SEANandrewMURRAY'S sketchblog

The Day of Reckoning!

2012-02-07T07:52:00.002-05:00

Well, folks, today is the day. 5 or so years of development, and "Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning" is finally on store shelves! If you like fantasy, or you like RPGs, or you like fast-paced action games, or you like my artwork, then you might like "RECKONING"! The game is already getting great reviews, including a 9 out of 10 from IGN.com!

Check it out if you haven't already ordered your copy. Thanks all, more personal work coming soon, including several works-in-progress!

The Art Design of Reckoning

2012-01-21T09:49:00.005-05:00

Hey everyone, check out this video 38 Studios' marketing team put together as part of a series called "Inside Reckoning" (That's the game I worked on that is coming out Februrary 7th).

It features my big fat head blathering on and on about concept art and such, but also shows some of my concept work, as well as pieces from many of the other artists that worked on Reckoning, such as: Andrew Murray, Jay Gillen, Shaun Martin, Jeremy Enecio, Taylor Fischer, Martin Kau, Kat Berkeley, Mike Daarken Lim , Eric Deschamps, and Jonathan Kirtz. Check it out, and also check out the DEMO of our game which is available now on XBOX, PS3, and PC!!!

Old Meg - Another quickpaint / Study

2012-01-10T01:15:00.003-05:00

I am trying to imagine these studies as scenes from a movie and focusing on lighting and mood.

This one may be a tad dark on your monitor. Haha.

Just..... keep... sketching....

2012-01-06T09:36:00.001-05:00

My article in ImagineFX is on the shelves!

2012-01-04T09:38:00.004-05:00

Hey everyone, the latest issue of ImagineFX that features my article on "how to paint like Arthur Rackham" (not presumptuous on my part or anything) is ON THE SHELVES at your local Barnes and Noble or bookstore formerly known as Borders..... Go check it out!

I have intentionally made the image here small so that you aren't tempted to just settle for reading it on my blog.... (well, and there is SO much more info on the next 2 pages anyways), PLUS the magazine includes a DVD that has PSD files, and a video of the entire process of creating this piece... please support ImagineFX, it is an amazing resource!

MOAR!

2012-01-03T23:16:00.007-05:00

Some sketches, and some speed-paints

2012-01-02T23:21:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone, Happy New Year, I hope it is a happy, prosperous and productive one for everyone! Here's some new stuff! Enjoy!

Books with my art!

2011-12-06T22:10:00.003-05:00

Hey all, just wanted to remind everyone that Spectrum 18 is finally out! In it you will find a nice full-page treatment of my "Wizard Alley" piece on page 268 (As well as nearly 300 pages of other incredible artists in the fantasy and Sci-fi genre)! Woohoo! You can buy it here on amazon:

Spectrum 18

Also, while I was at IlluXcon, I ran into awesome artist Jim Pavelec, who gave me my complimentary copies of his new book "Hymns and Wretched Offerings to the Golden Ones", which features 3 pencil drawings of mine. It's an amazingly beautiful book, and well worth buying, though you should hurry because there are a limited number of editions as I understand it. You can get it one of two ways, either from Amazon:

Hymns and Wretched Offerings of the Golden Ones

or Get it from Jim Pavelec's website

That is all. More sketch pages coming soon.

More Sketch-catch-up.

2011-11-20T10:58:00.001-05:00

Sketch Catch-up. Part 01

2011-11-18T01:45:00.002-05:00

Been too long since last I posted sketches from the sketch book, so here is the first of 2 posts to catch up! Also, thinking about how I want to design and arrange a printed "sketchbook" that I am going to make to sell at cons and stuff... it was very obvious from IlluXcon this year that I shoudl have had one already!

In The Valley of Glencoe

2011-11-13T15:46:00.002-05:00

This is a watercolor/pen and ink piece I did for my wife's friend Olivia for her wedding present. We attended the wedding which was in Edinburgh, Scotland, back in April. The piece was created from a combination of sketches and photographs I took on site.

New piece: Nightfishing!!! + detail shots.

2011-09-12T12:07:00.003-04:00

The BoneDoctor

2011-08-09T09:54:00.004-04:00

New piece I am working on for my book. He is called "The BoneDoctor"

Also, I recieved some good news when I was out at San Diego Comic-Con a couple weeks ago: my "Wizards in the Alley" piece is getting a FULL PAGE in Spectrum 18 this year!!! WOOHOO!!!

Gateway Journal Day 07: The Mechanized Market

2011-07-05T23:07:00.016-04:00

Just across the Great Canal is the neighborhood known as Watertown, so named because it is surrounded on all sides by water. Here there are also many canals and waterways, but it is a bit more working-class and industrial than Canal-City. There are numerous warehouses and small factories of various sorts and the waters a little more polluted. Today I ventured there by water taxi to see something I read about in a guidebook.

In the center of Watertown is a small but well-known market called "The Mechanized Market". It is found in a wide, but fairly dank and lightless alley that stretches about half a mile. Here, there are no merchants standing behind stalls or in tents, calling out to you to buy their wares. Nope, here all the selling is done by machines... vending machines of a sort. And everything is for sale, and I do mean everything.

The market got its start a long time ago during a period of uncommon prosperity. Merchants found themselves with an overflow of stock, and often could not sell many items because they did not have room to display them. So an enterprising young merchant named Kilao built a machine that would sell his overflow stock (usually shoes and umbrellas) for him. Customers put a coin in a slot, turned a knob, and out popped the desired merchandise. He called it a "Personless Merchant". He chose a well-travelled alleyway that saw a lot of daily foot-traffic and soon it became a great success.

Other merchants took notice and followed suit with their own machines, all of varying designs, and all custom-built to sell specific items: toys, flowers, live animals, dead animals, animal skulls, music-boxes, spectacles, newspapers, postcards, snacks, wigs, clothing of all types, alcoholic beverages, glass eyes, vegetables, spices, magical trinkets, wands, baubles, fabric, daggers, maps, watches, raw meat, and even small boats!

According to some locals, there was once a vending machine that sold corpses of recently deceased folk who made no arrangements for their interment. This machine had appeared very suddenly overnight and was the subject of much scandal and shock. The owner, a secretive mortician from Tower City named Cornelius Crane, defended his machine, noting that there were many legitimate uses for fresh corpses. But the city council saw the matter differently, and ordered the machine removed, which also began a new era of regulation and taxation on the machines.

