MORZOG! Lord of Destruction

After a week of shameless self-promotion, I am now offering a post with what is hopefully something more artistically useful...

For those of you who missed it, I had an artist's booth at DragonCon in Atlanta.
For the show this year, I decided I would do a dragon mini-portrait painting.  (Do you get it? A dragon for...Dragon... ?  I know, I know, highly original. I am living right out there on the very edge of the fantasy art world.)

Anyway, so I started sketching. I was thinking, "This guy, he's a huge dragon, and he's really ripping this castle up; just trashing the place. And he is loving it. Yeah, yeah this'll be great."

As I went along I added a lot of smoke and more of the castle falling down around him. It was a lot of fun.

Then I finished the painting.  (It was watercolor and gouache on bristol, by the way.)

But it was missing something.  It was so...

boring.  

I mean, I should have known right?  There is literally no story here.  And I felt like, surely I can do better than this. I'm a high school graduate after all.

There was just nothing of any substance here.  Sure he was real mad.  And that castle was getting real trashed. But there was no context for any of it.  I mean, who cares right?  I don't even know or care whose castle this is. And the audience certainly doesn't know or care.

I got kind of depressed about it.  How am I going to sell this at the show?  Everyone would be whispering at the booth when they didn't know I was spying on them.
"That Gerard is an over-rated hack."
"Yeah he is. I hear he doesn't even really paint anymore. Just talks about how great a painter he is on blogs mostly nowadays."
"Isn't he running some kind of pyramid scheme?"
"I don't know what you are talking about. But say, have you heard of Amway? You look like a smart guy and who would like to make a lot of money working from the comfort of his or her own home..."

Anyway, so I light the curtains on fire, crash my car, stumble off into the night and wake up the next day wearing a pancho, several garbage bags, a tear-stained face and a stray cat.  But with a resolution to not do such a boring painting.

On the flight back home I drew this guy. (Cory Godbey was there. Thanks Cory.) I had realized what I needed. I needed some kind of further context; some kind of irony.

Like most people I read books, and when I do, I find myself imagining myself as the hero, the dude, the gunslinger, the knight. Who is it who is imagining himself as this giant, fire-breathing dragon?  And that is where this little chameleon comes in.

Now the piece makes more sense. It has a story to it.  It wasn't much of an addition, but it works better now.

All in all I was much happier with the final piece and I think it did better at the convention for it. (We sold out the first run!) So I guess the lesson here is don't be afraid to stop and think about the message in your piece before finishing it. Even if you have to do some reworking. Make it tell something good that touches us in some way.

We need more than just a picture of someone who is real angry.

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ALSO: More shameless self-promotion: I am selling the second run of prints on etsy at www.etsy.com/shop/JustinGerard.  

Illuxcon This Weekend

Hey guys! I'm about to head out to Illuxcon to exhibit at the weekend salon and wanted to give you a quick preview of some work that will be there.  

I love doing small paintings for studies and will be bringing a few odd portraits of knights and dragons. 

Above is one of the brave fellows that will be there.  

Also, a here is a quick primer on how to paint a tiny 5"x7" painting:

Step 1: Draw in the shapes in raw sienna.

 Step 2: Fill in the shadows with burnt and raw sienna.

Step 3. Now just paint the whole dang thing. 

I will be bringing the new 2013 Sketchbooks as well other books and a lot of new prints. 

Also, I will be exhibiting the final oil painting of Smaug for the first time this weekend!  

Stop by and say hi if you happen to be passing through! 

Sketchbook 2013: The Four Dwarves

Sketchbook 2013 is going live today at 11am EST on Etsy HERE!

If you missed the previous post, the details are:
1. Sweet New Sketchbook. It's just like the old sketchbooks EXCEPT IT'S TOTALLY NEW.
2. It's out today.

Okay, one other thing: I am doing something a little different this year. In past years I have done the first 50 order receive a hand-drawn image on the front page.

For previous years results check out:
2011
2012
2010 Re-release

This has been a lot of fun, but has often-times ended in abject pandemonium. So, this year, I am experimenting with something new and am going to be offering 2 separate books.

The Standard Edition and The Deluxe Limited Edition.
That's right, Deluxe.

The Standard Edition will arrive hand-signed and is $20. It's just like the normal order from previous years.

The Deluxe Limited Edition will arrive, hand-signed and individually numbered (1-50), with an original drawing on the front page and it also includes a bookmark. The Deluxe Edition will be $40.  This one is limited to only 50, and once they are gone they are gone.

Deluxe Drawings!

Deluxe Bookmarks!

Deluxe Things!

(Deluxe Treasure Chest not included)

This is going to be available online for a limited time only: Tuesday, September 10th through Tuesday, October 15th.

I will also be offering 8"x10" signed prints this year of a number of my images. (More on this soon)  So get your Christmas shopping done early!

