aaronmiller

GenCon report

I'm back from GenCon and what a great experience! And the first thing I have to say is THANK YOU. Seriously, you guys helped make this happen. All that artwork needed to be my own and not connected to an IP (intellectual property). And I would not have had all that work if it wasn't for you guys and your support. I am proud of this booth and humbled that it all happened.

I was a little nervous about being at a show at all. But, the great people that make up the community were all on board for masks and it felt not much different than when I go to the grocery store or Target.

It was great seeing artist friends after so long. There wasn't nearly enough time to catch up with everyone. I was able to bring my wife with me, it was her first GenCon and she had a great time.

I just got all the metal tokens in for the Sphinx Wave and I'll get those packs out to you as soon as I am able. And the Horse/Angel Wave is just around the corner. I hope you've all been enjoying the Alternate Artist Series. I love being able to bring you guys something a little different now with each wave and share the artwork of an artist you might not have known before.

Chandra at GenCon

I was able to paint @tappytoeclaws in her Chandra cosplay at GenCon last night. Painting with me was Steve Argyle and Tyler Walpole. A few fans joined in as well to paint along.

Tony Moy Angel Token!

Tony and I worked out this awesome token for you guys. I just love Tony's watercolor paintings. 

I do hope you clicked on some of the links in the last post. The intro comic to the 4forty2nd is awesome and just the beginning for that comic.

I'm headed to GenCon next weekend. While I'm not packing a ton of art and prints it's still daunting to prepare for a show after such a long hiatus. If you are going be sure to stop by the Ebay booth to get a free playmat.

Tony Moy - our next Alternate Artist!

Tony Moy is a mixed media comic and fantasy artist specializing in watercolor and gouache living in downtown Chicago. Tony was the primary artist for the series "The Mainstream" published by Zenescope.  Additionally, he has been published in books from the Batman / The Maxx (DC/IDW) Variant Covers, X-files comics (IDW), Dungeons and Dragons comics, Memory Collectors,  Tome I & II art anthology, Unlawful Good comic anthology Covers among other publications.   

He is also the creator of a new watercolor webcomic called Chronicles of Yorn. In addition, Tony has over 10 years of teaching experience and currently teaches illustration and design at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago and is a brand ambassador for M. Graham watercolor paints. Currently working on the historical webcomic "The 4forty2nd".  His inspiration comes from studying traditional and classic watercolorists combined with the modern influences of pop culture comics, anime and fantasy.  

More about the webcomic on The Japanese-American 442nd Infantry Regiment of WW2.

Tony's upcoming shows for 2021 will be 

• Portland Rose City Comic Con
• Dallas Fan Expo
• New York Comic Con
• Baltimore Comic Con
• Denver Special Edition
• C2E2
• Emerald City Comic Con

We'll be working together to bring you a sweet Angel Token using the image posted above. It's going to look awesome you guys!

Next Drop is the Horse Wave

This is Empyrean Flow (Flo to her BFFs). She's been immortalized in this little painting. And we thought it would make a great token. 

____

In other news I have made it safely back from San Antonio, Texas where I've helped my dad move. The portions of Texas I drove through were more green than I imagined. I admit I think I labeled the landscape in Texas a cartoonish view of being all desert.

Visually all the cities look like every other small city or suburb. How awesome would it be to have places you travel have some sort of architectural culture and individuality about them in the modern era? It was nice to taste one new food I hadn't before. In Arkansas I had spicy pickled tomatoes. Those were amazing. Thanks Katfish Kastle!

Sphinx Token and Playmats from Ebay at GenCon

I've been so excited to share this with you all for some time now. We're doing Sphinx Tokens! 

These are also going to be at GenCon at the Ebay booth. What does Ebay have to do with this? Well, this painting is also for a playmat Ebay will be giving out at their booth at GenCon! Take a look at this sweet baby. 

I'll also be there to sign the playmats, hand out a token, and sign Magic cards as well. If you're going to GenCon be sure to stop by for a visit. I'm planning on being there Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

I'm going to snag 1 playmat to send to someone that can't make it. 

Here's the line up of the tokens coming at you guys. It's rare I can put together the packs visually like this so soon so enjoy the moment. For the newer folks that means I usually need to create the work during the time waves have closed and the final art might not be available for a while.

It also affects shipping, meaning packs should arrive sooner in September rather than later. All around a great scenario for everyone.

