Wednesday 9 March 2011

First look: Cover: Deliverance Lost

Hello All!

So, Black Library Live! 2011 has been and gone for another year and what a great day it was - it was great to meet up with all those who enjoy the books, hobby and artwork.

A big THANKYOU for making all the hard work feel worthwhile.

Many folk saw the new Corax artwork for 'Deliverance Lost' by Gav Thorpe and Black Library have now put the final (lo-res) image up for your enjoyment and scrutiny:

(Above)
Corax in orbital drop.
The brief wanted an Art Deco hanging garden city
something we've never really seen in 40K before

Thankfully the artwork has gone down a storm. It was inspired by a specially commissioned illustration by John Blanche - Corax has never been seen before, so who better to define his look ;)


(Above: Detail)
I was inspired by the idea of a 'Dark Knight' style
base-jump mixed with 'Star Trek' orbital drop.
WHOOOSH!

Anyway, here you go - feast thine eyes upon it and feel free to leave a comment.

See you soon!

Wednesday 2 March 2011

Process: Oil Paint: Regent Street 2010

Hello All,

Just a quick process post about an oil painting I recently finished. I wanted to do a contemporary landscape, so I chose Regent Street, London. The aim of doing an oil painting was to re-connect with the notion of being an artist - especially after the busy year that was 2010. I wanted to re-establish those traditional skills that are easy to move away from when you've been working digitally for so long.

After a few sketches and reference photo's were taken, I launched into the painting. Below you can see my process:

(Above)
Regent Street painting in progress

As you can see I used a saturated umber as my ground, mainly because I wanted to get a real warmth to the painting, which would mainly be that rather flat Portland stone colour. Also, I painted it in elements, sky, left side, right - a kind of Alla Prima approach over several days.

The final painting (apologies for the poor quality, will get a better pic when the weather is better)

(Above)
Regent Street, 2010
Oil on canvas
24"x30"

It's exciting for me, as I've been able to acknowledge a more traditional and considered approach that will, hopefully, inform my future work. I've already gessoed a load of other canvases and panels, so I'm looking forward to exploring the posibilities of oil painting, still life and landscapes further.

I've got a few other paintings almost finished which I'll post up as and when they're done - keep those eyes peeled!