Yesterday was J.R.R Tolkien's birthday and like last year I created a drawing of a character from Middle Earth. This year I made an ink drawing of Thorin Oakenshield looking over the mountains on the journey to Erebor.
"Not all of those who wander are lost."- J.R.R. Tolkien
A lot of stuff has happened over the past year, most of it consisting of sitting at my desk drawing and getting work done. The past few days I’ve put together a list of some of what I accomplished in 2014 -Graduated college in January, the semester ended in December and my diploma at the end of January
-I participated in Goblin Week on tumbr, drawing goblins of a crystal mining company
-Another year at MoCCA Fest in NYC. Tabled with my friends and got to meet some people from the internet at the convention.
-Asbury Park Comic Con was its biggest yet. Tabled in the Indie Room with my sister. Unfortunately its the last convention in asbury since the convention moved to a larger space in north jersey.
-Got to visit my friends at The Comicbook shop in DE, for both free comic book day and their Halloween weekend.
-Second year at Illuxcon, this year I got to attend all the days of the convention. I also had a table at the showcase and got to receive feed back from illustrators and art directors.
-Improved my digital skills by spending an obscene amount of time working in Photoshop
-Created a bunch of new portfolio pieces, full digital illustrations to character spots
-Finished a whole year of Monster Monday, 52 posts about monsters and creatures
Last Monster Monday of the year! And this year I didn't miss one week reaching my goal of having a monster posted every week of 2014. Having a project like Monster Monday really helps hold accountability to post on my blog, tumblr, and other social media. For 2015, I hope to make it another year full of monsters and creatures as well as other projects.
The image above is the final colored version of the goblin entry to Blizzard's Hearthstone contest.
The Ettin are 2 headed giants that live deep in the woods of Orbis. Rarely seen near cities or towns. They prefer the isolation of the forest then civilization. When Ettins are seen they are usually arguing between themselves. Each head wanting there way over the other. They don't complete much of anything since each step is a quarrel. But if they get mad, both will go into an uncontrollable rage ripping the forest apart like a tornado, leaving little standing. Legend tells of an Ettin that cleared the land that Orbis' capital sits on.
Sorry for posting Monster Monday a day late. Yesterday was a little exhausting and it slipped my mind.
One of the first drawings I made after returning from Illuxcon that for some reason never made it up on the blog. My take on a gnome spell caster for a table top RPG game. Played around with textures created by line to create a cohesive ink drawing. Currently in the Work in Progress folder to be colored in photoshop.
For this week's Monster Monday is a goblin inspired by Blizzard Entertainment's Hearthstone, an online card game. They recently released an expansion of Goblins VS Gnomes and this was a drawing I created for the goblin side. I ended up finishing the gnome for the art contest But wanted to share the goblin as well. This week I plan on finishing the colors and sharing the final later this week.
Blizzard was holding a contest for their game Hearthstone. For my entry I created a technomage gnome inspired by the design and direction of Hearthstone. Finished it just in time to enter into the contest.
Over the past few months, I've been creating and coloring many of the monsters of Orbis for a person project. Here's one of the finished character illustrations. By spending more time in photoshop, my digital skills have grown since September. Learning more color theory, harmonIous color palettes and experimenting has a major part of this project. It's one thing to read about color theory and another to put it in action. I hope by the end of January/ early February to have 50 inked and colored monsters to share as a cohesive work. Time to pull out the paper, grab a pencil, and get drawing.
Quick reminder character commissions and toned paper commissions are open. Order soon if you want them for the holidays.
Mimics are creatures that are able to replicate objects in texture and design to disguise themselves to trick others. There true form is unknown but they are thought to be an ooze that was infused with changeling DNA, that allowed the ooze to morph. Most likely created in a wizards lab and escaped disguised to multiply into Orbis' cities. It's unknown how many mimics exist or that an object is a mimic till it reveals it's face to fight back. Usually a mimic is harmless unless it feels threatened where it can change into a weapon and fight back.
Rus Dread-gouger, assassin for the Goblin Guild in the capital city of Orbis, Muruspatria. Known for his skill throughout the guild, he has been tracking his prey for days through out the city and he is ready for his move. With his dagger in hand and target in sight, Rus will king the city’s court wizard and take down the magical barrier to let the goblin horde invade.
Hill Giants live in the valleys and foothills near mountain ranges. They live in small traveling families that constantly move for fresh grass for their herds of sheep. Since Hill Giants don’t have a system of formal currency, sheep are used for trade instead of coins. Sheep are the basis for their society as they sell their wool to trade for tools they need. With families of Hill Giants constantly moving it’s difficult to track them down with out following their path to see where they camp for a day or two, though Giants rather be left alone then become members of formal cities or states. As long as the families are left alone, they are known to be peaceful and don’t attack or destroy settlements unless provoked.
(wasn't happy with the last Hill Giant I drew and decided to create a better design)
Hobgoblins are cousins of both goblins and bugbears. They are known to be the intelligent of the three, but not considered geniuses either. Hobgoblins are often elite fighters compared to goblins having more training.The mass amount of weapons and armor for the goblinoid army is crafted by Hobgoblin smiths. In the depths of volcanoes they use the lava to craft tools of destruction. Often the most crude weapons are given to goblin soldiers and the best crafted armor is given to the Bugbear guards of the Goblin King. Hobgoblins often experiment with new materials and explosives to help conquer enemy territories.
