Spectrum 21

I'm thrilled to announce that three of my pieces were accepted into this years Spectrum 21!  Thief of War, A Princess of Mars, and Swashbuckle Dom will all be included in the annual this fall.  Every year I am blown away by the sheer number of AWESOME entries that are included, so it's always a feat just to have one piece accepted.  Imagine my surprise when I found out that THREE of my works have been chosen.   I am honored to say the least!

A big thank you to the judges (Cory Godbey, J. Anthony Kosar, George Pratt, Shelly Wan, Allen Williams), John Flesk, the Fenners, and the entire Spectrum team.

I'm especially excited for my Thief of War piece as it was a commission for a really great tor.com short story by Beth Bernobich of the same title.  A huge thank you to Irene Gallo for the opportunity and Art Direction on that one.  Being as its such a great little story and featured in Some of the Best From Tor.com I'm so happy to see the illustration get a little bit of recognition from the art community as well.

This news couldn't come at a better time as I have just begun the planning for Spectrum Fantastic Art Live in May.  I'm really looking forward to the show this year and can't wait to see everyone!  Stop on by and say hello if your at the show.  I'll be in adjacent booths 602 & 703.  Hope to see you there!

The Eidolon Trailer

A cool little trailer for The Eidolon by Libby Mcgugan which I had the pleasure of working on.  You can check out a larger version of the cover in my portfolio along with a few detail shots here as well.

Spectrum 20 & Expose 11

A few shots of my work from the  most recent Spectrum 20 & Expose 11 illustration annuals.  I was thrilled to have both Destroyermen II (In glorious full page detail!) and Destroyermen III included in Spectrum.  Destroyermen III is also featured in Expose as well.  A Huge thank you to Matt Kalamidas over at the Science Fiction Book club.  This series has been so damn rewarding!

The quality and number of entries seem to grow considerably for both competitions every year so I am simultaneously thrilled and shocked when my work does get in.  It's an insane honor to be included with some of the top illustrators working in the field today.

This just reminded me...  Call for entries for Spectrum 21 is coming up!  1/25/14!!!  Get those entries in people!  

Really looking forward to seeing everyone at Spectrum Live in May!

Iron and Fire... and Sweat!

The awesome folks over at The Science Fiction Book Club had some fun chatting up Taylor Anderson's fourth Destroyermen cover I recently finished for them.  All on the hottest day of all time anywhere!  Such a great series to be a part of.  Thanks guys!  You can check out the final cover art here.

Did he just say my cover was hot as balls?

Be sure to stop by their really fun Vorpalizer blog here as well.

Imagine FX Expose... Traditional!?

April 2013 Issue

Every month Imagine FX features an artist in the FXPose section of their magazine. They have both a traditional & digital showcase. Back in their April issue I was fortunate enough to be featured in... traditional!

"Traditional you say. That's an outrage! Who do you think you're fooling?!"

Hmmm... so what happened here? I'm not sure if someone actually thought my work was executed traditionally or if their criteria for the showcase is a little more open. It's hard to tell but I think it was probably the later. Maybe they just look for work that has a traditional feel to it without actually worrying too much about what medium was used.

Either way it was a welcome surprise and I was honored.

While I'm certainly not out to fool anyone as to the medium I use, I do put ALOT of effort into giving my digital paintings a traditional oil painting look and feel. After all, I worked in oils for many years, most of my influences have or do work in oils, and for the love of god I just cant take another super digital lens flare! :-) 

If your not familiar with Imagine FX head on out and grab yourself a copy. Every month features some of the best workshops and interviews with artists from the science fiction, fantasy, gaming, and comic disciplines. It really is a great resource for beginner and seasoned artists alike. Also of note, the iPad version of the magazine is outstanding. While being identical to the print version in every way, it also has just enough interactivity with galleries, videos, and slideshows without trying to reinvent the whole magazine format for a tablet experience. Download the app here and subscribe today. You can also get past issues such as the April 2013 issue from above.

So... who out there thought I worked traditionally? Comment below.

Farewell My Muse...

Roscoe P. Coltrane

2000 - 2013

My companion, friend, brother, son, & studio mate of thirteen years has now passed on.  Thank you for all the wonderful moments of inspiration and laughs.  May you rest in piece little buddy.

To read a little bit more about Roscoe head on over to Christy's blog or check out a handful of his pictures here.

Recent Sketches

Unannounced game design commission

The Eidolon book cover

A few sketches from some recently completed commissions.  Be sure to check out the final painting for The Eidolon here.