Today, the alleyway is still busy with activity, but perhaps not as much as in its heyday. There is still an impressive variety of "Personless Merchants" here today, but one also notes the many long-unused machines, or some which are in serious disrepair, barely working and often guilty of stealing coin or vending expired merchandise.

A Random Smattering of Sketchlings

2011-06-07T12:40:00.003-04:00

Recent random stuff from the sketchbook.

Gateway Journal Day 06: Nightfishing

2011-05-23T00:53:00.012-04:00

So, after my ordeal the other night, I had to spend today talking to an overworked detective in the local Citywatch Station. Lately, there apparantly have been increased incidents of some sort of underground anarchy group that is tagging walls and knocking over streetlamps and such throughout the city.

The sense I get is that in many other neighborhoods people just deal with it and get on with their lives, but around here, in Canal City, folks tend to get a little more upset about this stuff disturbing their little paradise. I guess I don't blame them, but at the same time, it seems like a lot of real crime (like getting mugged at blunderbuss-point) gets overshadowed by Mrs. Klenderring's overturned flowerpots..... which may or may not even have anything to do with these so-called anarchists.

So my day was pretty much shot. When the sun was going down, I went in search of something that I could draw at night, braving the evening hours despite my ordeal from the night before..... can't live in constant fear... besides, now I am armed.

Anyways, I lucked out because last night, many of the canals in the neighborhood were lit up with thousands of lanterns of the Nightfishermen. Nightfishing is a long-held tradition here in Gateway, and on certain nights of the month (I think the moon cycle has something to do with which nights are the best) people travel from all over the city to go to the most popular spots... some of the best are here in Canal City.

It is so ingrained into the folklore and history of Gateway, that several little religions and cults have sprung up around the tradition, and often predictions about the future are made based on what kinds of fish are caught, how many are caught, and how big the fish are....

There were so many boats packed into the main canals, it was hard to find a good subject to focus on, so I wandered the lesser-traveled canals and found a small boat that really epitomized the bizarre and somewhat humorous nature of this tradition. I asked another onlooker if he knew anything about this particular boat. He said he thinks the leader of this particular Nightfishing cult believes that it is his destiny to one day catch a giant squid in the canals, something that has been rumored to have occurred once in the History of Gateway, over 300 years ago. The day after it was caught, an enormous tidal wave crashed into the city and wiped out entire neighborhoods. I suppose this particular Nightfisherman draws some sort of connection between the two events.

This night, thankfully, no giant squid was caught.

Gateway Journal Day 05: MUGGED!

2011-03-11T13:04:00.009-05:00

I've never been mugged in my life before, until last night...and I have lived in places far more crime-ridden than this part of Gateway.

I was walking back from the Tilted Table, the sun was going down and I got a little lost, which is fine because usually that's how you find interesting stuff... besides, I wasn't in a hurry. Anyways, I happened upon the coolest little garden wedged between two rowhouses... it had this amazingly ornate little gate and there was a bench, so I decided to step inside, have a seat and look over my map of Canal City.

As I am sitting there, I hear this voice behind me: "That's my bench yer sittin on there."

I jumped up and turned around to face a hooded, hunched over figure who had four arms (a Trevian I think they are called), and two of them had guns in them, pointed at me. Needless to say I gave the Trevian whatever he wanted.... which was money. I was given a daily stipend by my benefactor which I can pick up at any one of a local chain of banks whenever I choose.... lucky for this gentleman I had just picked up a few days worth of my allowance that very afternoon.

He also wanted to look through my bag, in case I was holding out on him. I had a bottle of sap-n-citrus water (a popular beverage here), he took that, then he discovered my sketch-journal. He flipped through it, complimented me on my skilled hand, then pummelled me over the head with the butt of his gun. Nice fellow.

A little girl and her mother who live in one of the houses next to the park found me when I woke up. They graciously took me into their home, tended to my wounds, and offered me a meal and a place to stay for the night, since clearly it wasn't safe for me to wander around these parts in the dark.

I was glad to find that the mugger did not take anything other than the money and the drink.

So today, I bought myself some protection. I decided that since I would probably find myself in worse neighborhoods than this one throughout my travels, it probably makes sense to have a little insurance policy along with me. People here in Gateway seem to carry weapons around with seemingly little scandal (though some public locations and businesses prohibit them): swords, daggers, and small blunderbusses like this one. This gun, which was previously owned, fires a single projectile with the aide of two leystones which propel the shot forward when the hammer falls and they strike each other. Of course, they don't always work, or the leystones can lose their juice, so this one came with a handy little bayonet to attach on the end

This is actually the first deadly weapon I have owned, so hopefully I won't have to use it, but maybe it will make me less of an obvious target. Good times.

Reckoning concept art that I can finally show!

2011-03-07T13:40:00.003-05:00

So, today there are a bunch of articles all over the 'net about the game I have been working on: "Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning", like these:

Gamespot Article

G4 TV Article

Joystiq Article

RPGFan Article (Be sure to check out their extensive screenshots gallery too)

So, since some of the articles feature some of the concept art I did for the game, I figured I would show it on my blog! So, enjoy!

Gateway Journal Day 04: Looking Inward

2011-03-04T13:23:00.013-05:00

No Leystone for me today, instead I decided to hang out in a café due to the torrential rain.

Something I was told at the outset by my benefactor was to be sure to showcase the people of Gateway, and not just the architecture and the details. So I decided to sketch some of the patrons at the Tilted Table Café, where I am told the pastries are top-notch.

As I have said before, Gateway is full of people of all shapes and sizes, but there are definitely some types of people that you see more of than others, at least as far as I can tell having only seen the Canal City section of Gateway so far.

Humans are very common and are everywhere, with the same range of diversity that you might expect to see in a typical major city.

Next are the Torrans and Argethians.

Torrans are a very solid, stocky people with massive square heads, large hands and kindly facial features. They tend to range anywhere from 7 to 9 feet tall and have little or no hair on their heads. They have been described to me as spiritual folk, who are generally good-humored and come from a mountainous land where they lead simple, almost monastic lives worshipping nature and tending to well-manicured gardens. Here in Gateway, they seem to live pretty much like everyone else and are held in high regard for their mental and physical healing skills. The one exception to this is the Argethians, some of whom apparently regard the Torrans with some amount of suspicion, which has been known to cause “issues” in certain neighborhoods. I think it goes back to an old, bitter war from some time ago.... same old story, I guess, no matter where you go.

