Inghram!

Hey all,

Here's a digital sketch of Inghram. He's hanging off the side of something, while looking earnest. Always important to look earnest, don't you think?

By the way, had a totally fab time in San Diego, hanging out with the rest of the White Cloud Worlds gang, and the Weta crew. Signed lots of books, met loads of wonderful folk - and it was warm.

Morning Visitor

'The crowds thin, and the open spaces of the market place divide into narrow cobbled streets that climb steeply from the docks, as the Chéneschal rider follows its course through unfamiliar, alien territory.'

This is a piece I completed last year, for inclusion in the White Cloud Worlds anthology. For me it's a first look at the city in which the bulk of my story will take place; a port city of steep, narrow streets with dwellings and commercial buildings stacked precariously on top of each other.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sketch

Hi all - just a quick sketch to show, a bit of fun...

Happy New Year :)

Inghram's Approach

Hey again

Here's one I finished recently - another study for my graphic novel. The driver character I've posted sketches of previously, and of course his car, also from a previous post.

Cheers!

Engineer redux

Hey there, and happy new year!

I couldn't help myself – I've always disliked the way I rendered the face in this painting of my engineer character, and lately it just got too much to ignore. To me it always made her look a bit severe, or undernourished, which wasn't the look I intended with the original line drawing.

So – as if I didn't already have enough to do – I went and changed it, didn't I:

I padded out her cheekbone, softened the jaw-line slightly, gave her a little more colour, and did another pass over the whole face with a brush to smooth things off a bit. I think the new version is definitely an improvement. She now looks more like the character I've had in my head for so long.

For interest, here's a comparison of the original pencil drawing, the original painting (centre), and the new version:

Thanks for stopping by!

Spectrum Exhibition

Hey there - I was a bit chuffed to be told on the weekend that one of the pieces (above) I painted up for Christian Gossett's The Red Star: Sword of Lies has been included in the Spectrum Exhibition, currently on at the Museum of American Illustration in New York City.

Pencils by the inimitable Chris Gossett, digital paintin' by me.

Image copyright Christian Gossett.

Special Haul

Hi there - this drawing is of the car driven by the character I posted sketches of a couple of weeks ago - the rugged dude with the goggles.

This is why he looks so beaten up - he has to try to keep this thing going in a straight line while picking bugs out of his teeth.

Built for long-haul travel, customised for the special delivery service...

The Red Star: Sword of Lies wins IPPY gold medal

That's the 13th annual Independent Publisher Book Awards! Me and some of my former Weta colleagues handled the digital painting on this book, and had a blast doing it. Nice to have taken part in such a high quality publishing venture... Congratulations, Christian and The Red Star!

Hello Internet - it's me, Stephen.

Hi there. I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome myself to the ancient art of the blog.

Welcome, Stephen.

Better late then never, right?... or maybe not? Why waste what little time I have on posting my stuff up here where people may or may not take time out of their own busy lives to glance at it?

I don't have an answer for that yet... mayhap I never will. So, I'm just going to go ahead and do it anyway, and see what happens. Suck it and see, as they say.

Here's a picture I made quite a while ago now... The first illustration I did based on a character from my graphic novel concept:

Those that know me will be going "Jeez - he's STILL thrashing that painting?"

Well... yeah.