Bite-sized blogpost part 1: American Illustration, Illuxcon and Fantasy artwork

Due to fun/hectic/awesome/fortunate circumstances, I've been running all over the place and painting my pants off lately. Lots  of new work to show and some I can't speak about just yet.  I'll stagger them out in the upcoming days so all of my devoted readers (all three of you!) can get their Brundage morsels in quick succession, without too much caloric intake.

First up was the ever popular and always epic American Illustration party. This year I was fortunate to have my first ever spread in the book with two entries accepted (Cthulhu Santa and Valentine's Oz). Highlights from the party include getting an elusive compliment from my old boss and chum, Peter de Sève, hanging with Frank Stockton over fruity drinks, and having some beautiful arm candy in the form of my girlfriend. I also ran into some SVA students I knew formerly from my hometown of Danbury, CT. Keep an eye out for Brian Schiering and Jensine Eckwall.

Second up was my last minute decision to attend Illuxcon in Altoona, PA. The majority of my buddies from Racebrook were showing off their wares at this fantasy art convention and had invited me for two years now. I was convinced it conflicted with the AI party and I couldn't attend. Two weeks before,  I realized I was mistaken.
     With little time to spare, I jumped into world where "bags of holding" and "lamps of lighting" were not jokes and "making a saving throw versus dragon breath" makes complete sense.

I love dwarves and figured showing that I could paint armor and human flesh would be a plus. Here is the thumbnail, sketch and photoshop bump up.

A big, resounding thanks to Lars Grant-West for being a pal and taking a look at my sketches. He helped me out bigtime with the dwarf proportions, and his suggestion of the head tilt added loads of character. A second thanks to Donato Giancola for suggesting I go a bit more nuts with the armor decor.

I knew I wanted to have some monsters and recognizable ones at that. D&D is very specific in its creatures so I chose to do my rendition of a Mezzodemon (or Mezzoloth, if you are hardcore). I threw in a second monster inspired by the mezzodemon as a goof.

Same dealio, thumbnail with a bit of PS, and a refined sketch. 

These were fun as hell to paint. The level of finish demanded for this type of work is a bit more than I'm used to, but it really was a blast getting in there and figuring it all out.

There is a third sample that looks to rushed to show as of now. I vow to return to it and give it its proper attention, without trying to cram it into an already tight deadline with other work.  I'm looking forward to creating more work in this vein with more action and fully realized backgrounds. The fellas at Illuxcon make it look easy...

More tomorrow!
-S