Argethians are a close cousin of humans , except they have skull-like noses, pallid, grayish skin, very small ears, and generally tend to look, well, OLD. Not to say that an Argethian can’t be healthy and fit in their youth like anyone else, the gentleman I sat near in the café looked like he was quite capable of beating me to a pulp. But an Argethian’s skin is tight to the bones in the face and somewhat wrinkled. Szerta, the woman who owns the pension I am staying in, is an Argethian. She tells me they look the way they do because of a curse placed on their people long ago by a God who was jealous of their beauty, but she sort of laughed it off as an old legend.

The Salorans, or fish-folk as they are known, are less common, but by no means a rare sight in Gateway. They tend to be more magically attuned than your average citizen and can vary quite wildly in size, shape and color, just like regular fish. I am told there is a Saloran who is as big as a city block here in Gateway. Apparently, as Salorans grow older and wiser they become more fish-like, losing their humanish legs and arms in favor of fins and fish tails and eventually returning to the Sea, if they live long enough. As such, Salorans can be quite old, I have heard they have been known to live over 500 years.

By no means is this the extent of the range of peoples of Gateway. There are folk who have 4 arms, some who are half-man, half-bird, some with floating heads or limbs, and still others with crab claws for hands.

Speaking of crab claws, one thing I have noticed is that a lot of stuff in Gateway seems to make reference to the Sea and creatures from it, which I suppose makes sense since Gateway is located on several major bodies of water. To illustrate what I mean: my coffee mug was adorned with sea shells and a sea serpent of some sort, and my snack was a squid-biscuit sandwich with lemon jelly. I know what you are saying, but actually it wasn’t bad! If you ever find yourself at the Tilted Table Café in Gateway’s Canal City, I recommend you try one!

Gateway Journal Day 03: Gondolas A-Plenty

2011-02-18T15:17:00.007-05:00

Quick journal entry today. Decided to draw a variety of the gondolas that one sees in the waterways of Gateway's Canal City... I was just struck by the variety and elegance of them.

Many of them are "taxis" essentially, ferrying folks from one place to another for a modest sum, but others were personal vehicles or delivery vehicles. The personal vehicles tended to be a little more lavish, or festooned with designs and lanterns. I had fun trying to catch glimpses of the eccentric characters that rode in these as they zipped past me on my perch.

So, a little info about propulsion: Gateway is a very magical city, but not always in the way you would expect. Magic has become very common, ever since the invention of Leystones, often referred to as "stones". They are essentially crystals or gems infused with magical energy that can then be, for a lack of a better term, "programmed" to do different things.

Easily 80 - 90% of the watercraft I have seen thus far utilize Leystones as their primary mode of power, though they often vary in the exact way they are employed. Some are mounted on poles that the gondola steersman puts into the water and uses to steer. Others are mounted on the rear of the craft and essentially push them forward. Apparantly there are varying arguments as to which method is the most efficient or proper... I will stay out of it for my part.

As you will hopefully see in my journals in the coming months, these stones are used everywhere, for many things.... and people usually walk around with them either hanging on a chain around their neck, or floating just above their head (they have become something of a fashion accessory too, given that you can purchase a variety of styles and shapes of Leystones).

They are also used as power sources for massive "machines" or "Constructs", as they call them. For instance, the trains here in Gateway use massive leystones to hurdle from one end of the city to the other.

There are people who don't use them, either out of stubbornness, or because they feel they are a waste of money (Leystones apparantly have lately become subject to serious inflation, there are certain manufacturers of Leystones that are favored by Gateway's ruling council, making it increasingly difficult for the "mom and pop" Leystone maker to compete with rising costs).

Anyways, I think I am going to buy one tomorrow and see what things are possible... I am a little apprehensive about it, but I will be sure to get some instruction first before I accidentally turn someone into a wombat or something.

Street Scene with Bird Fail WIP 02

2011-02-15T21:48:00.004-05:00

I posted the sketch and the first WIP of this piece a while back, but now I am back on the train and ready to put the finishing touches on this one, although I think there is still alot left to do.

I have struggled with this one a bit more than usual because I have been working from a loose drawing as my base. usually, I like the drawings for more finished pieces to be a lot tighter and more detailed before I start the color, generally because I rely on the drawing to help with texture and detail. But with this one, I am actually painting over much of the drawing because it was very loose.... soooo, we'll see how it turns out, I am a bit nervous.

And yes, this is a streetscene in Gateway, but you will have to wait for the appropriate journal entry to find out any more.

Check it out, Andrej Dugin and his wife Olga Dugina (amazing illustrators) have a website! http://www.duginart.com/

Gateway Journal Day 02 Part 2: Exploring Canal City

2011-02-09T15:38:00.013-05:00

Today I explored the neighborhood around my lodgings. I am in "Canal City", which, as its name unmysteriously implies, is criss-crossed with many canals and waterways.

All of the boroughs of Gateway have simple names, like Canal City, Harbortown, Fishtown, etc., a system devised after "The Unification"... Apparently Gateway used to be a conglomeration of several smaller cities a few centuries ago, each of which had their own governments and were constantly at war with one another. Occasionally, someone will use the "old" names for places (adding to my confusion), but for the sake of this book, I am going to stick to the simplified naming system...call me a tourist.

The Canals vary in size and usage, and all manner of boat and ship can be seen on them. Obviously, the wider avenues are used by small cargo ships and touring boats, while the narrower ones are mostly local traffic. In some places there are pipes which dump what appears to be sewage or waste water of some sort into the alleys, which dulls the charm, but i've seen worse.... Of course, this is a more residential area, we will see what the industrial sections yield.

Overall, though, the effect is a pleasant one, the area around where I was sketching the first image was fairly quiet, a few people going about their business. Every now and then a head will pop out of a random window and look around, or call down to a wayward pet, or the sounds of playing children or arguing merchants will echo through the narrow alleys. The seductive smell of corner bakeries meets you around every turn, and I have to admit I found 2 of them to be absolutely unavoidable. I don't know what I ate in the second one, but it was delicious.