Alternate Artist - Melissa Sue Stanley

I'm very excited to share our Alternate Artist Token coming up. I've reached out to Melissa about her Woolbeast project. I thought about how fun it would be to incorporate her work into these tokens. I've known Melissa for a few years and have loved seeing her sculpted beasties come to life and bring her much joy and support.

The Woolbeasts are all hand-crafted in her “Treehouse Studio” based in Chicago, Illinois. She's been sewing, sculpting, crocheting, and illustrating these creatures for over ten years. They’ve been adopted to homes all over the world and have been shown in galleries across the United States. 

The best way to learn more about the Woolbeasts is by becoming a Treehouse Member over at Patreon! 

I'll be posting soon about the main event token. Stay tuned.

Checking in with my stans

Hi everyone!

I'm popping in to say hi. I'm doing ok and I hope you all are as well. I just sent in an awesome painting to Wizards Only 2 weeks past it's deadline and an entirely new painting from the one I sent in. I've never had to do this before but it was my decision. And it was a good decision regardless of how much chaos it created.

I'm planning something amazing for August. I'm just waiting for the official ok to make sure I can do it. The art is ready to go. I've got an amazing Alternate Artist lined up too. 

I did get some new artist proofs in stock.

Ernanda Souza's Harpy Token!

Yeah! I am so excited to share the Harpy Token with you all in the Elf Warrior Wave. This is just gorgeous. I'll have them somewhat available in the Member Shop for anyone looking to get more. You'll want to check the paid posts for the password and link.

Have a great week everyone!

Alternate Artist Token - Ernanda Souza

Our alternate artist for this wave is Ernanda Souza!

Ernanda is a digital artist from Brazil. She's a new Magic illustrator with an amazing debut of Shalai, Voice of Plenty. There's more coming as future sets are released. Just like me, she has a pile of artwork just waiting to be shared. I'm so happy to have met Ernanda in an illustrator's critique group. It's a friendly place where we can share our works in progress and help each other out. 

Ernanda decided her token will be a 1/1 Harpy. The color rough is awesome already and I can't wait to share the final with you guys. Again, this will be exclusive to patrons. If you have a friend that really needs this for their Abhorrent Overlord let them know to sign up before the end of the month.

Here are some of the sketches Ernanda worked on for this piece.

If you wanted to find out more about Ernanda and her artwork here's a few links.

Ernanda's Twitter: @ernanda91 

Her website is ernandasouza.com 

Follow her work on Artstation as well.

Elf Warrior - Verdant Warden

I finished up the artwork for the elf warrior. I'm pretty excited for this one. I hope you guys are too. 

As a bonus, everyone will get a link to the process video when this wave is set for GO. It's available now if you want it for $1.50 on either Gumroad or Artstation. 

And the sleeves for the Mythic Frames Kickstarter are just amazing.

Monday I'll post the Alternate Artist info. I've got the color sketch and it's already gorgeous.

Elf Warrior Wave!

Ok folks, while Spirit Wave is under way I wanted to share what's coming next. I'm currently working on this piece shown above. We have an Elf Warrior wave coming. I know, you don't have to tell me how weird it is that the current wave has an Elf Warrior too and why would it not be part of this one. That's the beauty of the Alternate Artist token. It will be a surprise to all of us just what that token will be. I will always want them to have full artistic control.

Ok, so why am I doing one now? Well, I'm so glad you asked yourself that question.

Let's start with who is modeling for me. This token features @NissaCosplay! She had some amazing references taken for me to use. And I could not be more excited to work with her. She's a powerful elf flanked by spirits of the forest. What a fun combination. Wouldn't it be awesome to have a whole deck themed like this?

I do, and you could too. Check out the Kickstarter for these frames if this is something you might be interested in. NissaCosplay and I worked on this deck together and are super excited to show it off. And this painting will be used for a Commander Sleeve. It's been a challenge to create these frames to work with just about any card you want to sleeve up for your deck.

Lastly, I have my Alternate Artist lined up. I'll share more about her in another post. More awesome things to share soon!

Elf Warrior Token

Hi Everyone! I am happy to share the Alternate Artist Token with you guys. Dan really came through on this one. Working in Procreate dan painted up this elf stalking something in a warm and rainy forest.

If you're still not familiar with Dan's work and need a helpful link to his Patreon please head over. If you're a parent you might just love Beardo. If you are in paranormal stories that read like the next binge worthy Netflix show check out Touching Evil. If you're into slapstick you'll want to check out Floppy Cop.

