I looked into the sky and saw
A truth written in quiet motion
The turning wheel rises and as it falls
It shows us what we've seen
A vision from beyond
no different than a vision from within
2016-07-25 14:42:03 +0000 UTC View Post
I had a rougher version of this piece in color uploaded to the DB but I was worried about posting too many updates recently, so I sat on it until I had a chance to come back to this.
Man.
It is refreshing to be working on Seraphim again. These are the very heart of this project and what comes most natural to me as I work. It's been a while, a long while since I've given myself a chance to make one. It feels great.
Things are going pretty well these days with the Kicksta...
2016-07-12 02:08:19 +0000 UTC View Post
I took a second lap on this piece since after I made a couple of test prints. After getting some space from it (again), I was able to make some changes that I'm really happy with. Now, I'm going to be able to produce prints that I'm really confident in.
This was a huge learning experience, so I'm really glad I made it. Now it's time to get back to some angel paintings. Progress on Dumah will return shortly.
I'm uploading all the rewards for this piece right now, so please check the downl...
2016-07-10 22:27:10 +0000 UTC View PostHey Patrons,
I wanted to take a second to make a clarification, since I've changed the description of how often I charge patrons.
Firstly, I'm not changing the way it works, I'm just changing the description for clarity. The old description read "per 2 weeks", which wasn't completely accurate. I've always charged every per every completed painting. So months with 2 paintings had 2 charges and months with 1 painting had 1 charge (Patreon is always on a monthly cycle). I was always...
2016-07-05 14:37:15 +0000 UTC View Post
Refreshed from a short break after the Watchers series, I'm moving back in to creating more Seraphim.
If you look at the JPG I've added to the attachments of this post, you can see the version of Dumah that I started but never finished back in 2008 (somehow, in my quickly aging brain, that doesn't feel that long ago). I dumped a lot of hours into it but could never get all the elements to work together. Thankfully, in the intervening 8 years, I've gotten much better at finishing paint...
2016-07-05 14:13:22 +0000 UTC View Post
It seemed fitting, that after the close of the last chapter of Angelarium, that I would paint a doorway. Through this portal lies the realm of the angels.
2016-07-01 01:48:42 +0000 UTC View Post
I made two major changes since the last post, so I wanted to share them since I was saying before that I was sailing towards finalizing the painting.
1. I rebuilt the gate itself in Sketchup to refine the perspective and the design. Both of those things felt about 75% okay to me, which was just enough to have it nag at me without pushing me to make corrections sooner. Glad to have it done.
2. I cropped the piece rather aggressively. Thinking about the final print, both the big showp...
Not much besides rendering now.
The main challenge for this piece was the composition. Without a central figure to moor the line of action, I didn't have a clear grasp on where to provide focus and how that focus would effect the impression of the space.
Spending a good 2 weeks thinking about it and then taking a look back at my reference, I've gotten a much clearer picture on how to accomplish that. The focal point has been pulled upwards and the space around it has been dramatical...
At the time of the last update there were things that I knew I wasn't seeing. Aspects about this painting that I was confidently unhappy with. Giving myself some time away from it to get hungry to paint again gave me the perspective I needed to bring a fresh round of inspiration to this idea.
Now, I'm confident that I can make this work. Thanks to everyone who encouraged me to finish it!
-Pete
Doing environment pieces is a really intimidating prospect to me right now. On the positive side, some of my most popular Magic paintings were the few environments I did. It's something I have interest to explore and I want to challenge myself with. I feel that if some paintings I was sure were bad ended up being really popular, that my current reservations about this piece are probably unfounded.
I've been getting some reinforcement from people close to me to continue forward with this id...
2016-06-13 16:50:48 +0000 UTC View Post
With the watchers complete and the production of the second book beginning. I'm finding myself between series. The big thing I wanted to accomplish during this time is to expand the space that the angels exist in.
I'm going to be creating some epic set pieces to accompany some of the most iconic angels in the series. To start off, I wanted to begin with Sahaqiel. For him, I wanted to build a grand gate....
I've known that this would be the last piece in the series for months, so I've spent more time considering how I want it to look than any other piece in the series. That's dangerous. If your a creative person as well, let me warn you that this is one of the biggest disadvantages you can give yourself while trying to making something original. The built in expectation makes it so much harder to take the creative leaps that are possible when you are creating in the moment. Knowing this, I planned ...
2016-05-28 14:37:55 +0000 UTC View Post
The last of the Watchers series marks the end of an era for me. A set of 20 unique characters designed to subvert people's expectations about angels. To cap things off, I've been planning on creating a diversion from the usual by doing something far more traditional in appearance.
To stress the importance of this figure, I want to imply that he was so influential to mankind that he became the iconic vision for what we thought of as all angels. Throughout the series, I've included o...
All hail,
First Born
Giver of Names
Father of Giants
Protector of the House of Man
Long shall be his days.
The detail work in this piece is either going to be impossibly fun or it's going to kill me. I'm starting to get in there and make some final marks on pieces here and there but I see more room to render and add texture on everything. This might end up being the most detailed painting I ever make.
2016-05-18 04:37:25 +0000 UTC View Post
At a certain point in this process, I decided that I any time I came to a crossroads about what I should do, that I would side with whatever would be the most fun to draw. This angel represents the destructive power of pride. It feels fitting that I should opt to make him represent my own selfish ideals whenever possible.
2016-05-15 20:30:58 +0000 UTC View Post
Normally, I post a color version as the second update, but the way that the composition has filled out between now and when I made the first post is so dramatic, that I felt it deserved its own update. This is a much more representative view of what you can expect out of the final.
A few of the past pieces have had areas in the painting that I was honestly unsure how they would be finished. Relying on the piece to work itself out late in the process is risky, stressful and time consuming. ...
2016-05-15 15:33:26 +0000 UTC View Post
Working on this guy has been intimidating. He is the king of the Watchers and the instigator of their tragedy.
Living up to what this piece needs to represent puts me in a tight spot. So many of these pieces are simply me engaging my own thoughts and feelings on a topic, but in this case, there is also a fiction that needs to be respected. That forces me to edit very very carefully. Both pieces this month are important in this way, so I've been dreading them for a while. Soon, Samyaza and ...
2016-05-13 02:21:18 +0000 UTC View Post
Falling through the branches
Standing still among the shaking leaves
Stop and listen
My approach,
my touch.
The wind shifts and there I am
cool against your skin.
I will not leave you.
As this piece is nearing completion, I'm a little nervous. It's concept isn't exactly easy to decode. Regardless, this is the piece I wanted to make, so I'm excited to be getting close to the point where I can share the final.
Got some great encouragement on Twitch this morning during my Studio Time stream. If you guys ever want to talk to me about the art or watch me pack your orders. You can see it here: https://www...
2016-04-29 15:36:28 +0000 UTC View Post
Okay, I lied. I really want to do this piece.
After playing around with some other sketch ideas, I really had to come back to the pieces that was most compelling. All I think it needed was a bit of design tweaking.
There is still room to build upon this as a foundation but I'm going to forge ahead and hope that some additional context will clarify what needs to happen next.