From what I have read, Canal City encompasses some of the oldest sections of Gateway, which is very clear when you observe the various architectural styles as well as the sense of newer structures stacked on top of the foundations of older structures. The elevated train lines are later additions that in many cases had to be built right up against or even through existing buildings, which I imagine is somewhat of an annoyance to those who live in said buildings.

However, I get the sense that almost no amount of annoyance can drive away residents around here, this is likely some of the most coveted real estate around, and I imagine most residents represent several generations worth of ownership.

More Canal City drawings tomorrow.

Interview on CGTantra.com

2011-02-07T09:42:00.002-05:00

The fine folks at CGTantra.com (a CG website based in India) have posted an interview they did with Yours Truly. I will be one of the judges in their upcoming CG art competition: ArttWar 5. Thanks to everyone at CGTantra!

LINK TO INTERVIEW

Gateway Journal Day 02: The View From Here

2011-02-01T13:51:00.014-05:00

So, before I went to bed last night, I decided to sketch the view from my window in the pension. I think it's a pretty good snapshot of the typical Gateway skyline, at least as far as I can tell thus far.

The pension is at the end of a short little dead end street, just off of a major thoroughfare with lots of shops and cafes.... There are also a few shops on this street as well, including a barber shop and, conveniently, a hat store... In case the haircut isn't so good.

So far, Gateway seems to be the bustling beacon of commerce and diversity it is reputed to be. Obviously, I have only scratched the surface, and my guess is that in the year to come, I will see many sides of this city, including its darker corners... a fact I suspect my benefactor is well aware of as he has requested that I move around and try to stay in each of the major neighborhoods of Gateway during the course of my visit here. As far as I can tell, there is no agenda on his part other than bringing images and stories of Gateway to the people of our world. Then again, everyone has an agenda, don't they?

In the distance, you can see some of the spires of Tower City, the next borough over. Most of those towers are the homes and workshops of the world's most powerful sorcerers and alchemists, or renowned schools for magical arts. They don't all appear to be occupied though, which seems odd, especially for a city as full of magic as this. I plan on visiting there for sure, but my path will lead me in another direction tomorrow.

After breakfast, I am planning on heading towards one of Gateway's many canals. The closest one to where I am is about 5 blocks, and is a major thoroughfare, so I am hoping to see some interesting boats, etc. You can never go wrong with a lovely shot of a canal.

My morning meal was prepared and served to me by the humorless Szerta, pictured here. I was able to convince her to stand still for 2 minutes so that I could sketch her. She claims she was smiling too. Don't ask me what was in the bowl, it's on my plate too.... I am trying not to look at it. She tells me it's a fruit, and quite delicious, but I have my doubts. She must have known where I was from, though, because the rest of the food seemed fairly conventional: peppery fried eggs, toasted bread with powdered sugar, black pudding, and a very sweet and smoky sausage...not too shabby.

Maybe I can muster up enough courage to try the "fruit", since I am going to have to try new stuff anyways.... Gateway has a greater variety of foods than anywhere else in the worlds, so I need to summon an adventurous pallette to participate in the whole experience. Well, wish me luck.

Gateway Journal Entry - Day 01 : It's the Little Things

2011-01-26T20:48:00.031-05:00

A drawing of a lamp. Hardly seems like an exciting way to start off my travel journal of Gateway, but when I saw it, it seemed oddly appropriate.

I guess it's because so many things in this city are more than "just a lamp", like they often are back home. The uncommon is common here in Gateway, a city that teems with creatures and beings and people from an unknowable variety of places.

This lamp is in the lobby of the pension that I checked in to this morning after a very long and "tricky" journey here. The old lady who runs the place, her name is Szerta I think, tells me her grandfather bought it from a travelling junk salesman in the Nathru-Val. She says they used to be very trendy a couple of centuries ago…. I don't know if you can see it in my drawing, but when you turn the light on, a bit of smoke comes out of the cigar on the little face in the middle… there were, apparently, a variety of lamps like this that had little smoking faces…. I guess it's no weirder than the wall-mounted singing fish that were popular back home several years ago…

It's just one of the many bizarrely intricate and fascinating things that I seem to be finding around every corner here. I consider myself very lucky to have been given this opportunity to come to Gateway and draw what I see.

My mysterious benefactor/client has made sure I have enough time, money, supplies, and resources to really dive deep into life in Gateway, and record it for curious types back home. Although I have planned to be here for about a year, I can see how it would really take a lifetime to truly explore this unbelievably vast and intricate city, maybe two lifetimes.

So, I am going to unpack, study some street maps (no easy task, I assure you) and plan my route for tomorrow. I will try to post these as often as possible, but, as you can imagine, it's tricky getting information back and forth. Wish me luck!

A falconer-monk, and some domed monasteries....

2011-01-26T01:49:00.003-05:00

"The Offering" Framed!

2011-01-18T21:29:00.003-05:00

So, the great Gregg Spatz, fantasy art collector extraordinaire, sent me this image of "The Offering", a piece that he commissioned me to make, in its shiny new frame... and I DO MEAN SHINY: according to Gregg, this frame actually has STERLING silver in it, and was "damned expensive"! Wow, how about that!

Horizontal Format Sketching

2011-01-04T23:42:00.003-05:00

Doing more sketches in a horizontal / film-aspect ratio format. I noticed that I almost always impulsively start my work / sketches with a very similar vertical rectangle. I think making some of my pieces look like little scenes from a (for now) non-existent film is kind of a neat idea. What do you think?

I am also going to be concentrating a lot more on environments as the main subject matters of my pieces, with figures occupying the space and providing a frame of reference instead of being the main focus.

Thanks for checking them out!

The Offering

2010-12-06T22:53:00.013-05:00

Here is the piece I have been doing as a private commision for fantasy art collector extraordinaire: Gregg Spatz. Hope you like it! I have also included the line-drawing as well.

CYBER-MONDAY DISCOUNT!!!

2010-11-28T23:38:00.007-05:00

Hey everyone! I am offering a Cyber-Monday deal on my Etsy Print-Shop! All you have to do is enter the coupon code: "FISHPERSON" and you will get 20% off! Don't worry if you don't do it on Monday either, it will be valid for 2 weeks, until December 10th!

Woohoo! Amateur capitalism!

Here's a few sketches from older sketchbooks that I haven't posted here:

"Wizard Alley" now available in my printshop!

