New 'PYROKLAST' Concept Art.

What great painting is to moi...

Great painting is not just copying reality. Really the art form is all about embellishing and improving upon what is in front of you. How you do that and the choices you make while depicting a subject defines you as an artist. Learn from reality and then improve upon it. Like Jazz, having a good foundation is essential so you can then jump on stage and improvise into the realm of the fantastic. I've always loved the way really good cartoonists can do this by simplifying and reinterpreting their subjects. The art is really in how they stylize things. When done right in paintings, or drawings, it's something to behold. D

New 'Bladespell' concept art

Stephen Martiniere's Trajectory!

I finally got it. I preordered it like 6 months ago and it showed up kind of after I had forgotten about it. Man was it ever worth the wait. I own all of his books and to be honest they just keep getting better. Trajectory has more of a breadth of different types of work that I've seen in his previous books. There are some sketches and cartoon characters and the like in there, but they are all really cool and worth checking out. The paintings, as always are amazing. Stephen is like everyone's deep dark secret. So many people in the concept design industry are so heavily influenced by his work, to a degree that I think makes some folks actually reluctant to admit it. He's just so good at what he does that when you see his paintings you simply cannot help being influenced by him. I mean when I grow up I want to paint like this guy! His imagination is vivid and his design language is able to convey it better than most. You can tell he's not winging it, he's just talented as hell. I would highly recommend picking up his latest book if you want to some heavy inspiration, or any or his books for that matter. Like I said I own all of them and can never say enough about how inspirational he is to me. I hope in the near future I can break away from work to actually attend one of his workshops. If you ever get the chance take it. For now get his books and see what I'm talking about. All the best cats! D