Dryad´s step

Here is a magic card illustration from core set 2011. It features a guy I did for an older card called Borderland Ranger. When Choosing the colors I was very inspired by another artist called Chris Moeller. He send me a handfull of WOW-cards and one had a really cool wood background that was rendered in a much lighter and realistic looking way than what I am used to. Chris´sky was almost white. So I wanted to at least try to use a more subdued palette and a lighter sky color. This is the result.

Of note: the right bottom part of the roots are only fist layer of paint.

Goblin Tunneler

This here is my favorite illustration. I think the reason is that it is pretty simple and straight forward in the design. The description was simple: A goblin with a hacking tool who has dug himself out of a tunnel. What I like about this specific work is that the brushstrokes are very loose and chunky but still precise accurate. I think it has thus aura of easiness that I constantly seek and that I find so hard to achieve. When it succeed it is not until afterwards that I realize that it went well: While in it it just flows without thinking.

One of the reason might be that the drawing is simple and the background is just like a wall. I felt I could relax a lot and concentrate on obtaining texture in the skin and material rather than painting elements. that is my downfall. If I start thinking too much about the elements it goes sour. "Oh well this is robe, its brown. the skin is red, the metal is grey and the cliffs are brown". I try, and by try I mean force myself, to paint texture within the same value instead of thinking too much in colors. If I go loose and muddy and dots different colors within the same value on, lets say metal, I get a nice dirty look. I can then add shadows and especially highlights to pull out the form. You see this in the metal hooks or the wedges in the belt.

Also I am pretty happy with the sloppiness of the cliffs to the right.