Piya's Studio

Dragon a Day!

2012-01-03T10:14:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone!

Since 2012 is the Year of the Dragon, I decided it was time to do something I've been thinking about: a drawing a day blog! And if you know me, you know I can never draw too many dragons, so I've decided it would be a dragon a day, every day. By December 31st, 2012, I will (hopefully) have 365 drawings posted.

The blog's URL is http://piyadragonaday.blogspot.com/. Please become a follower! Thanks!

Stir

2011-12-13T01:30:00.000-05:00

Today I have a piece I'm very proud to have been a part of. It's a collaborative painting between my girlfriend, Christina Skapriwsky and myself. The original drawing and concept is hers, done for an Illustration Friday topic. I took up painting duties, and this is the result!
Yes it's very cutsey and not in following with what I normally like to design (dragons, dragons and oh, more dragons), but nonetheless, this painting stands out as something special for me.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-08T16:41:00.002-05:00

Here's wishing you're having a wonderful holiday. This is my Christmas card for 2011. I've always wanted to do my own Nativity scene, but I've always found it to be a challenge because it's been done to death...after all, we had the Renaissance and the Baroque periods-300 years of the Church commissioning art!

Finally, I saw Donato Giancola's new Joan of Arc painting about two months ago, which gave me the initial spark of using hands as a theme, and this is the painting that came out of it. Thanks Donato!

By the way, this is available for sale as a Christmas card on Etsy. Check it out!

Merry Christmas!

Dragon Zombie Concepts

2011-10-21T00:39:00.002-04:00

Some thumbnails for a zombie dragon painting. Please help out a confused artist and vote for your favorite(s)!! Thanks!

Watercolor Pencils

2011-10-11T09:40:00.000-04:00

I discovered watercolor pencils recently and I'm loving them.

EVE sits on my office desk and keeps me company.

At Barnes and Noble.

Rocket Witch

2011-10-07T16:08:00.004-04:00

Revisting an old piece I did for Halloween last year.

I redesigned it to have better colors and a more dynamic composition and the same zany witch. Hope you like it!

A print of this piece is available for purchase for your Halloween festivities. Find it here.

My Etsy Store! My Teaching Gig!

2011-09-21T01:01:00.003-04:00

Just a quick one today. I've started an Etsy store to sell prints of my work! Check out the link on the right. It's small right now, but I will expand the store with time to include more art, larger sizes, etc. If there's anything I haven't put up that you're interested in buying, please email me and let me know!

Also, I'm a bit late in announcing this, but two weeks ago, I started a new job as an adjunct professor in digital painting at Mercy College's Computer Arts and Design School in White Plains, NY. It's always been a dream of mine to be a teacher, and suddenly, I'm blessed with this chance. I have 6 great students, and two weeks in, things are looking good. It's been an exciting time!

Zombies!

2011-08-31T23:34:00.001-04:00

Some of my Amscan art for this coming Halloween just entered the market, so I'm free to show them off here. Zombies! Everyone loves zombies!

This zombie is to be stuck to the window of your car. If you try to use this to drive illegally on the HOV lane, I am NOT responsible if you get ticketed.

This is the toilet zombie. I was asked to make a zombie that looked like it was coming out of the toilet to bite you in the butt.

IF Swell

2011-08-17T16:51:00.001-04:00

Grumpy: adj, surly or ill-tempered; discontentedly or sullenly irritable; grouchy

Kaldor Draigo

2011-08-02T22:45:00.000-04:00

My latest Games Workshop piece! This one has been a long time coming. Hopefully it shows.

Harry Potter Stuff

2011-07-12T15:21:00.000-04:00

A quick Harry Potter sketch in graphite. I might paint this.

Some Updates

2011-07-07T09:50:00.001-04:00

Hello! I have some slightly overdue updates! The Phillustration show began on June 25th, and it was a blast to attend the gallery reception. It was good to see Christina Hess, Dominick Saponaro and David Palumbo again. I also had the honor of meeting Joe DeVito! (the artist that is!)

The show is at the Philadelphia Sketch Club and runs until July 27th. Stop on by if you're in the area. It's a great show!

And a new sketch I've been working on.....

Phillustration Show 2011

2011-06-16T23:45:00.001-04:00

Just a quick post today. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that three of my pieces have been accepted to the Phillustration 2011 show, in Philadelphia, PA which will take place on June 26th. These are the accepted entries. They will all be up for sale at the show. Thanks to the Philadelphia Sketch Club, to Christina Hess, from whom I found out about the show, and to David Palumbo, the juror for the show.

IF: Asleep

2011-06-02T18:56:00.001-04:00

For Illustration Friday.

Painting will come soon. I usually don't render in pencil anymore because I do so much digitally now. I figured this is a good excuse to just work with pencil and value again. Hope you like it!

Spiderwoman

2011-06-01T13:02:00.000-04:00

For the Alphabeastiary. This creature is called the Jorōgumo, or 'whore spider'.

This was a bit of a struggle for me. Here are some thumbs and whatnots I did trying to figure this one out.

Stegosaurus

2011-05-25T15:04:00.000-04:00

I just felt like drawing a dinosaur today. Figured I try the speedpainting and 'experimenting with brushes' thing with it.