2010-11-15T22:47:00.003-05:00

Just in time for the Holidays! What better way to say "MERRY HOLIDAYS TO THEE!" than with the gift of a print by yours truly depicting a group of mysterious wizards, warlocks, and male Wiccans meeting up outside of a seedy tavern where they have just been binge drinking and discussing the return of the Great Old One!!!! HOORAY!!! Get yours today!

2 Class Demos - promising pieces?

2010-10-26T08:57:00.003-04:00

Last night I did a digital painting demo for my friend and co-worker Colin Campbell's digital illustration class at MICA. These are by no means finished, but I think they are showing promise. As always, they started from sketches from my sketchbook, as you may recognize the images from previous posts.

I especially think I may continue working on the street scene image.

Both done in under 2 hours.

Fantasy Mega-structure sketch, plus: Spectrum News!

2010-10-20T23:35:00.008-04:00

OK, sorry I have been absent for a while, a few things to report:

1. I am working on my first personal commission! I will be sure to post that when it's done, but I only just started so it may be a while. Plus, it may also depend on whether the buyer is OK with me posting it right away.

2. Spectrum 17 comes out soon, and my piece "Oops" is featured in the Unpublished section. But ALSO, they use a portion of my piece on the inside front cover, which you can see a sneak peek of on this youtube video (it's the second page they flip to and it has 6 horizontal strips of various pieces from the book, part of "Oops" is the top one!). The book hits the shelves on November 1st (ish).

3. Finally, I am working on an ambitious, and likely very time-consuming personal project, which, for the moment, I am going to remain fairly mum about, but once I feel that it is progressing in a satisfactory way, I will start dropping some hints and some visuals to see what you guys think. So, my posts may be a little more scarce (although they have been scarce already, haha), but I will try to post things when I can.

For now, here's a quick sketch from the old sketchbook, kind of a fantasy super-structure idea.... plus a fancy-lookin dude to the right of it.

Cheers.

A single page of sketch

2010-09-18T01:23:00.006-04:00

A quick post. The upper right drawing was inspired by a drawing Alan Lee did of a twisted looking mill that he did for LOTR..... I think it was for the burning of the Shire sequence. Anyways, what I liked about it was that the building felt very organic, like a creature crawling along the ground. I think it is important to visualize buildings and architecture less like blocks and rectangles, but rather as organice forms... even if they have straight walls. Rarely do you see a structure that is just a plain box with no other features.

"Wizard Alley", finished

2010-09-05T22:22:00.007-04:00

OK, so I finished "Wizard Alley". Finally! Let me know what you think. Got two more pieces in production as we speak... stuff I have posted WIPs of before, but am going back to now... I will keep the Blog updated when I have more progress on them.

Couple O Sketches, and Thanks!

2010-09-04T09:27:00.004-04:00

Here are just a couple little sketch pages for ya.

Pretty much done with the Wizards in the Alley piece, just had a few minor finishing touches I wantred to put on it, then I will post it.

I also wanted to thank everyone who came to my booth at Baltimore COmic-Con, it was great! I had a blast, and I sold almost 40 prints! WOOHOO! I am thinking I might try to do a couple more conventions next year, it went so well.

Anyways, enjoy!

Come see me at the Baltimore Comic-Con

2010-08-27T22:31:00.002-04:00

Yes, that's right, I will have a table at the Baltimore Comic-Con tomorrow and Sunday, so be sure to stop by if you can!

My table is A85 in Artist's Alley, and I will be sharing it with Tim Coman, my Art Director at Big Huge Games.

Also, I will be selling copies of the one and only "Robots 'r' Cool, Zombies 'r' Jerks!" Issue #1!!! A rare collector's item, yours for only $1.75!!!!! You may even spot the one-and-only Devin T. Quin, who is even rarer!

Wizards in an Alley WIP

2010-08-10T23:08:00.003-04:00

Hey everyone, here is some progress on this piece. Really trying to nail the mood here. Tell me what you think so far... is it too dark? Not dark enough?

Finding the Light in the Ordinary

2010-08-02T23:48:00.005-04:00

So, I recently did an interview with a Chinese magazine called simply: Fantasy Art. It was a pretty cool experience, and a distinction I share with a lot of great artists and illustrators, many of whom I am not worthy to be amongst.

To make matters more surreal, they put my piece "Globechaser" on the cover! Check it out below!

Anyways, a big thanks to the good folks at Fantasy Art magazine, especially editor Lizzy Carft, and my interviewer: Winney! Thanks guys!

Comic-Con and the unveiling of BHG's new game!

2010-08-02T23:32:00.004-04:00

So, as you all know, I have been working on a very secretive RPG project at BHG/38 for some time now. Well, 2 weekends ago, at the San Diego Comic-Con, we unveiled our game! Yay!

You can check out the official website for the game here! (There's some concept art to be seen from Jeremy Enecio, Daarken, and myself)

Below are a few pics I took of the event itself, which I attended, including images of 2 of the creatures from our game that we made into giant toy sculpts, both of which were based on concepts by yours truly.

Blog Exposure, with interview and CONTEST!

2010-07-20T12:32:00.002-04:00

The nice folks at Zip and Ruth have kindly featured me on their blog this week, which includes links to my work, an interview, and a contest! The prize is a free print from my etsy printshop. Check it out!

Weekend Sketches, and Upcoming Events!

2010-07-20T01:09:00.012-04:00

Spent a long weekend at my family's vacation house on the Chesapeake Bay. It's located in an area that has a long fishing industry history, and there are all these crazy looking fish-processing factories, as well as the ruins of older ones, hence the the sketch below.

I really love drawing factories and industrial stuff. I realized that it's even more fun to do without any reference at all, just doing it based on memory and speculation. This is something I do now and then, and want to start doing more: memory life-drawing.

I did it when I went on a trip to Ireland, we were in this ebus and wizzing by all these beautiful scenes so I had to try to take a mental snap-shot then draw what I remember afterwards. It's fun, try it sometime!

In other news, I will be attending the San Diego Comic-Con this week on Thursday and Friday, so if you see a weird, bearded dude with a crazy look in his eyes, it is probably me, so say HI, won't you?

I will only be there as an observer, BUT, in late August, I will have a table in the Artist's Alley at the BALTIMORE Comic-Con, where you might also catch a glimpse of my very famous co-worker (and the executive art director of 38 Studios) Todd McFarlane!

