all set to get started on the final painting. You might notice something a little off in the drawing. I thought it was correct at the time, but I must have been getting lazy and not watching what I am doing. The curve of the doorway and face above it are in no way symmetrical. I REALLY should have addressed this in the drawing, but I didn't notice it or, like I said, I got lazy and blew it off. It could have been I was dealing with a 5 day deadline for this painting and I was cutting every corner I could. When you look at painting coming together, notice is step four when I painted in the curve of the doorway, this is when I went in and redrew the curve and the face to make sure it was correct. While this was a bit further along then it should have been, at least I caught it relatively early. Here is the painting coming together in 15 easy steps...


This piece came together VERY quickly because it had to and I used every trick I could to make sure it worked and got finished. The fact that it is snowing outside came about as I was working on the piece. I thought it would be fun and allowed me to add steam and smoke to make the image more interesting for myself. It is the little things that make it fun for me. Here is an animated progression of the painting so you can better see the steps in the process...


Here again is a look at the finished painting, glad it has found itself a new home!


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

Today I have for you the process and steps that went into a piece I first shared with you in July of 2015, the Viper Probe Droid for the Force and Destiny Game Master's Kit. This was the first Star Wars piece that I painted traditionally and will always be a favorite for mine for that fact. Before we explore the process, here is the how the finished Viper Probe Droid turned out...


Thankfully there is a ton of great reference out there for the Probe Droid so this was in many ways a still life exercise. The droid did not have to be doing anything special since it a spot illustration. I wanted to make sure it looked good and that I actually finished the painting. I got started with some thumbnails, as I always do. This was a very straightforward piece so I only provided two options. Both of these options would have been fun to do, but option "A" definitely feels more ominous since the viewer is looking up at the droid.  Here are the final thumbnails...


Option "A" was obviously the winner and I was cleared to move onto final drawing. To ensure that I captured all the detail I made sure to create my drawing at 100% the final resolution. This was not necessary when working digitally, but I knew that if I blew any of my drawings up for their paintings that they could loose their tightness and detail density. This has since required me to work on a larger size of paper for all of my drawings associated with my paintings. While this seems like a no brainer, it was not obvious to me when I first started my first tests at painting traditionally. All that said, here is the final drawing for the Probe Droid...


The drawing was approved without notes and I was all set to begin painting. As mentioned above, this was in many ways a still life exercise. I had my reference and it was a great way to explore the materials as I relied on an object and images in front of me to guide my painting choices. This is not the norm, most of the time, no matter how robust my reference is, I have to bring a lot of painting to life using my imagination and the things I have previously observed or practiced. Here is the Probe Droid coming together in twelve easy steps...


After establishing a lot of the overall values and local color for this piece I worked from top to bottom. Very straight forward and at times meditative. Here is the progression of the painting in a handy dandy animated form to better show the steps and the painting taking shape...

Here again is the final Viper Probe Droid painting as well as a scan from the book it appears in...



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

Late last week the newest deluxe expansion, Galactic Ambitions, to the Star Wars Living Card Game was announced. It just so happens that in the announcement article that both of my cards appearing in this set were spoiled! I will be sharing one with you this week and one with you next week. First up is the mighty bounty hunter droid, 4-LOM...



I received this assignment when I reentered the country after having been in Italy and German for close to two weeks last summer. I had already worked on a piece for Galactic Ambitions (look for it next Monday) and had long since turned it in before the trip to Europe. 4-LOM was a straggler and had a ridiculously tight deadline, something around five days from start to finish. I almost didn't take the assignment until I saw it was for 4-LOM. Any other droid, save for IG-88, R2-D2, or C3PO, would not have gotten that type of attention from me with only five days for thumbnails, drawing, and full painting. It came together, thankfully, very fast and I made the deadline with time to spare. AND, I am really happy with how the piece turned out.


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

Another new Star Wars painting arrives just in time for Gen Con! While on Monday I shared with you the first piece of card art that I traditionally painted for Star Wars, this is the very first traditionally painting that I did for the Star Wars games last year. While the timing was bad for me to do anything new for the core book of Force and Destiny, I was able to contribute to the Game Master's Kit. I present to you my Viper Probe Droid...


Reference is your friend and I shot all my own for this one... because of my collection of probe droids. I am really really happy with how this piece printed. I never know just how well my work will print and I am even more clueless now that I have started working traditionally. I hope this is a preview of things to come because if all my paintings are going to print this well I will never have anything to complain about. Here is a scan of the page my painting is on...


Next stop for this painting will be Gen Con! If you are attending Gen Con 2015 be sure to stop by the art show and say hello ...and maybe buy something! I hope to see you in Indianapolis for the best four days in gaming. RAWR!
 
That is all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog, the next posts will be coming from Gen Con 2015 and I will do my best to cover all the comings and goings of Gen Con 2015!  Until then...