11AM. Tuesday, September 10th. www.etsy.com/shop/JustinGerard

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Also! The lovely Annie Stegg is going to be selling her new sketchbook: Thumbelina, at the same time on the same day. Check it out at 11am on Tuesday at: www.etsy.com/shop/AnnieIllustrations

Sketchbook 2013 Release Date

Hi Guys!
I am going to be releasing Sketchbook 2013: The Four Dwarves on Tuesday, September the 10th, at 11am EST!

I am doing something a little different this year. In past years I have done the first 50 order recieve a hand-drawn image on the front page.  For previous years results check out:
2011
2012
2010 Re-release

This has been a lot of fun, but a little chaotic. So, this year, I am experimenting with something new and am going to be offering 2 separate books.

The Standard Edition and The Deluxe Limited Edition.
That's right, Deluxe.

The Standard Edition will arrive hand-signed and is $20. Much like the normal order from previous years.

The Deluxe Limited Edition will arrive, hand-signed, individually numbered (1-50) and with a bookmark. The Deluxe Edition will be $40.  This one is limited to only 50, and once they are gone they are gone.

Also, this is going to be available online for a limited time only:

Tuesday, September 10th through Tuesday, October 15th. 

I will also be offering 8"x10" signed prints this year of a number of my images. (More on this soon)  So get your Christmas shopping done early! It all ends October 15th!

11AM. Tuesday, September 10th. www.etsy.com/shop/JustinGerard

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Also! The lovely Annie Stegg is going to be selling her new sketchbook: Thumbelina, at the same time on the same day. Check it out at 11am on Tuesday at: www.etsy.com/shop/AnnieIllustrations

An Announcement for an Announcement

Hi guys! Quick post today as I am drowning in oil paintings at the moment. These are a few teaser images today from this year's sketchbook which will be available this September.

This year's sketchbook will be a little different than previous year's books and will be leading up to something a lot bigger that I hope to release in 2014.  I've been doing some writing.  (More on this soon.)  

"What do you mean, 'some writing?' You have all the grammatical abilities of a three-legged goat.  

You couldn't write your way out of a paper bag Gerard!"

I hope it all works out.  More details next time!

Current Projects Post #2: Color

I am back with my second post on my recent work, which has primarily consisted of larger-format oil paintings. 

Last week we covered the underpaintings, and this week I want to share some of the color progress shots.  

Also, I promised to deliver on a no-solvent, fast-drying palette for oils. And when I make a promise; I deliver.  Unless it's about those llamas. Just don't worry about those llamas.  

For the Ents Marching painting, I am going to work background to foreground since the blue sky is such a prominent feature of the image. I really like deep blues and for some reason I rarely use them.

  

A while back I emailed Gamblin asking them about a solution for my dilemma of finding a solvent-free, faster-drying palette. They were super helpful and said if I just use their products then all my problems would vanish like refined mineral spirits into the air. I would lose weight, I'd be fun, sexy, and my life would be one long beer commercial.

Then they sent me a super helpful list of the drying rates of all of their oil colors.  I found that I could actually build a palette out of colors that dry faster naturally.  And if I were to add walnut alkyd medium, I could have everything dry overnight, without the aid of solvents or other drying agents.

I also spoke by phone with the elusive M. Graham about his mysterious walnut alkyd medium. He told me it was safe. In fact, it was "salad grade" safe. You could literally eat it. Though he didn't recommend that because it had a "mild laxative effect."

I see.  Haha. Well, Mr. M. Graham, I'm not asking if I can eat your products. I want to paint with them and your little jokes are not very funny."

But so far he has been right (not about the laxative part. I haven't tried that yet. Not saying I haven't snuck some into other people's food, just that I haven't personally consumed any yet.)  But he was right about the overall safety of the product.  I have been using it for about a year now and have had no adverse effects. And surprisingly it works as advertised.

So the secret so far is this:
Build a palette based on colors that all dry in under 4 days, and walnut alkyd medium. The walnut alkyd medium speeds the drying time up a little bit faster than 2x the usual speed, depending on the humidity in the air.
If you want to speed it up further, you can place the paintings under a car windshield, or a heat lamp.  Or light it on fire.  But you need to be careful with all of those.

For sky in the Ents piece, I am using these Gamblin oil colors:
Pthalo blue - (4 days to dry)
Cerulean Blue Hue - (4 days to dry)
Payne's Gray (4 days to dry)
Titanium-Zinc White (3 to 4 days to dry)

With the medium it probably took about 24 hours until it was touch dry.

The reds are a bit more tricky, as most reds are very long drying colors. (Alizarin, the Cads and the Quinacridones are all at least 6 day dryers) Which mean you are stuck with Iron Oxide based reds.  Still, you can get a surprising range with them.  

For Smaug I have used:

Raw Sienna (4 days)
Brown Pink (4 days)
Hansa Yellow Deep (4 days)
Transparent Yellow Earth (3 days)

And these all dried very quickly.  Later on, when I don't need as many layers, I can switch into a broader palette and take advantage of Alizarin's cooler tones. But the above colors, which all dry overnight, are perfect for these early color layers.