Eowyn and the Nazgul

2011-05-15T22:14:00.001-04:00

Sorry it's been a while! I've been slaving away at the latest ArtOrder challenge. It's been a while since I did ArtOrder, so I wanted to make sure this one was good. And what an awesome challenge! Depict the battle between Eowyn and the Witch King from the Return of the King.

Naturally, I gravitated towards giving the Fell Beast a lot of attention!

Here are some of the progress sketches. Note how eager I was towards making the Fell Beast HUGE before the good folks at Muddy Colors reined me back in.

Drawathon

2011-04-19T15:15:00.000-04:00

I hit the Pratt Drawathon last Friday night and broke out my pastels for the first time in 4-5 years. Here's the only two I liked...

Don't Go in the Water

2011-03-15T13:31:00.001-04:00

A bigger boat won't help you....

IF Warning

2011-03-10T12:34:00.000-05:00

COWABUNGA!!!!

Pipsqueak

2011-02-28T19:29:00.002-05:00

Meet my new best friend!

This is a painting done for the Alphabeastiary. Hope you like it!

Noses

2011-02-24T13:34:00.000-05:00

I needed some practice with noses, so a while back, I kept a large piece of paper at the side of my desk at work. Sometimes during lunch or lulls in work, I drew a few from photographs. Here's the result. I hope to make this into a habit.

IF: Sweater

2011-02-16T12:26:00.003-05:00

You'd be in a bad mood too if you had to wear this....

Valentine's

2011-02-10T13:34:00.001-05:00

Happy Valentine's, baby.

Blood Angels Librarian

2011-02-08T19:11:00.001-05:00

Can you tell I like Space Marines?

I've always loved the idea of warrior mystics. Soldiers who also can cast magic (or in this case, psychic powers) are just way too cool.

Can any GW nerd tell me what power this Librarian is using? A free print to whoever gives me the right answer!

Miss Andrea

2011-02-07T09:31:00.000-05:00

I accompanied my nephew to his piano class yesterday and brought along my sketchbook. Here's a sketch of his teacher, Miss Andrea.

Crimson Fists

2011-02-03T15:12:00.000-05:00

Another Warhammer 40k sketch. Today, it's the implacable Crimson Fists.

An Experiment

2011-01-31T22:32:00.000-05:00

Well, I painted the Raptors. This all really spontaneous, actually. The drawing was just a doodle in the sketchbook, but I figured, well, I got this far, let's paint it. I decided I wanted to have a sketchier look to the piece. I've always loved artwork where you can see the process. I don't like work that's over rendered. For this piece, I thought I'd try to have more of my sketch showing through.

What does everyone think? Honestly?? Should I try this a bit more, or just go back to my old way of rendering a lot more? Thanks!

Chaos Raptors

2011-01-24T18:33:00.001-05:00

A doodle of Warhammer 40000 Raptors. I should do this more often. It's fun!

Moonshine

2011-01-21T17:23:00.000-05:00

If the delicate, beautifully rendered drawings of Reubens are a Merlot, and strong, bold lines of Cornwell are a Guinness, this drawing must be moonshine. Or industrial alcohol. Or some sick mixture of both. With dead hornets floating around.

Gold Dragon

2010-12-26T12:22:00.009-05:00

Edit 2/11/11: Worked on it some more. Thanks to Drew Baker for his excellent critique!

Here is my latest painting, a Gold Dragon. It was done for a friend who's a big Dragonlance fan as a Christmas gift.

I thought I'd show a bit of my process, so I saved copies of the painting at various stages of completion. Here goes...

My original drawing. I try to put as much detail as possible without making the drawing overwhelming. I plan a bit of how the lighting is going to work out, but I don't overdo it. My goal is usually to have only 10-30% of the pencil drawing visible by the time the painting is done.

I paint entirely in Photoshop. The drawing is made into a multiply layer and reduced to about 20% opacity. I start off with a gradient for the background. I know I want to depict an early morning sunrise, during the so-called 'Golden Hour'. The dragon is chiseled out using the pen tool. I'm of two minds about the pen tool. It's really great for precision, but it can also make your painting much more artificial (ie digital) looking.

During the early part of the painting (the hardest part for me), I concentrate on light and shadow. I originally conceived the dragon as having a chrome-like neck, chest and belly, hence the pink color you see reflecting off the chest.
Obviously, I've spent a lot more time on the dragon and less on the background, but I really do make an effort to work on the entire image at once. Some people paint like this; some render entire parts of the painting to completion before moving on to the next part. Which is 'better' is anyone's guess.

I decided the chrome areas are just too distracting and will not serve to make the overall image any better and so I get rid of it. At this point, I realize I HATE the background right behind the dragon's head. I flatten those layers and apply a Gaussian blur and get ready to try again.

After a good 5 hour slog, I've brought the background to a point that I can tolerate. I notice at this point that the dragon doesn't look golden. It's more like green. Now the green in the shadow is a result of only faint blue sky acting as a fill light on gold scales, so I can't change that...

One of the best tricks I've learned is to apply a rich helping of the local color (in this case, an orange gold) to the light side, just before the terminus (start of the shadow). I also notice at this point that the focus of the image, the head is not really standing out like I should.

