Standing Among Stones

Another new piece for the January show, Vantage Point down at NCC in Naperville Illinois.
Enjoy.
Cheers,
-Micah

A Princess of Mars

I might have overlooked this book had this challenge not arisen over at ArtOrder and WiPnation.
Thanks to Jon, for cluing me into this series of books. You can read all about it at either site, but essentially the challenge is to do an homage piece to the book, "A Princess of Mars" by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

If you're a fan of Han Solo, Spike Spiegel, Drizzt Do'Urden, Indiana Jones, even Captain Kirk, you'll enjoy this book and the protagonist, John Carter, who seems to live in the hearts of all these heroes.

So these are my works in progress so far. Image progress goes from top-bottom. I'll post more here, and more at WiPnation, a new developing community of critique and talent. Check it out.

Cheers!
-Micah

Illuxcon 4

I noticed a theme this year in the talks, panels, and workshops that I didn't notice last year. It may have been due to the personalities involved this year, but the theme I noticed time and time again was:

"Viewers of your work will notice the technical mastery of a piece. But more than that they are engaged by, captivated by, and are moved by seeing and understanding (even on a subconscious level), that you give a solid god-damn about your work. "

When you are challenged by your work, in love with it, scared by it, frustrated by it, and you make your way through to the end to finish it off, the viewer can read that emotion in it, can feel the inspiration, and the striving of the artist as he pushes his art forward through this piece and into the next.

That must be an exhausting and invigorating way to create work. I've felt it a few times in recent memory, but not enough to consider myself solidly on this path.

This year, I learned it's necessary to produce lots of ugly work in the process, and a worthy amount of great work as a result.

I'll write more on what I observed and absorbed there later. Right now, I have to hit the drawing board. I attached a few images of the prints that I glommed onto this year. These were just a few of the hundreds of pieces that I would have loved looking at everyday in my own home. But we are all, at some point, slaves to circumstance (and pocketbook).

The pieces are, in order from top to bottom:

"AWOL" by Justin Gerard

"Saint George and the Dragon" by Justin Gerard

"Quiet Night" by John Harris

"Mass: the Building of FTL 1" by John Harris

"Obernywten" by Donato Giancola

"Jovah's Angel" by John Jude Palencar

See you next year at Illuxcon? I'll be there, I hope you will be too.

Cheers,

-Micah

Shadow Walk

Final draft. Enjoy :)

-Micah

Shadow Walk WIP

Here's the beginning of a work in progress. "Shadow Walk" We'll see how well I can meld faun and stone.

Faun

Here is another new one. I was given some great advice from my buddy Nick about some light streaming in as slanted shafts to dapple the area with light and lead the eye to the hiding faun a little more effectively. I'm gonna try it out. I'll post it up after I've made the changes. I hope you like it!

Cheers,

-Micah

Lure

Here is a top to bottom work-in-progress of my latest piece, "Lure". I'm especially proud of this piece. It was ispired purely by our little girl and her explorations of the rocky forested areas near our home. I hope you enjoy the process.

Cheers,

-Micah

Wander

It's finished! I hope you enjoy the final barky results. Next up... huh, I hadn't thought of it. I think maybe something with cranes or turkey vultures. I'll have to mull it over.

Cheers!

-M

Lahmu heroes and a wip

D&D comic!

My Claypipe and Tinder strip recently appeared over at the Wizards of the Coast website, here. I'm super excited to see my stuff up on the site. Check it out, and check out some of the other awesome 'toons they have running.

Cheers,

-Micah

Salt Water

Here is the last post on this image for a while. I may visit it again. I say that with every piece though, don't I? I like the way it came out, I think Apsu would like it, and that's good enough for me. Let me know what you think. Cheers.

-Micah

Tiamat

Here are a quick color sketch and a finished pencil drawing for a piece I'm working on called, "Salt Water". It's an adaptation of the Sumerian creation epic. Or it could be, I haven't planned for more than this image so far. Another cover experiment is all it is so far, but I love the story, so maybe.

Cheers,

-Micah

2 new images

From Painter.

Victor

-Micah

reprise

A look at the last year or so.

Yeah, I snuck those black and white images of the Snowshoe Company marine and the Tyrant's "Jawbone" guard in there even though I haven't posted them before.

Hope you dig 'em.

Cheers,

-M

news

New stuff that is.

a color version of the Sorceror and an image of a child soldier, maybe in Congo, maybe Sudan. The horror is the same either place. I'll revist this material soon. It's worth scrutinizing.

-Micah

Some Arthurian Goodies

These are from the current issue of read magazine. The images are copyright Reader's Digest. Read delivers really colorful and surprising material to their readers, and it's always a pleasure to collaborate with them. Cheers!

-M

New Sorceror Piece

I got some good feedback from Jon about regarding the graphic elements necessary for a successful cover illustration. In "A Score of Empty Scabbards" I had some scattered swords a bit too low, that would be hidden by author and publisher info, and a moon taking up some prime real-estate up top that would likely interfere with a title.

I suppose I just took it for granted because it was my own design and title. When I've done covers for White Picket Fences and Graphic Classics I always had the template, I knew the parameters and could structure accordingly. Live and learn.

This Sorceror is designed as an interior illustration. So apart from an optional caption, there likely will be no copy on this image.

I hope you enjoy the progress, and please chime in if you notice I'm overlooking a flaw or interesting tweak. Cheers!

-Micah