Also, more progress on this drawing:

Robo-feelings.

2010-07-15T00:47:00.002-04:00

Here's another WIP. I am trying to draw more robots. Hope you like it, let me know if you have any thoughts about it before I take it to finish.

Bowl-Full-o-Sketch

2010-07-13T12:30:00.002-04:00

Wizard Meet-up

2010-07-01T10:08:00.003-04:00

I've been working on this sketch in my sketchbook. Got the idea after watching Harry Potter, then going to the aquarium. Wizards are so fun to draw, and can look like anything. I want this piece to have a really spooky, back-alleys of London kind of feel to it. Also, when I was trying to say "fish-wizard" to my wife, I ended up saying "Wish-Fizard", which I think is actually a great name for a magical creature. So don't steal it. I OWN Wish-Fizard.

Getting the hang of it...

2010-06-18T12:59:00.001-04:00

Another iPad sketch using Sketchbook Pro and the Pogo Stylus. Played with layers and more brush options this time.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

First iPad sketch using the pogo stylus

2010-06-17T12:41:00.001-04:00

Works OK, but not perfect. Some day Apple will support pressure-sensitive styluses...... Won't they??

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Claw Knight WIP

2010-06-17T08:58:00.002-04:00

Slowly but surely.....

A skosh of sketch

2010-06-15T21:52:00.002-04:00

Stalled: Clawbeak

2010-06-10T02:12:00.002-04:00

Introducing a new feature on my blog! Occasionally I find things that I started drawing, then just suddenly stopped.... either not convinced I was going to like it, or because I got on to something else. Who knows the fate of these stalled pieces... maybe they will live again... sooner or later.

Without further ado, I present: CLAWBEAK!

Temple of the Great Fish - Finished!

2010-06-02T10:12:00.003-04:00

I have finished it. Let me know what you think. Prints are available on my etsy page: http://seanandrewmurray.etsy.com

Temple of the Great Fish WIP, and some sketchbook morsels

2010-05-20T08:58:00.003-04:00

So, working on the Fish Temple piece. Doing it in watercolors and pen&ink. Hoping this one turns out OK, still perfecting this methof working. Basically, I printed out the sketch very lightly onto watercolor paper, and then I out down the base tones, then do a layer of line-work, then some more watercolor to pop out details and shadows, then highlights, but I am trying NOT to add highlights, but rather think about them ahead of time and just leave white space which is what you are supposed to do with watercolor.... so I hear.

Then a couple sketches from the sketchbook.

Sketcherlings

2010-05-14T01:21:00.006-04:00

More transmissions.

A couple more works-in-progress on the easel....

2010-04-26T23:56:00.003-04:00

The first image is another "stream of conciousness" piece, along the lines of "What's Mine is Mine", and the second one is an old pencil drawing I started a long time ago, and started working on again... I WILL finish it!

Temple of the Great Fish

2010-04-23T23:56:00.003-04:00

OK, this is a new piece I am working on. This is based off of an old sketch from my sketchbook that you may have seen before.

I am going to print out this drawing very lightly on watercolor paper, then paint it with watercolors and pen&ink. I also have several other drawings in the works, but all at various states. My friend Marc Taro tells me I should post a photo of them on the blog anyways, just to show how big they are and to give everyone an idea of what is to come. I will do that soon.

I can't decide with this one whether or not I like the additional buildings/temples in the background, or if it should just be a desolate mountain-scape, making this particular temple seem very remote. What do you think?

The Mirror Maiden - Finished!

2010-03-29T15:35:00.003-04:00

Done with this one at long last (it has been sitting on my "easel" for a few months).

Anyways, let me know what you think. Many exciting (hopefully) things to come soon. Stay tuned!

Spectrum 17 - I made it!

2010-03-22T10:51:00.002-04:00

According to the Spectrum website, I have made it into the juried competition again! Yay! I don't know which piece they chose, but I will let you know as soon as I get the letter in the mail.

Congrats also to friends: Paul Harding, Mclean Kendree, Sam Bosma, Eric Deschamps and Kali Ciesemier!

List of Spectrum 17 Winners

Jury Duty sketch

2010-03-17T16:41:00.003-04:00

Something I sketched up during downtime in my week long adventure with jury duty. Fun!

I have an Etsy shop now!

2010-03-12T00:24:00.002-05:00

I have finally set up an online shop to buy prints of my work. Check it out: http://www.etsy.com/shop/seanandrewmurray

Let me know what you think, or if you have any favorites that you would like me to make available as prints.

Mirror Maid - Work in Progress

2010-03-10T22:54:00.003-05:00

So, though my freetime lately has been scant (you know, work, baby, freelance), I have been slowly working on this personal piece that I call "The Mirror Maid". The great and wise McLean Kendree gave me some pointers on this one, which I plan on incorporating. Let me know what YOU think!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Sketchbook

2010-02-16T23:07:00.006-05:00

Small offering this time.

My 4-page sketchbook article in ImagineFX

2010-02-16T23:01:00.005-05:00

I forgot to post this a while back, but in case you missed it, here is the 4-page sketchbook article I had in December's (U.S.) issue of ImagineFX Magazine... I think technically it is the November issue.

Sketchasaurus

2010-02-03T01:17:00.001-05:00

Transmissions from the sketchbook

2010-02-03T01:05:00.004-05:00

Sorry about being MIA for a while.... the usual excuses: Work, Freelancing, The Holidays.... A BABY!!! Anyways, here's some more transmissions from Planet Sketcho.

Privateer Press illustrations

2010-02-03T00:17:00.004-05:00

Several illustrations I was commisioned to do for "No Quarter" magazine. All of these are for the "Iron Kingdoms" world which is a lot of fun to work on. The last image is the first in a series of pieces I will be doing for them throughout the year depicting various important cities in the Iron Kingdoms world. I will post those when they are published!

My first Sketchcrawl!!!

2009-11-22T00:07:00.003-05:00

So, today I participated (nay, organized) my first sketchcrawl here in Baltimore. Check out www.sketchcrawl.com for more info, but basically it's a world-wide event where people gather together in their respective cities and draw urban scenes then upload them to the sketchcrawl site. We had about 7 people, which was cool. Still trying to get the thread opened up on the official site so that everyone can upload their images, but below you will find the two sketches I did (fingers were getting numb from the cold after 2 hours, so next time we will have to work with more direct sunlight if it occurs during the winter months).