I added some shininess to the head, some cheesy God rays, and paint in the Golden Eagles (get it?). At this stage, I feel like it's pretty finished, but the contrast is lacking. I applied an adjustment layer, using Levels to bump up the contrast. Levels are really nice; I consider it a manual version of the Brightness/Contrast adjustment. It gives so much more control to the user. At this point, I consider the painting finished.

If you're reading this, I thank you for hanging with me for this long. I really hope this post helps other artists out in some way. I tried to point out my struggles, because I know we learn best from struggle, not triumph. I would never claim to have anything on Todd Lockwood or Donato Giancola, but still, I think this adventure was worth sharing. Let me know what you think.

Well, Merry Christmas everyone. May you have a blessed New Year, filled with new struggles, growth and triumphs.

Sam Nielson's Advanced Lighting

2010-12-14T19:59:00.005-05:00

Sorry I've been slow to update. My class with Sam Nielson is about to come to a close, so I will be posting a bit more regularly very soon. In the meantime, here's one of my assignments, painting hair. The original monster design is Sam's. The rendering was left to us. The feathers in the mouth were my idea. :-)

If you're really serious about getting better and learning everything you didn't learn in art school, but should've, I'd highly recommend this class. Just realize it's a humbling experience, but one that will leave you all the greater of an artist for it.

When Pigs Fly....

2010-11-23T10:24:00.006-05:00

An artistic take on the famous adynaton, 'when pigs fly'. Thanks for the idea, Christina. I don't think this was quite what you had in mind though.....

In other news, I was lucky enough to discover Claire Wendling. If you want an artist who can draw, and I mean REALLY draw, she's someone you should look up. Stuart Ng offers a nice selection of her books. Check it out!

Edit: Added another, cuter flying pig. It's airborne porcine madness!

New Dragon Line Art

2010-11-22T15:08:00.002-05:00

A new piece I'm working on. It's going to be a gift, so I'm pulling out all the stops. Wish me luck! Thanks!

Sketches....

2010-11-15T17:26:00.005-05:00

Hi...uuhhh...remember me? Sorry about the monthlong delay on updates. In my defense, I'm taking an online class right now with Schoolism taught by the incomparable (and tough grader...) Sam Nielsen. It's an amazing class, but it takes up almost all my time. Here are some sketches I've been able to sneak in....

Don't mind the elephant that's bleeding through on the left side....

IF: Transportation

2010-10-15T07:37:00.002-04:00

My witch watches Mythbusters.

Panda Birthday

2010-10-14T22:50:00.003-04:00

A birthday card I did for a friend. I hope this image explains, loud and clear, why I DON'T do cute and cartoony!

Happy Birthday Jocelyn!

IF: Beneath

2010-10-08T03:12:00.005-04:00

'Food that brings its own toothpick!'

My entry for Illustration Friday. It's not quite a finished as I'd like, but deadlines are deadlines. Check back in a few days, I will have a finished version. Thanks!

Daemons and Dragons

2010-10-04T12:59:00.010-04:00

Here's a new painting of U'zhul the Skulltaker, from Games Workshop. I'm not too crazy with how GW depicted him, so I've made a few changes. His Cloak of Skulls is now a cape of chains-because nothing says bad ass as having tons of chains hanging from your back. I do really like his story however. Villains are so much fun and this evil, arrogant but honorable trophy hunter was a compelling creature. The painting itself was partly inspired by the movie poster for The Shawshank Redemption.

And yes, I know it's 'demon', but seeing how this is a British IP, I figured I should defer to their spelling of 'daemon'.

And here's a revisit of the Forest Dragon painting I did a while back.

Thanks to TL for the critique. I'm very grateful that you shared your time and knowledge with me.

Night Dragon

2010-10-01T14:58:00.004-04:00

A painting I did for the Sketchaholic interview for my friend, who I've never met, Master Concept Artist and All Around Nice Guy, Charles Santoso. Check out his work. Congrats Charles!

Grandma

2010-09-21T09:41:00.004-04:00

I just got back from Thailand yesterday. It's a wonderful place, filled with hardworking people, good food, ridiculous heat and humidity and a long, proud culture and history. Most importantly for me, my extended family still lives there.

I got to see my grandmother for the first time in 20 years. She's barely able to walk now, but her spirit, happiness and Christian faith are still bright and undiminished. We had some time at the end of our visit to do a portrait session. Here's the drawing.

And here's grandma.

It's something else to draw a portrait of someone who is so important to you and a bedrock of your family. I can't really describe that feeling. After years of drawing and painting from professional models, it's something worth experiencing. Give it a try yourself, next time you're with family, or when you've got a moment with your spouse, parent, child, etc.

Skarbrand vs. Kairos

2010-09-03T15:25:00.004-04:00

Here's the finish of the Warhammer Daemonic throwdown painting I had started a few weeks ago. I've been experimenting with new brushes and approaches to painting, so this has been a challenge.

Well, I'm off to a much needed two week vacation in Thailand. Going to see the extended family for this first time in 20 years. Should be exciting! I'll be going there with pastels and conte crayons in hand. I hope to be able to update this blog while I'm there, but if not, see you in late September!

ESA Giant Panda

2010-08-29T21:15:00.006-04:00

'Cause down the grrroove, the panda's alright....

Sorry. That was lame. I'm sure Tom Waits and Bruce Springsteen wouldn't appreciate that one either.