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LPG Update: The Lamp Post Guild has just launched Cory Godbey's The Art of Personal Work and Chris Koelle's Graphic Storytelling courses! For more info check out: http://lpg.pathwright.com

Current Projects

I have recently took on 2 private commissions for some larger format oil paintings and today I'd like to share my initial stages from them with you.

For those of you who have followed along these last few years, you will probably know that finding a good working method in oil (that doesn't turn me into a werewolf or raise the dead) has been somewhat challenging for me these past few years.  I wanted to find a way that would allow me to work quickly, and in many thin layers, somewhat like watercolor; but that did not involve solvents or harm the archival quality of the painting. 

It has only been in the past year that things have finally begun to really make sense to me, and that I have finally become comfortable taking on larger oil paintings. 

The first of these is for Greg O'baugh, and the scene may he is commissioning, may look familiar to some folks...  

 

Yes, this is Smaug. Greg actually purchased the original watercolor of Old Smaug at Illuxcon a few years back.  Since then he has asked if I might be interested in repainting this one, and this time in oil, without the aid of any of my digital trickery.

Usually I would be very apprehensive about something like this. Wether traveling, painting or reading, I usually don't like to retread the same ground twice.  There is still so much to do and explore and learn that seeing a place twice seems like a wasted opportunity.  But this image is different. This one is a challenge, and one that I have always wanted to do as an oil painting.

For many years I have been secretly convinced that I can't do traditionally what I can do digitally.  And no matter how many of you have told me in exasperation to JUST DO IT, I have always had great reservations.  So now this is a chance to finally give this one the treatment it deserves.

I hope to share more of the work-in-progress shots as this develops and I look forward to hearing what you think when you compare the two separate approaches.

The second image is also Tolkien themed and is being commissioned by Dan Perkins.  It is of the Ents marching up to break the dam above Orthanc and will be 30" x 50" on panel. 

If the characters in this digital color comp look familiar, it is because they are mostly from my 2012 Sketchbook.  The 2012 sketchbook was done chiefly as studies for a series of larger oil paintings like this one that I hope to keep producing over the next few years. 

Part of the reason that these scenes are painted so much larger than my other work is because of the lack of solvents. The only medium I will be using with the oil paints, is walnut alkyd oil, (and that only sparingly.)

I hope you will follow along and when these are finished let me know what you think about the conversion from watercolor and digital to oil.

Next: The Color Phase and a no-solvent, fast-drying palette

TLC Workshop Details

For those of you who have signed up for the Seattle TLCWorkshop August 16-18, here is a preview of
what we will be up to!

(And if you haven't signed up yet and are interested, check out the TLCWorkshop site for more details.)  

TLC Workshop 2013: Monsters and Maidens 

with Justin Gerard and Cory Godbey

(with Special Guest Appearance by Iain McCaig!)

The Project:
For this course, we will be illustrating a scene from one of the following two stories:

Beauty and the Beast 

Alice in Wonderland 

...with a focus on a monster and a maiden. We will be exploring visual storytelling and how to create interesting dynamics between our characters.

What you need to do beforehand:

READ: Familiarize yourself with your story and pick a scene or idea it that is interesting to you.

IMAGINE: Spend some time thinking about your characters and how they relate to one another. Are they in conflict with one another? Are they helping one another? Place yourself in the scene as if you are part of the story.

DRAW: Put together some thumbnails and rough sketches of your ideas. They can be stick figure layouts, or Da Vinci portraits. Wherever you are in your development when you get here, Cory, Justin and Iain will be helping you to take it to the next level.

PREPARE: To rock.

THE FORMAT:
Cory and Justin will talk through their processes, both traditional and digital, as well as demonstrate how they work. Each day Cory and Justin will cover a new part of their illustration process and then the class will work on their illustrations together.
And the-force-of-nature-that-is Iain McCaig will also be spending an afternoon with us showing his hands-on approach to character and creature creation.

Materials Needed:
We will be focusing heavily on drawing and character design in this course. While painting is not the focus of the course, Cory and Justin will be demoing how they work in color and attendees are encouraged to work alongside them.

For more information, visit the site here!

Some Sketches for You

The new sketchbooks are shipping out right now! This past weekend (after some time to recover from a phenomenal time at Spectrum Live in Kansas City) I took some time and did some drawings in the first 30 orders.

The topics for these sketches ranged from men in strange hats...

 to ancient dragons...

to orcs with limited table manners...

To crocodiles who mean well...

And even into reliquaries of great power...

And finally, (as always) to princesses.  

Thank you guys for the support and the renewed interest in these. I love working on them and I'm looking forward to getting started on the 2013 one soon. We will be doing something a little different and a little bigger for 2013.  Stay Tuned...

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To see sketches from previous sketchbook releases check out:

2011 Sketchbook Sketches Post

2012 Sketchbook Sketches Post

To order one check them out at:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/JustinGerard