And remember you'll all be getting some free comics to enjoy next month.

Thank you so much for sticking with me. I know I keep saying it but it really makes a difference.

Elf Warrior Token in Progress

Dan got back to me with a work-in-progress for you guys. He's working on an Elf Warrior. He's going all out to work on something a little out of his comfort zone from all aspects. And he's excited to do it for you all. 

You'll also all be getting access to the first issues of his comics as a PDF. Touching Evil, Beardo, and Floppy Cop! I hope you dig them as much as I do.

New Features and Tokens

I'm going to make the Alternative Artist Token a permanent feature. I'm just so excited about the idea to bring you all a little something different and exclusive. I am excited about working with other creators whose work I love or someone I've wanted to meet. Giving me an opportunity to share the work they do in a unique way to a great audience. 

A few token themes I'm fairly certain you'll see art for at some point are Horse, Elf Warrior, and Sphinx. 

It will be some time before I can restart my workshops. But I know I'll be working with the models sooner. I'm working with a friend to create more reference packs of her in some cool costumes which will in turn become a painting or two. 

New Magic Art

The Strixhaven Commander 21 cards of mine are out. Sequence Engine and Blossoming Bogbeast. Sequence Engine was sold via auction and Blossoming Bogbeast auction ends tomorrow. I also have drawings available. My Artstation profile has some detailed shots as well.

The release of these two cards brings my total to 99 Magic cards to date! I'm so close to 100. 

I also saw that Kaseto, Orochi Archmage is being reprinted for C21. Kaseto was painted digitally and I've been making available 1/1 18x24 remarked canvas prints available on occasion and wanted to let you guys know it can be available, just send me a message.

Thanks for all your continued support. And as always if you have a question just reach out.

 – Aaron

Coming in April - Touching Evil Spirit Wave

I'm super excited to share this with you guys. I'm doing a little team up with Dan Dougherty of Touching Evil and Beardo comics fame!

Where do I even start?
The token I guess, we're going with a 3/2 Spirit. There's a bunch of new cards coming that make them and the artwork (from the Touching Evil vol. 1 trade) felt like just the perfect image to go with this red/white spirit token. 

We'll go with a traditional 1/1 Spirit for the sketch art version.

Exclusive Alternate Artist Token

I'm teaming up with Dan to have him create some artwork in place of the alternate art token I would usually create. I'll have more info once Dan is finished with the artwork. These tokens will be exclusive to my Patrons. 

We'll announce more goodies during the month.

Who is Dan Dougherty and why are we teaming up?

I met Dan years ago at a tiny comic con as his artist alley neighbor. We got along great and kept in touch as best as we could and looked forward to the next show we would both be at.

I picked up a copy of his Beardo book and was hooked. I love the art and the writing is great. He was teaching at a nearby art school which I eventually taught a class at.

He was also working on another comic, Touching Evil, that I eventually picked up. And while it was nothing like Beardo it was amazing in it's own right.  A great story that I still to this day believe will get picked up for a series or movie.

I was an easy yes when asked to work on the covers for the trade volumes. 

I'll be announcing some awesome extra downloads that will come with this wave (last day to sign up is April 30).

Be sure to check out Dan's Patreon page as well.

And he has a band! Check them out on Spotify.

drive by update

Tombspawn and Zombie Tokens should be in soon. The metal have arrived before the paper in an odd turn of events. They usually much later. I'll take a win because it translates into a win for you guys.

I'm cooking up something fun for April. I'll start posting info soon. It's going to be fun and full of extra goodies. 

Zombie Sketch Art Token

I took some time this weekend to work on a zombie sketch. It's from a photo of one of my favorite models a few years ago. and one of the few zombie themed workshops I ran. 

Again this will serve as the Sketch Art Token. I'll be placing my order soon and I expect all the packs to start shipping at the end of the month. Much like the previous pack started shipping last week and the final Angel Tier packs are going out on Monday.

Here's the full artwork in case anyone is interested in adding it to their art collection. It's 5x7. i used pencils and watercolor.

Alternate Art - X/X Zombie

I've got the alternate art for Tombspawn complete. I figured an X/X Zombie was something nice to add to the mix. I'll need to work up a sketch version which will be a 2/2 Zombie. Normally I've used the tan toned paper but zombies need grey toned for sure. Might use a blue pencil for the drawing. Should have that next weekend.