Portraits Part 3: Molly

2010-08-27T14:44:00.006-04:00

Molly, 30"x40"

It's been a long time since I posted a traditional oil portrait. This was done over four sessions for three hours per session. It's pretty big (at least for me), at 30"x40". I chose the large size because I wanted to paint her hands. If you're interested, I use Old Holland paints. Bloody expensive as they come, but hey, you only live once.
I must say that while I enjoy these painting sessions and I grow a lot as an artist through them, I HATE the yellow colored lighting from fluorescent bulbs. Argh!

Quick Warhammer Sketch

2010-08-15T09:29:00.002-04:00

Trying to pull a Mu...

IF: Caged

2010-08-13T00:45:00.002-04:00

Even without bars, one may feel caged.

ArtOrder Gotta Have a Hook Final

2010-08-10T11:05:00.007-04:00

Well, here it is. It's been a good challenge. To be honest, this piece was a struggle and in the end, it's still not everything I had hoped it would be. I will say with conviction that I did the best I could with this piece.

New Friends

2010-07-30T17:30:00.003-04:00

A new idea I just got in my head. I really should go hit an aquarium. Hopefully, I'll finish it for you shortly.

IF: Double

2010-07-28T22:35:00.005-04:00

Double Trouble!

ArtOrder Gotta Have a Hook Thumbs

2010-07-13T23:13:00.007-04:00

Okay, so I'm way behind on posting this. I'm taking part in Jon's latest ArtOrder challenge. Here's my submission.

I was lucky enough to get a critique from Jon.
Here it is for your convenience.

I picked up your entry because of #1. This is the most inventive way of including the horror in the image without actually showing the horror. While I like the concept (a lot), it has a lot of pitfalls right now. I'm getting a great shot of the dwarf, but the horror almost feels like an afterthought. I've got to look for it to find it. I'd be curious to see what would be the result if you tightened up even more so that I saw just his face over the shield, maybe a hint of the hammer, and the shield taking up the majority of the image. I'd like to see the hook horror really big and scary in the reflection. I want to get the sense that the dwarf is about to be consumed in a single bite. Thumbnail it a bit and see if it has any merit. If it works, it can be a most powerful visual.

I experimented with Jon's suggestions. Suffice it to say, I've settled on this.

I'll have the final pencil for you next week...till then, take care, stay cool.

Redeemer of the Lost

2010-06-25T11:47:00.003-04:00

For all you Warhammer nerds out there (like me!), here's Astorath, High Chaplain of the Blood Angels and Redeemer of the Lost (I told you this was nerdy).

Forest Dragon

2010-06-04T23:07:00.008-04:00

My latest dragon painting. Funny to think it's been a while since I did one. I've been working on this for a bit more than a month (hence the long delay between posts).

The dragon is based loosely on the Forest Dragon from the Warhammmer Fantasy universe. I was a teenager when this piece was first released and I fell in love with it. I've been wanting to do something with it for a long time now, and I finally figured it out. And yes, the big tree is based on Avatar's Hometree.

I thought I'd show you my process. This admittedly ugly painting was the seed of the final piece. This is where I established what I wanted the painting to convey: an immense dragon hanging from a giant tree in a forest lit by moonlight. I also knew I wanted a color scheme dominated by blues and blue greens.

This is the refined pencil sketch. Here I determined a lot of fine detail, such as the vines on the giant tree and the smaller dragons on the lower left to give a sense of scale. Note I also extended the left side of the piece to show a bit more.

And this is the maquette I built. The foliage was created with moss. The wings were torn off a cheap Halloween decoration (oh the advantages of working for Amscan....). Note the lighting here is completely off. I did not use this photo for painting. I just gently backlit the maquette and painted from life. Obviously, I could only do this painting at night. How appropriate.

Well, hopefully this has been an enlightening post. Let me know if you thought so. I would appreciate it. I you think I'm a complete idiot, well, let me know that too. Just be nice and tell me why. Thanks!

Bodies

2010-05-17T16:31:00.010-04:00

I was fortunate enough to be able to head out to South Street Seaport this past weekend to visit the Bodies Exhibition, sketchbook in hand. I've been thinking about picking up an écorché, but given how expensive they are, I figured visiting Bodies would help me decide if I really needed/wanted one. So here are the sketches!

This hand was my favorite. I wanted to see how cartilage affected the back of the hand.

I was not as happy with this foot study. You can tell I struggled with the toes. Also, I was drawing with a lead hand.

Finally, a back study, because my understanding of the back muscles is woefully lacking.

A skull I drew at home to familiarize myself with conté pencils.

PS: Some of you would probably find the practice of drawing, or even being around, cadavers a disturbing process. Nothing I can say would assuage your feelings. I can say this: it is a place of learning, where a few select people have donated their bodies to the advancement of science, knowledge and ultimately, wisdom. These people deserve our highest respect and esteem.

Tragically, some of these exhibits came from unclaimed bodies. It's a sad state of affairs that people in this world really do die alone, unclaimed and forgotten. I pray that these lonely souls will find comfort in knowing that their earthly vessels now touch the lives and minds of the millions around the world who come to see them.

