After a bit of a hiatus on fully illustrating a digital piece, I’ve created my new, creepy image, “A Friend In Need Is A Friend Indeed.” I’ve been doing digital manipulations here and there, but I’ve shied away from full digital illustrations for most of this year. New times bring Read more…
Last fall, Thunderstorm Books asked if I could create cover art for author Ronald Kelly’s new short novella, Strong Steps. Anytime I get to work with Thunderstorm is a great time, so I jumped right into it. In the months just before I started working on the cover, I was Read more…
Inktober is a yearly, unofficial ink project by artists everywhere. The idea is to create a new ink piece each day in October, and this year I managed to do a number of new ink pieces despite a busy life schedule. Here they are below, and let me know what Read more…
I spent a couple of hours last weekend trying to will a new ink into existence. It was an idea that I’d had for a few weeks, and something that I was really looking forward to. It would have been something like this: But it was one of those times Read more…
I’ve been sketching in my Moleskine journal quite often on my daily mass transit ride into work. It takes about 20 minutes each way, which is a decent amount of time to sketch something interesting in my Moleskine. I normally just let my imagination run rampant with those sketches, I Read more…
In getting back to doing more art, I’ve worked on both digital and ink pieces. With digital, it’s easy to change my direction, and to try new effects. Getting back into inks, though, reminds me that planning is ultimately my greatest friend in traditional media. In the case of this Read more…
I’ve had the privilege over the last couple of years to work on a series of books by S.P. Miskowski, her Skillute Cycle series. The latest, and final, book in the series is called In The Light, and I recently created the art for it as well. Her books have Read more…
I’ve always been fascinated with the monsters of the old movies. The Creature From The Black Lagoon, Lon Chaney’s Phantom of the Opera, and of course, Boris Karloff’s Im-Ho-Tep from the 1932 film The Mummy. The creatures of old had such great texture to them, such great characterizations. They were Read more…
Last year, I created a tattoo for the great author Michael T. Huyck, Jr., based on an idea he had (see it here). Being that it was for a tattoo, I created it as a grayscale piece to keep things simple. As I’m approaching my visit to the World Horror Read more…
I’ve been wanting to work in more color with my inks, and I’ve had a number of ideas run through the old noggin. I thought it would be fun to try an experiment with ink and color, so I started in with a sketch of a skull. Not just any Read more…
Most days, a billion ideas are running through my head. I think the better ones tend to stick around, and then it’s a matter of putting them into action. I’ve learned through years of experience that some ideas work better in specific mediums. For example, the last work that I Read more…
Sometimes when I start a new personal piece of art, I don’t necessarily have a direction in mind. I might have a general idea, or a smidgen of something in my head. In many cases, such as last week’s ink (see that here), I know exactly what I want out Read more…
A few things have been rolling around in my head this week. First, the fact that my son used up all of my larger watercolor stock. Second, there have been a lot of Lovecraftian and “King in Yellow” ideas in my brain, probably because I binge watched True Detective the Read more…
I decided to tackle new designs for one of my favorite films, El Laberinto del Fauno, or Pan’s Labyrinth. I’d previously created ink works of some of the creatures (namely this one), and I thought I’d give a shot to some movie poster designs. Note, these aren’t official by any Read more…
I’ve been very fortunate to have created art for several of S.P. Miskowski’s books, they are wonderfully written books that everyone should check out. I’ve just completed both the illustration and design of her latest cover, a book called Astoria. After you are done ordering it, come back here and Read more…
It’s no secret that I’ve had a couple of long years now. In trying to get back into art creation mode, I’ve begun trying to “jump start” the process with some quick digital pieces. Part of my problem is that I sit down with new ideas, especially for covers and Read more…
I was in a pretty good habit, a couple of years back, of posting the sketches that I do all the time. Posting them is good for me, because I can go back and review the things I’ve done. Posting is good for others, so I’m told by other artists, Read more…
The second Alphabeast ink of the day is a Japanese mythological creature known as the onryō. If you’ve seen The Ring (or Ringu), even maybe The Grudge, you probably have a pretty good idea what a onryō is. An onryō is a vengeful ghost, seeking retribution for some wrong that happened to Read more…
I missed the opening couple of rounds of Alphabeasts this time, so I’m gradually catching up with “A” and “B”. Today, I managed to get “B” out of the way, with an ink I’ve wanted to do for some time. One of the films that has always inspired me (from Read more…
This is sort of an old story, since the three Maelstrom books, two by Brian Keene and one by Kelli Owen, have been out for a few months now. But, as with many things, life managed to get in the way of posting the art that I did for the Read more…