Single character commissions are open in my store. If you are looking to get a group of characters drawn contact me through email at paigeconnellyillustration@gmail.com. Toned paper drawing commissions as also open in my store as well. There are prints, books, and original drawings are available. If you've seen a drawing posted previously on my blog that you are interested in purchasing send me an email.
Lately I've been working in photoshop more then usual to improve my digital skills as well as color theory. Over the past 2 weeks, I've colored a large amount of character drawings and about half way done with my new full illustration. The other night while sketching, I drew an interesting Dwarf character that I knew I had to bring to life as a colored design. I created a step by step process tutorial of each major step that went into creating the final illustration.
Here's the final image on it's own.
Overall I'm pleased with how the paladin looks in the end and I learned new ways of approaching color with this piece. Now to take a similar approach into my next illustration.
The origins of Gnolls is shrouded in mystery. Legend tells of shape shifters who formed a clan to protect their kind. But spent so much time in their nonhuman form that they permanently remained as beasts. They lost their ability to speak common languages and developed their own. Since the Gnolls left society due to being hunted for their shape shifting origins, they created their own society in the wild. Gnolls live in large clans all over the land from mountains to marshes, they are able to survive in all weather and terrain. They keep to themselves and don't welcome outsiders to their groups. Gnolls are rarely seen in cities or settlements besides there own and if they are in common society they are usually outcasts from clans. Gnolls are not interested in destroying other's lands but want to be left in isolation from the society that shunned them.
Hill Giants live in the valleys and foothills near mountain ranges. They live in small traveling families that constantly move for fresh grass for their herds of sheep. Since Hill Giants don't have a system of formal currency, sheep are used for trade instead of coins. Sheep are the basis for their society as they sell their wool to trade for tools they need. With families of Hill Giants constantly moving it's difficult to track them down with out following their path to see where they camp for a day or two, though Giants rather be left alone then become members of formal cities or states. As long as the families are left alone, they are known to be peaceful and don't attack or destroy settlements unless provoked.
For the past few weeks, I've been spending a lot of my time working on a personal project that includes many of the Monster Monday drawings. In my past post, I showed the process of how I created the Fungus Behemoth, but didn't show the sketch I created for the ink drawing. Lately I've been experimenting with pencils that are similar to my technique I use when I draw in my sketchbook. So I bought some new pencils in Terra Cotta, Red, and Blue prismacolor pencils to create rough drawings for ink drawings. Here are some drawings I created over the past few weeks.
Some of these have been seen already as ink drawings and digital pieces. Others will be popping up in the next few weeks for Monster Monday and other blog posts.
Bugbears are the larger cousins of goblins. With their large size and strength Bugbears are often used in goblin armies as berserkers. They carry axes, clubs, or broad swords to take out as many opponents as possible. Their armor is a higher caliber since they are front line fighters and leaders. Bugbears are used as the Goblin King's guards and hold a high position in the goblin hierarchy. A few work in the forges to help create the mighty weapons and amor. There are Bugbears that work regular jobs like merchants, farmers, and political positions. Some work as sell swords instead of working for the Goblin King and have been seen in other factions armies and as city guards.
Haven't done a process post in a while, and don't think I've ever shown how I digitally color. Starting a design or illustration always starts in a sketchbook or on random straps of paper. The Fungus Behemoth started a while back in my last sketchbook.
I like to sketch in ball point pen, the one thing that always bothered me about pencil is that it smudged everywhere and made a huge mess and I always forgot a pencil sharpener when I needed it. Ball point pens are usually easy to find, even if I forget to bring a pen with me. I start out sketching in red pen then add details and clean up the shapes with black. There's a small sketch of the Fungus Behemoth on the left of a pose and design. Then I experimented with what the face should look like. And in the corner of the page is a little Brownie randomly crashing the party.
Then I'll take the ideas I like, sketch the design and ink it. I always ink with a brush, sometimes I'll use a pen for some details but not often. Like I've said in other posts, FW ink is what I use and will always use. Watery Ink is not my thing.
Next, I scan the ink drawing. I have a Scan Express Pro scanner, it can scan up to an 11 by 17 drawing, which is nice so I don't have to stitch multiple scans together saving time. I'll clean up any random ink and pencil that is scanned before I start coloring. Using multiple layers in folders, I create the base for the piece.
Most of the time, I have an idea of the kind of color palette. But I like to experiment before I settle on the base colors for a piece. Since the Fungus Behemoth lives in swampy forests, it helped flesh out the colors. I try not to use to many colors so it doesn't look like a box of crayons threw up on my drawing, limited colors are better (for me).
After settling on base colors, I start to render the monster. Most people say render as in adding layers of value to create a more realistic look. For me, I am doing the same but not in an ultra rendered way of smooth gradients, more graphically for my work.
Laying in the shadows can be easy sometimes and challenging most times. Adding black to the base color does not create interesting shadows, shadows are color, light is a spectrum, and just because I don't render photo realistic does not mean I don't take the physics of light into account. On the top layer, I'll draw lines that show where the light is coming. After laying in the shadows and experimenting with colors for the shadows, I place color on the base that the creature stands on and add a cast shadow.
Currently I am juggling a few monsters in photoshop at various stages for a personal project in the works. The Fungus Behemoth is a part of it as well. But more on the personal project another day.