ESA Preview 1

2010-05-05T09:46:00.002-04:00

So here's a preview of the 'secret project' that I've been talking about. What does 'ESA' stand for? Well, you'll have to stay tuned to find out (Yes, there's the European Space Agency, but not in this case).

Portraits Part 2: Maya

2010-04-12T23:44:00.002-04:00

Here's another painting of Maya. We loved her hair so much while doing the last painting, but we wanted her to wear it down the second time. Maya was more than happy to grant our request. Hopefully, this painting captures at least a small part of her beauty.

Maya with Hair Down, 16"x20"

ArtOrder Mutation Nation

2010-04-07T18:44:00.002-04:00

Phew!! I wasn't sure if I'd get this done! This is the proper submission to ArtOrder. I was inspired by an old Discovery Channel show called Air Jaws. I thought 'how much fun would a flying Great White Shark be?!!' So here he is in all his glory.

He's snacking on a griffin style pigeon/rat hybrid (a rat with wings...get it?!!!)

Now vacation is officially started. Boston, here I come!!

Fanglion

2010-04-05T14:07:00.006-04:00

This WAS an entry for the Mutation Nation Challenge over at ArtOrder. There's a bit of lion, lionfish, hatchetfish, viperfish, anglerfish and fangtooth fish. I found out later I could only use two animals to create the little critter, thus disqualifying my new creation. Grrr........

While working on this piece, I stumbled on a fantastic blog for those of you who love animals and creating monsters, like I do. It's the Ugly Overload blog, which gives ugly animals 'their day in the sun'. It's very informative and a lot of fun to read. Yes, kids, science IS fun! The link is at the right side of this blog page. Also, I broke out my DVD of the Blue Planet series from Discovery. I finally justified the $80 or so I spent on it. Hahahaha!!!

Did I mention there's a bit of fish in this creature?

ArtOrder Beholder

2010-03-19T13:30:00.004-04:00

Behold the Beholder! This is probably THE iconic D&D character. I remember seeing this guy for the first time back in the 90s, during my teens, in a Jim Lee X Men Comic. It's a creature I never forgot, even though I have never played a game of D&D (sorry Jon....). I think that really speaks to the power of the design of this creature.

Painting to come!!

Portraits Part 1: Maya

2010-03-05T13:21:00.004-05:00

Hello!

Sorry about the long wait between posts. I'm currently working on a really exciting project involving one of my first loves: biology. I'll be giving sneak peeks in the weeks to come, but for now, it's staying on the DL.

In the meantime, here's an oil portrait I did about 3 months ago. I only now just got it photographed.

Maya, 16"x20"

Best of ArtOrder 2009

2010-01-31T20:37:00.009-05:00

Hmmmm...been a while huh? Good to see you again; I hope this post finds everyone having a good 2010 so far.

Here's some stuff I sent to ArtOrder to try to get into the Best of ArtOrder. It's all artwork I did throughout 2009, retouched and (hopefully) improved. Some of the pieces just received quick touch ups; some have been radically reworked. Hope you like it!

Owlbear: Some background improvements, especially with lighting.

Cockatrice: Background redone and the whole piece finally colored!

Dinogloth: Background got some much needed attention.

Krampus: Finished!

Plein Air Part 4

2010-01-17T15:51:00.003-05:00

This was painted right after a morning snowfall on New Year's Eve. I was supposed to be helping out with getting ready for the party we had that night. Sorry mom.

Life Paintings Part 1

2010-01-05T18:41:00.006-05:00

New Year, New Decade, New Possibilities, Bloody Old Medium.

Glo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ria!!

2009-12-24T23:25:00.006-05:00

Angels we have heard on high,
singing sweetly o'er the plains,
and the mountains in reply,
echoing their joyous strain.

Glo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ria! In excelsis Deo!
Glo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ria! In excelsis Deo!

Merry Christmas everyone!

ArtOrder Krampus

2009-12-20T14:57:00.004-05:00

After a hiatus from ArtOrder, here's my submission for its latest challenge. Think of this guy as the anti-Santa Claus.

Merry Christmas!!!

2009-12-17T00:17:00.002-05:00

Finished my Christmas card! Hope you like it! Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

CCHHHUUUUU!!!!!!!

2009-12-11T10:15:00.002-05:00

Something for the nephew. Yeah, I know, Pikachu's pretty old news these days, but still, give some respect to the rodent who can blow s%*t up.

Plein Air Part 3

2009-12-03T18:05:00.006-05:00

Some more plein airs. Can you tell which was painted first?

Ninjas and Knights

2009-11-21T11:11:00.004-05:00

Just wanted to drop a quick post and let you know that I'm on Ninja Mountain this week. For those who are unfamiliar, Ninja Mountain Scrolls is a weekly podcast for artists by artists, especially those working in the fields of science fiction and fantasy.

This week's podcast is nearly two hours long, covering IlluxCon. It's a great listen for any artist. Here it is.

http://mchughstudios.com/episode_41a.mp3

And because I don't like posting without putting some art up, here's some silhouette studies I did a while back.

These studies are based around an old school character from Games Workshop's Warhammer Chaos Army (really old school).

Takhisis and Paladine

2009-11-18T12:48:00.007-05:00

It's done...for now.