Below those are some pages from the old sketchbook.

Publicity!

2009-11-10T00:07:00.002-05:00

Got some work appearing in a couple of publications currently on the shelves: 3 full-page pieces in "The Future of Fantasy Art" published by Harper Collins, and "Spectrum 16: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art" published by Underwood Books. (That is actually the back cover of Spectrum, but for some reason it's the one they are showing on Amzaon...)

My ULTIMATE CREATION! MUHUHUHAHAHAHA!

2009-11-06T22:48:00.005-05:00

On Monday, November the 2nd, at 11:58 AM, my beautiful wife gave birth to the most amazing little boy: Connor Vincent Murray. Life has greater meaning and purpose, and an amazing new adventure awaits me! Be on the lookout for his sketchblog within the coming months.... he seems to be a quick learner.

The Birdmonks

2009-10-23T13:11:00.002-04:00

New piece. New style... I am calling this my "fast" style, something I think I will be practicing more now that the baby will soon be around, haha! Let me know what you think.

Sketchitor!

2009-10-14T15:37:00.005-04:00

Just two for now. Second one is a dude from a pirate band I saw at RennFest.

Vote for me.... if you want.

2009-10-02T17:30:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone, the public poll for the "Newborn" contest over on Conceptart.org is finally up. If you liked my piece entitled "Oops", and are a member of conceptart.org, or want to become one, please follow this link and vote for my piece (I am called Muttonhead on the forum).

You can vote for other people's pieces too, it is a multivote system.... there are 8 heats currently, and the winners from those heats will go on to a final poll. Anyways, thanks in advance!

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=169734

Sketchyums!

2009-09-25T00:24:00.003-04:00

Som'mor sketches. I don't know why I wrote Doomsday Sorority on that one page, I just thought it sounded like a cool idea for a movie or comic book.

Sketchwich

2009-08-22T15:43:00.001-04:00

"Oops!" Finished

2009-07-30T02:55:00.002-04:00

Here is the final image for "Oops". Wish me luck in the contest!

A couple of doodles from Dr. Sketchy

2009-07-21T01:29:00.008-04:00

Dr. Sketchy was at The Windup Space tonight for the first time, and guess what? That happens to be where VS. is too! So, all the attendees of tonight's Dr. Sketchy got to see VS. Awesome.

Well, anyways, here are my two favs from the session tonight.

Oh, and be sure to check out this month's "ImagineFX Magazine", which features 3 pieces by yours truly on page 13!

"Oops" Continued

2009-07-17T23:56:00.002-04:00

Decided to change the name of this piece to "Oops", and wanted to post some of the progress I am making. It's a bit slow going because of other projects and work and whatnot, btu I think I will be able to finish it for the end-of-the-month deadline.

Let me know how it looks on your monitor!

Sketch for "Newborn"

2009-07-08T03:14:00.002-04:00

This is my pencil sketch for the Conceptart.org contest "Newborn". Tell me whatcha think!

2009-06-05T13:36:00.009-04:00

For those of you who are in the Baltimore area, come by tonight to check out "VS.", an art exhibit that features 14 local Baltimore video-game artists, comic artists, and illustrators, including ME!Take a look at the list of artists below, and be sure to check out the blog which previews some of the pieces you will see at the show.

http://versusexhibit.blogspot.com/

The Windup Space is on North Avenue near the corner of Charles St., across the street from the McDonalds in the Station North Arts District. There will be refreshments (Coke VS. Pepsi, Apples VS. Oranges, Dunkin Donuts VS. Krispy Kreme, etc.), and the Windup Space serves all kinds of adult beverages as well (it's a bar... there is also music after 9). Hope to see you there!

"Whats Mine Is Mine" finished!

2009-05-27T12:00:00.002-04:00

OK, finally finished this one, and just in time too! This piece will be appearing in a local art exhibit called "VS." which features 13 other Baltimore-based game artists and illustrators. More info on that coming soon!

Weekend Sketches

2009-05-27T00:05:00.002-04:00

Flesher!

2009-05-21T23:00:00.003-04:00

A couple new guys from lunch today. The first guy is ripping open his flesh and revealing his strange innards... that is why he is called the "flesher", get it? The other guy is less exciting, but he IS smoking. For shame.

Sacred Horn Blower

2009-05-18T01:03:00.003-04:00

Protector of the phlame.

Sketch-o-topia

2009-05-18T00:57:00.002-04:00

More pages from the tome of sketchery. I'm totally psyched to turn the image of the lady looking in the eagle-headed mirror into a full piece.

Wow! Finally a new POST!

2009-05-11T01:48:00.005-04:00

Well, whaddya know?!?! I am finally posting something new! Sorry folks. I am going to try to get back on track. I will have to do several posts to catch up.

First, some news: I am going to be a father! My wife, Kathleen, is due in November, and I can hardly wait! I will be sure to post any drawings the child-to-be does on this blog.

Now, some art! So, I have been doing a little bit of freelance work for Privateer Press (just a few pieces here and there), and the latest one is featured on the cover of "No Quarter", their magazine. Check it out!

The original:

Also, I got into Spectrum again, yay! The piece they chose was the acrylic painting of the Witch and her "pet", check it out:

What's Mine is MINE!

2009-03-06T02:51:00.003-05:00

Finished drawing for a piece I am thinking about doing in watercolor and pen and ink. My plan is to print out the drawing on watercolor paper, apply color, then do line-work overtop with pen and ink.

I am really happy with the drawing, I just hope I can do it justice in color....
Let me know what you think....

Ich habe ein Vogel im meine Kopf!

2009-03-06T02:45:00.006-05:00

I hope I got that right... German speakers, please correct me if not.

Anyways, here are some more sketches. Sorry about the ever widening gaps in my posts.... stupid-busy what with work, teaching, freelancing, and now organizing an art exhibit at a local gallery. Phew!

A bizarre encounter in the alleyway

2009-01-21T22:32:00.007-05:00

Finished this piece in color, finally. Don't bother asking me to explain, I have no idea what it means either, but I invite you to write a short story and post it here..... only if you have a bunch of time on your hands, but it might be fun, no?

I started teaching my class today at MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art). I am teaching a course on Fantasy Art. I think it is going OK, but I also think I may have come across as totally insane to the students... which is better than coming across as a jerk.... but the semester is still young!

