Illuxcon 2 is NEXT WEEK!!!!

SO EXCITED. I even made a little postcard holder out of scrap moulding. :)

Hope to see even more folks there than last year! I'll be there the full four days this time, so come find me at the Ramada hotel bar any evening and we'll talk art.

In the Mirror...

A quickie I did yesterday for Imagine FX Q&As, upcoming issue 51:


I'm always amazed by how long it takes me to write tutorials and answers to art questions. It almost takes me longer than doing the work itself. I guess it's sort of like typing or playing piano - you do it for so long you can't remember where the keys are unless you're touching them.

Close up #1: [link]
Close up #2: [link]

"Cruciata Navaar" for Sinister Adventures

This one was SO much fun. Read more about the character here at the SA website: http://sinisteradventures.com/index.php/sneak-peeks. The character designer and art director Nick Logue's ultra-descriptive character studies are some of my favorites to work from - in fact, he does half my work for me by creating such vivid imagery with his writing. We did a few snippets together last year, and I hope to have the pleasure of painting many more.

Return to Neverland WIP - collaboration with Aaron Sikstrom

Pan? Wendy? A jealous mermaid? What could possibly be cooler subject matter for a collaborative effort? A few weeks back I got a very nice email from Aaron Sikstrom (http://seethrou.deviantart.com) asking if I'd be interested in doing a piece with him. At the time neither of us knew the other had an affinity for Peter Pan mythology, so it was quite a nice surprise when I first saw the sketch he provided for me: [link].

As the painter/colorist, I thought the otherworldly lagoon-light would make a great contribution to bring out the magic of the story. There's still a fair bit of work left to be done, but it's really shaping up.

Exotique 5 & Getting back in the saddle...

I got the good news this morning that Half her Heart made the cut for Exotique 5!! This is not just "everyday cool" but also gratifying since I very much had Exotique in mind when creating the piece.

As for my absence lately, my father in law passed away at the end of July, so it's been very hectic at home. I'm just now getting my artistic affairs back in order from the brief hiatus (including road trips to Iowa and North Carolina). As I get older I realize that interruptions in my workflow are harder to bounce back from. I think tonight I'll require extra coffee to get something done for a Friday deadline!! It's good to be back.

Week In Review...

Thus concludes another busy week! On Monday I learned that Half Her Heart has made it to the final judging for possible inclusion in Exotique 5... fingers are crossed on that one. I'd really like to make the cut for at least one book this year. I finished up a logo project on Wednesday, which will be followed up by a set of illustrations starting this weekend.

Last night I spent a totally awesome 40 minutes on the phone with a cool author about his swords & sorcery book cover while he simultaneously basted a chicken. Normally I'm apprehensive about working directly with authors, but this is one of those unique match-ups that (so far) almost seems too functional to be true. Needless to say, I'm excited about reading the chapters he sent over and starting on the sketches.

During my down time, I've been overcoming some frustrations and personal challenges with the client-artist relationship schema. For example, I work for a marketing company all day, so I have an engrained urge to marketing-direct my clients, sometimes without them asking. I need to stop doing that, unless they ask. While some people are completely open to it, some people aren't. And at the end of the day it's their project and they'll do what they want with it, even if their aesthetic choices aren't what my training would call the 'best' choices. Sometimes you just have to separate yourself a few degrees from the work to stay sane. There's a mantra in there somewhere... hopefully I'll be able to elaborate when I've put all my thoughts in order.

Signing off. Have a great weekend! -CS

ImagineFX Magazine #46 - coming next week!

Tune in next week for IFX #46, and check out my "grunge" workshop! I've even put some DVD assets out there for everyone to share. The whole issue has "gone goth," so I think I might make a pot of ultra-black coffee and puff on a clove while enjoying this issue...

Read Beren's post, via the iFX forums

Speaking of grunge, I took some great photographs of my father-in-law's house last weekend. It's reminiscent of what I imagine a nuclear test site would look like after 30 years of nature taking over. No doubt some of those textures will be showing up in new artwork.

ArtOrder Vampires Challenge

I don't normally work in pure black & white, but that was the nature of the "Vampire Challenge" recently posted on ArtOrder. It's been a while since I've participated in a short-term challenge, too. And winning isn't everything; I entered more for my own edification and practice. I'm looking forward to seeing the other artists' renditions. Enjoy.

2D Artist Magazine #41

I'm a little late on this one, but Half Her Heart's Duet is available at higher-than-normal resolution in the Gallery section of 2D Artist Magazine's May issue! There's some awesome artwork and content in this e-zine. I particularly enjoyed Ivan Kashubo's sketchbook, and the speedpainting article...

You can purchase the mag through the 2dartistmag.com website, or download a free "lite" version as a .zip file.

Donato's

About two years ago, Dan Dos Santos invited me to a party in Brooklyn at Donato Giancola's house. It was an experience that changed my life, not just in terms of networking with veterans of the fantasy/sci-fi illustration field, but because when I walked in that door, I didn't know I wanted to be an illustrator yet, and walking out I was certain that's what I wanted to do. I'd admired a lot of these guys since I was a teenager, but my artistic plans had been all over the map. Until I discovered there really IS a group of people out there who are like me, and they showed me what I needed to do.

Last week I got an email from Scott Grimando about this year's gathering, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity.

It was great to reconnect with folks I hadn't seen in a while - Kristina Carroll (www.kristinacarrollart.com) is an awesome up-and-coming illustrator and total sweetheart. Also Zelda Devon and Kurt Huggins (www.teeteringbulb.com) who I met at Illuxcon last year. I also got a chance to meet some new folks like Ruth Kim (www.ruthkim.com) and Robert Brown (www.bobbrownart.com). All great stuff worth checking out!

One of the highlights of the evening was having a conversation with Gregory Manchess about his current re-working of an illustration featuring a certain famous (or infamous?) pirate.

So in conclusion, it was another awesome night. And totally worth braving bus travel. It also made me realize how far I've come in 2 years. I'm hoping I can keep up that pace in the next two.