This painting depicts two characters from the Dragonlance novels, Takhisis, the goddess of evil (she's the big 5 headed dragon) and her brother, Paladine, the god of justice, taking the guise of a wizard. I just love the contrasting approaches to godhood that these two beings take in the novels: Takhisis always appears in a mighty and overwhelming form, demanding all to worship her, while Paladine takes an almost Christlike approach, shedding his godly form for an Alzheimer's-inflicted wizard leading many to underestimate him.

By the way, I just got back from IlluxCon 3 days ago. I got swamped immediately with work, so sorry about the delay in posting. By the way, as far as conventions go, IlluxCon is probably one of the best for artists in our genre. It's small and focused exclusively on the art, and allows artists to learn a lot, be exposed to a lot of art, and not be overwhelmed at the same time. I highly recommend it.

Andrew

2009-11-06T13:18:00.007-05:00

Last night at my portrait painting class, our model was a no-show. So while we waited for her replacement, our instructor, Andrew Lattimore stepped in to pose. Here's a 10-ish minute sketch I did with a Japanese brush pen.

I've been trying to explore inks a lot more after reading David Apatoff's article, 'Ink and Commitment'.

Bringing Nerdy Back

2009-10-28T10:50:00.004-04:00

Don't even think for a moment that I've gone all plein air!!!

Here's my work in progress. I'm really thinking about doing the final in oils. Hopefully, it'll be done in time for IlluxCon...Oh and a prize for you if you can tell me the name of the wizard in the painting.

Plein Air Part 2

2009-10-16T14:31:00.008-04:00

Here are some more plein airs. The coming fall is starting to add a bit of variety. More to come!!!!

Hurakan Silhouettes

2009-10-15T09:49:00.006-04:00

I've been doing some more silhouettes for the ArtOrder Hurakan challenge (which I am officially way behind on...sigh....). Amazing what you can get done while riding New York City's subways on a Friday night.

Plein Air Part 1

2009-09-30T22:51:00.011-04:00

Here are two plein air paintings I've done in the past few weeks. I worked a lot in oil painting while I was in art school, but plein aire is new for me. Much like oil painting in the studio, except you have to lug everything with you, the Earth has to do this annoying thing known as ROTATING, which wreaks havoc on your lighting and you get eaten alive by mosquitoes. The plus side is you really get out of the house and truly get to appreciate God's green Earth.

This first painting is a view of the Hudson River from the Montgomery Place Estate near Barrytown in Upstate New York.

This photo illustrates very clearly why it's a good idea to paint on site versus painting from a photo. Note how drained the color is in the photo. Also, while the foliage is defined, the sky is a complete white wash. The camera could not catch the true color or the subtle value changes my eyes were able to see.

This is my backyard. You can see my mom's hydrangeas and Godzilla sized rose bushes.

PS: FYI, plein air is short for 'en plein air', French for 'in the open air'. Plein air painting has been around since the dawn of painting, but the invention of tubed oil paints and French box easels in the 1870s truly helped it to take off.

New Earthquake Dragon

2009-09-27T20:06:00.004-04:00

big (adj): large or great in dimensions, bulk or extent
titanic (adj): having great magnitude, force or power
gigantic (adj): exceeding the usual or expected (as in size, force or prominence)

I'm revisiting an older ArtOrder challenge. I was focusing on sheer scale, plain and simple. Hope you like it!

Definitions from www.merriam-webster.com.

ArtOrder Hurakan Silhouettes

2009-09-20T02:49:00.007-04:00

'Yon mortal enemies of Asgard! The scion of Odin himself doth stand before thee!! Tremble in fear, for the wrath of...'

...whoops, wrong god of thunder!!! Here's the right one! HURAKAN, the Mayan God of storms, fire and lightning!!!

And he's so cool, he can pull a Maleficent!!!

Something (Ludicrously) Big This Way Comes.....

2009-09-18T12:15:00.004-04:00

A work in progress. Check back soon for the final.....

Halloween Scene Setters

2009-09-15T21:00:00.007-04:00

Okay, Halloween is still a while from now, but this is a special occasion, so I'll talk about it now. These two illustrations are the two scene setters I created for my employer, Amscan. They were my first two projects, and they're available now for purchase at Party City. The direct links to these products are here and here.

They're not going to give Frank Frazetta any sleepless nights, but they're a milestone for me. When I graduated from art school, I told myself I was going to get a full time job doing what I love to do. Those who are in this field know that's a tall order. A lot of my peers in this field go freelance, but I personally need the reassurance of a regular paycheck and health insurance. It took me three years, but I did it, and on June 30, 2008, I was hired full time as a designer at Amscan.

Sure it's not Pixar, but for me, it was a huge step forward in my career. And these illustrations, as tacky, commercial and artistically questionable as they may be, represent a very proud moment of my life.

ArtOrder Owlbear

2009-09-06T00:49:00.012-04:00

A redesign of the Owlbear. I took inspiration from an owl, a bear, a bison, a Nile crocodile and an ankylosaurus. Yeah I know: random.

Some rough design sketches. You can see I originally planned a more traditional owl face.

And the obligatory sihlouette studies.

B-17 Fighting Fortress

2009-09-03T15:16:00.003-04:00

I went to an air show this past weekend where vintage WWII aircraft were on display. Here's a watercolor sketch done on site of the B-17. The light rain certainly made things a bit more interesting.