Sketchbucks

2009-01-15T21:30:00.000-05:00

A page of sketches from a recent visit to the ol' Starbucks.

Quick airport sketchpage

2009-01-15T08:21:00.001-05:00

Boredom breeds sketch.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T19:34:00.005-05:00

Here are some new scans from the old sketchbook to ring in 2009!

Blasto from El Pasto!

2009-01-01T19:25:00.003-05:00

OK, so this is a piece I did in 2000, but which I still have in my portfolio. It's maybe one of my more successful pieces I think. Problem is, I have had a very bad scan of it for many years (it was done in pen and ink and water color). So I decided to take it out of the frame and re-scan it. This time I scanned it at a very high resolution, and I did not photoshop it at all, because I think it stands on it's own merits pretty well.

Looking closely at this piece reminded me of what I really love about drawing. I think I often have to remind myself of these things because I know that I can sometimes stray from the essential joy of drawing in favor of some percieved aesthetic expectations. I can't allow that to happen. I like getting back to my pen and ink roots.....

Enjoy!

What's this? Real paint?!?!?

2008-12-02T08:34:00.005-05:00

Yep! It's an acrylic painting by yours truly. Currently sitting on my Bob Ross brand table easel. Can you believe it? I actually started this some time ago, as a personal challenge to break out the "natural media" paints again. I am pretty happy with the results, but have some issues with it as well. But this could be the start of a whole new series of analog paintings, what do you think?

I have updated the image. I re-took the photo and adjusted it to be more accurate to the actual colors of the piece....

PEN & INK MADNESS!!!!

2008-11-13T21:25:00.007-05:00

So, I went to IlluXCon last weekend and met some of my favorite artists and got to hang out with a few of em too! Highest on my list was my absolute favorite illustrator of all time, IAN MILLER!!! You really should check out his work, it's amazing... I mean, look at THIS!

Unfortunately, the picture I had someone take of me with Ian Miller somehow got erased from my stupid iPhone, so I have no hard proof, EXCEPT for the Ian Miller original I bought and have in my posession..... my first of (hopefully) many Ian Miller originals. Here it is... with my cat....

Coolest thing of all is that he seemed to really dig my work too, which is awesome, seeing as how his work has been a huge inspiration to me since seeing it in the pages of Warhammer books back in High School.

Anyways, one of the things I showed him was the piece below, which I just finished inking. Next will be to start painting it up in Photoshop. Once again I think I want to try to retain as much of the linework in the final image as possible.

Spectrum Errors, Hector the Kitty, and Screaming Bunny Monsters.

2008-11-04T00:58:00.009-05:00

So, Spectrum 15 came out this weekend! There's yours truly's piece on page 173, and fellow BHG'ers Sang Han and McLean Kendree are in there too! It's really awesome to finally have a piece grace the hallowed pages of Spectrum. A minor gripe though: They got the name of the piece wrong.... d'oh! The name they have it listed as is "Skullneck", which is the OTHER piece I entered but did not get in. Oh well, not a biggie. Now I just have to get into Spectrum 16 so that people don't think it was just a fluke.

Anyways, my friend Unkie Dev and I have been collecting art found in the trash for many years. We have built up quite a collection, which includes pieces with such amazing names as "Boob Cave", and "Nature's Bounty". Now, my wife Kathleen has gotten into the act... she rescued this gem from certain oblivion... enjoy:

Finally, this is what is on my drawing table at the moment.... I have no idea what it is, or why it is, but let me know what you think of it so far....

Skull-Totems!

2008-10-28T12:12:00.004-04:00

Took this piece from my sketchbook. I used micron pens over the pencil drawing. Originally I was going to paint over the lines, but then I decided I liked the linework enough to keep it. I also changed the color scheme since the last time i posted this as a WIP. i think I like this better. What say you?

Why I Have Been a Deliquent Blogger

2008-10-23T23:55:00.005-04:00

OK, ok, so I know a real "blogger" doesn't let things stand in his/her way of blogging once every few days, but walk a mile in my shoes.... and you can keep the shoes..... I don't know what that means. Basically, for the past month or so, Kathleen and I have been moving into our new house in downtown Baltimore and unpacking and settling in. My studio still has a long way to go (pictures need to go on the wall, and more shelving must be built for additional books, etc.) But i figured I would show you what my new setup looks like anyways, plus a pic of the front of the house too. Below that is the skull-totem island piece again, this time I am thinking of going with a new color scheme, and keeping the colorization fairly simple.... I almost started going in there and painting in details and such, but i think i need to let the drawing really sing in this case and just use color to back up the mood. Anyways.... more stuff soon.

Done at last!

2008-09-08T22:44:00.003-04:00

At long last this one is finished. I am fairly happy with it. What say YOU?

Flight Delay = Sketch-o-rama! Part 2

2008-09-06T00:36:00.000-04:00

More airport scribbles.

Flight Delay = Sketch-o-rama! Part 1

2008-09-06T00:30:00.003-04:00

On my way back from Syracuse, my connecting flight from Philadelphia to Baltimore was delayed by a couple of hours, so that's prime sketch-time! I also met a couple of guys coming back from the Ron Paul anti-convention in Minneapolis. They liked my art.... maybe Ron Paul would too?

Crushing Dreams

2008-09-05T07:49:00.003-04:00

Ten years after I left the hallowed halls of that institution known as Syracuse University, they had me back to talk to the media arts (illustration, design, etc) students about life as a video game concept artist. I went there with the intention of warning them about the difficulty of breaking into the business, the long hours you have to work, the lack of recognition....

But as I stared at the students' faces, and thought back to how only a little over a decade ago I too sat in those chairs praying for some glimmer of hope for my future, I softened.... a little.

In all seriousness, it was a blast. I enjoyed talking to the students, and I was happy to see that they are very eager to learn everything they can about concept art, digital illustration, etc. I told them they need to fight to have the best equipment if they want to be prepared for the reality of the business, which is that digital illustration is basically industry standard.

I also did a quick painting demo of a creature from my sketchbook, which unfortunately was very low res, so I don't think I will be keeping him.

Hopefully they will invite me back some day... even though I did an impression of one of my professors, Roger DeMuth (that's him all blurry in the nosebleed section with the blue shirt).