Firefly Magic

I've got a brand new painting to share! I've titled this one Firefly Magic. The inspiration comes from the feeling of a balmy summer's evening and the mysterious qualities of twilight. I spent many a childhood summer's night in my backyard with a canning jar. I still grow mesmerized when these fairies of summer appear.

 

Some Details:
 

Unicorn Rush Game Released Today!

Some time ago I was commissioned by Mind Juice Media to create artwork for a fantasy side-scroller game called Unicorn Rush. I am happy to announce that this game has just released in the Apple Store!



See it in the Apple Store.

Visit the official website.


Here is a video of gameplay:

 


And here is a compilation of some of the artwork I created for it:

Golden Fish Nominated for Chesley Award

Today I found out that my Golden Fish piece was nominated for a Chesley Award for "Best Cover Illustration: Magazine."

Irene Gallo over at Tor.com was kind enough to feature the image on her related blog post.

And here's the link to the nominees for this category at ASFA!


 

The Tides of Avarice Wins Award!

I just got word from my author client John Dahlgren that his book The Tides of Avarice, which I did the cover for some time back, has come in 2nd place for the Fiction-Fantasy category of the International Book Awards! This out of 4,000+ entries. Congratulations John!

(You can learn more about the book at the official site.)

Boy Studies

Posting another series of studies. This time from randomly selected images by Jason C. Taylor. It really helps to have multiple photos of the same kid to learn from!

Otherwise, doing well and keeping busy. I can't believe May is just about over.

Creamy New Brush: Sketches

Trying to get more loose sketching into my day... Here are a number of random sketches from today that I did after falling in love with a brush on the current ImagineFX disc.

(This brush is from the "Safadi-Painting-Dream-Team" set and is simply called "as 2." It is one of the creamiest natural media feeling digital brushes I've ever used. And that is saying a lot.)

 

Study: Painting of a Smiling Girl

This is a quick digital study, 1.5 hours. It's part of my ongoing effort to get better at painting children. I'd like to shoot for 2-3 of these per week.

Note: the aim is more to capture a bit of the essence, expression, and character, rather than an exact likeness.




Study based on Another Smile! by adwriter.