Methuselah

2009-08-19T00:05:00.003-04:00

Well, today I say goodbye to my twenties and hello to 30. I thought it'd be fun to do a illustration of something very old. Well, me being me, it had to be a dragon. So here's my latest, an old, old dragon, who I named Methuselah. Methuselah is mentioned in the Bible as the grandfather of Noah. Having lived to 969 years old, his name is synonymous with anything of old age.

ArOrder Flaming Coward

2009-08-16T14:32:00.004-04:00

The latest ArtOrder Challenge. I love creature design. Especially creatures that can eat you alive and set everything on fire!

Here are the original silhouettes.

Post 100

2009-08-02T19:40:00.005-04:00

It seems somehow serendipitous that on my 100th blog post, I should display my recent foray back into more traditional media (or analog media, for the nerds in the audience). Here's an oil portrait I did recently (after have not painted in oil for about 4 years). It was done in three hours.

Do I have a lot of work ahead of me? Of course. That's why artists do what they do for their entire lives. Am I satisfied with this painting? Yes and no. Yes, because I wasn't sure how much I've lost over the years of not painting in oil. I'm pleased to say I didn't lose too much and I'm almost ready to say that I'm exactly where I left off. And at the same time, I know things can be better.

Well, I've got the rest of my life to learn more and produce better work. Not nearly enough time.

Maquette

2009-07-23T09:45:00.006-04:00

Part of the reference I'm using for my next piece. This was sculpted with Super Sculpey over a wire armature bulked up with scrap paper and tin foil. Isn't it cute?

Old Farts Redux

2009-07-15T22:09:00.004-04:00

Remember this guy? I did this painting wwwaaaayyy back in January 2008.

Well, I spent some time reworking the piece. And here it is! Ta Da!!

As you can see, I've worked on a more definite light scheme, added more value contrast, added a lot more variety to the leaves and a lot more color overall. And of course, there are the cute, Bobby Chiu-ish creatures on the tree branches on the left. Whaddya think???

ArtOrder Earthquake Dragon

2009-07-12T14:54:00.005-04:00

This week's ArtOrder challenge: a dragon! Sweet!!

The premise was to create a Catastrophic Dragon. This particular one has power over earthquakes. Now I could've easily done some heavy dragon made out of rock, but I wanted to add some story to it. I took inspiration from the game Final Fantasy X, which had a creature called the Anima and an old Norse myth about the punishment of Loki, and combined them to create this creature. He's bound under the Earth for some trangression or act of hubris, and whenever he struggles, the Earth above shakes.

Happy Independence Day!

2009-07-03T03:32:00.003-04:00

This land is your land, this land is my land,
from California, to the New York Island,
from the redwood forests, to the gulf stream waters,
this land was made for you and me...

Woody Guthrie

New Work in Progress

2009-06-29T17:53:00.003-04:00

Here's a not-so-quick rough of my next piece. Watch this space.....

IMC 2009

2009-06-23T23:09:00.014-04:00

I was lucky enough to take part in the 2nd annual Illustration Masterclass in Amherst, MA. The class was taught by a who's who in the illustration industry: Greg Manchess, Donato Giancola, Dan Dos Santos, Scott Fischer, Charles Vess, Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell, art director Irene Gallo and the founder of the IMC, Rebecca Guay. It was a week of illustration madness: 12-16 hour days, 2-3 lectures a day, constant painting, way too much screwing around...what a fine vacation!

The assignment I took was for an interior illustration for a Norse-ish novel called 'Berzerker Lord'. The assignment was to depict three characters, a giant warrior, Aath, and a tiny, idealistic dreamer, Draaken, taking on a polar bear.

Here are my early thumbs.

From that, I picked the third thumb, blew it up, and made a few changes. I was lucky enough to have Joe Weatherly's help with the polar bear. It still looked a bit crowded though....Anywho, here's what I brought with me to the first day of class.

From the critiques of Dan Dos Santos and Charles Vess, I made a new rough. Changes include cropping the bear from only two sides of the frame instead of three, allowing me to move Draaken to the right and behind Aath. Also, Aath has a much more dramatic pose.

From that, I took some reference photos, using my fellow classmates. Thanks to Hasani and Noni for posing. The polar bear was made with Play Doh. I'm not sure why I didn't start doing this earlier; 4 tubs of clay for $1.99 at Target-what a bargain!!!!

Upon reviewing the photos, I realized I practically broke Aath's arm in the new rough.

Now here's the pencil rough. Note the note I wrote to myself because I made Aath's torso way too short-I would correct that digitally before I started painting. Note also, the change in perspective, made by lowering the horizon line-that idea came from the ingenious Greg Manchess. One simple change, and the drama just went up 200%!

And finally, here's the finished piece. I did change Draaken half way through. I wasn't too happy with how tiny he was.

Thanks very much to Rebecca Guay for putting this whole thing together. Thanks of course to Greg, Donato, Dan, Scott, Boris, Julie, Irene, Rebecca and Charles for being our teachers and staying with us up to midnight or later. And finally, thanks to all my classmates and new good friends in the IMC 2009.

ArtOrder Exchange

2009-06-03T09:09:00.006-04:00

For this week's challenge, I've fleshed out a silhouette design created by Ricardo Guimaraes of Brazil. Check out his work here.

Here's the original silhouette. Ricardo, thanks for putting together such an excellent and inspiring design!

ArtOrder Usual Suspects

2009-05-22T16:33:00.010-04:00

Defender-good on defense, likes to be in the thick of the action.
Striker-fast, able to strike and cause a lot of offensive damage.
Controller-able to handle multiple foes.
Leader-inspires, motivates, and supports the team.

Can you guess which is which?

Also, here are the rest of the silhouette studies I had done for this project. Do you agree with the choices I made? Did you think I was a complete idiot in some of them? Either way let me know! Happy Memorial Day!

ArtOrder Primal Gnome

2009-05-17T11:57:00.002-04:00

A sort of gorilla ancestor to the modern Gnome. A lot bigger, a lot more dangerous, a lot uglier, and a hell of a lot smellier.

ArtOrder Unfamiliar Familiar

2009-05-12T13:49:00.005-04:00

I thought I'd try my hand at a necromancer. They're not really my favorite subject, but it seems everyone likes zombies.

For his pet familiar, I thought it'd be cute to make a sort of MiniMe. Cute, but dangerous. That's the plan, anyway.

ArtOrder Boll Deevil

2009-05-03T10:55:00.005-04:00

Bugs bugs bugs bugs bugs bugs bugs bugs bugs bugs bugs bugs bugs bugs bugs bugs bugs bugs bugs bugs bugs bugs bugs bugs bugs!!!!

Dragon Slayer Extraordinarie

2009-04-29T00:39:00.003-04:00

NEWS FLASH: THIS IS NOT FOR ARTORDER!!!! Nope, it's for ANOTHER art challenge, in this case, Imaginism Studios'. Rules for the challenge can be found at their DeviantArt website.

The dragon is Kei Acedera's creation, as reinterpreted by me. Hope she likes it...

Oh finally, if you're thinking about taking a class to up the quality of your artwork and your marketability as a professional illustrator, seriously check out Imaginism's online school, Schoolism. I've talked about it before, but I cannot overstress how highly I think about Schoolism.

Oodles of Life Drawings

2009-04-27T23:21:00.008-04:00

Some more life drawings from my class at WCC. Let me tell you, coming back to these life studies after 4 years feels like visiting your old college. A little dusty, but everything's still there. I'm grateful I didn't lose it all. I owe it all to my old teachers at the Academy: Chuck, Lisa, Sherrie, Jian, Xao Ming, Henry, Warren, Valerie, Bill, Oliver and Barbara (God bless her soul). And of course, I'm indebted to my current teacher, Bruce. Thank you all!

ArtOrder Shock and Awe

2009-04-25T00:53:00.007-04:00

This week's ArtOrder assignment (seems that's all I do doesn't it?)

The topic is simple and straightforward: make a big bad weapon that screams death and destruction. Do these Dungeons and Dragons people think we're nerds or something? Wait...don't answer that.

Anyway, I've titled this thing the Thunder Hammer. I think it's a bit uncreative though. Anyone got any better suggestions? Titan's Fist? Hammer of the Gods? Toe Squisher?

Come up with something cool and I'll send you a print of one of my paintings. You pick. Either from this blog or my website. Email your answer to me at piyastudios@yahoo.com. Thanks.

PS: I thought I'd share my silhouette studies for this project.

Fun huh?

Draculsaurus Pyro

2009-04-22T15:53:00.005-04:00

I reworked my Dinogloth painting for the ArtOrder blog. Not much of a surprise that I would gravitate towards big scaly reptiles huh? I think this new version can now be considered a finished painting. I've been changing my way of doing things lately, due in no small part to Kekai Kotaki's article on ImagineFX Issue 41 (Kekai's blog is found here). His way of painting is much more free, spontaneous and more organic (not to mention a hundred times faster!). The tradeoff is that the line between work in progress and final finished painting becomes more hazy. I hope I have sound judgement on finding that line.

Oh and I named my dino Draculsaurus pyro (Fire Dragon Reptile). If my Latin is completely off, please let me know. Thanks.

ArtOrder Fire Elves Sketch

2009-04-19T03:58:00.008-04:00

This week's ArtOrder sketch.

I've placed the Elven race on a far off planet orbiting a red dwarf star. Due to the low energy output of the star, there is very little heat on the planet. The only sources of heat and energy available are the many active volcanoes that dot the landscape. The elves have learned to harness the power of these volcanoes to survive and thrive.

The atmosphere of the world blocks much of the incoming visible light, but is transparent to dangerous UV radiation. In response, the elves have evolved pitch black skin to protect themselves and reflective corneas to help with seeing in such dark conditions. Thus, the elves eyes glow red.

I've chosen to depict a typical city of this race. Flowing lava is channeled throughout the city to keep it warm and to be harnessed for power. The city is built as compactly as possible. Skyscrapers are an inevitable result. However the elves have never lost their sense of grace, reflected in their organic architecture.

Thanks to matte painter Dylan Cole, whose art inspired this idea and to Seth Shostak and the SETI Institute, whose work continues to keep me thinking and coming up with these out-of-this-world ideas.

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T02:49:00.005-04:00

Happy Easter to all! May God's peace, blessings and grace be to all people.