The paper tokens from the last wave have just arrived in the studio. The metal tokens are in the city according to the tracking and labeled as being delivered "late". It was due last week so I would think this week for sure they will arrive. We did have a wee blizzard to deal with but that shouldn't stop the USPS. 

Behind the scenes here I'm working on awesome new artwork for future Magic sets, digging us out from all the snow, or helping my wife move her business. there is never a dull moment.

Tombspawn!

Fresh from the grave. Clawing its way into your next pack.

Way back when we all used to get together in groups I ran workshops where we painted and drew models from life but with the added flair of being in costume. In this session around Halloween the theme was zombies and I was able to get some SFX student from the Kosart Effects School to come in and do a full zombie makeup for the model. It was a fun day for everyone. 

I'm really looking forward to the day I can restart the workshops.

Here's another portrait from that session. Maybe she needs to be a token too?

Thanks again for all your support.

Spirit Token of Bob the Skull

I had a few posts and messages suggesting a spirit token. I thought it was a great idea and I haven't had a new spirit token in a while. It's a very different kind of spirit token to be sure. 

While cleaning up the still life set up I was thinking about the person that skull's soul used to hold. I thanked him for letting me paint him again and hoped he was cool continuing to add to something to the world. 

Bob the Skull

I have a fun painting that needs just the right token title. This will be the alternate art for the next wave. I leapt in to just make it and figured I'd see what you guys suggest.

I was totally inspired by my buddy Erik Gist that recently painted a flaming skull.

Kaldheim Artwork

I wanted to share all the artwork that's come out recently with Kaldheim. It feels like almost no art of mine came out last year. And after the year we've had I'm almost glad. Everyone might have had so much else on their minds.

This recent set had 5 new pieces. I hope you guys get to play a few of these soon. And I still have about 15 more paintings waiting to share. And more being painted. I have more details of these on my Artstation page for those that want to check out sketches and drawings.

Thanks again for everything and stay safe.

Demon Berserker

Hey everyone!

I hope you've all been doing good this month. I've been furiously painting but still feel so far behind on all my projects. But with the weather being so cold I'm fine staying indoors with the pups painting away.

Have you all seen the amazing new art for Kaldheim! I've got 5 new cards in the set which I'll share in a future art post. I just hope you're all as hyped as I am.

It looks like there's some cool new tokens as well. I have this older piece I thought would be perfect for a Demon Berserker! And don't forget I finally fixed the Human Rogue. 

Once I get a few of the projects wrapped up I've got some fun plans for some hopefully epic paintings to come. I really want to get a unicorn painting done. I need to paint a dragon this year. I have a painting I want to do as an homage to another painting called Nightmare but I have no idea if it would fit anything token wise. I'm also really wanting to work with more models when it's safe. Thankfully there's a ton of creatures I can work on. I've also noted some of the ideas you guys have brought up. I'd love to create an exile token. 

I hope you've all been happy with the tier updates. 

It's my birthday...

And I got the box of tokens! The Human Rogue printed  with the mistake again... 

The show must go on! The Dragon Eggs came out fine so we'll go with that and save the Rogues for later. They will forever haunt me though.

I'll start send out packs this week. As shipping allows per pack* expect some extra stuff.

*this just means I'm going to avoid having the pack tip over into a higher shipping rate as best I can.

I hope you all have a great holiday. We've been keeping cozy and doing a lot of cooking. I'm slowly rounding the corner to finishing up this Tarot card for the Woven Path Tarot. I was hoping to finish before the New Year (might still happen) but I'm not going to make myself stressed to rush.

For those wondering, this is acrylic and oil on linen. The canvas is tapped to a board. I prefer to paint on a harder surface so that's why it's not stretched. Then I can roll it up and stretch it later or if someone purchases it I can ship it much cheaper and safer rolled up.

Bonus Booster Token - Dragon Egg

I had a slight delay in getting the token due to a typo on the Human Rogue. So, I've placed a new order for those. And I took a little time to make an alternate to the Egg Token I can't believe I didn't do at the time, a Dragon Egg Token. They should arrive close to the end of the month. This pack doesn't actually bill until the 31st so it should work out all around.

 I'll be taking a deep dive in January to decide what I'll focus on for next year. This past year has really been a struggle. I think that goes for everyone. 

I'll get these out as soon as I can though. I do have a stack over Human Rogues that I can alter the P/T to the correct numbers if someone would like their pack sooner and promise not to cancel before the 31st. Just send me a message and I'll get it take care of.

I hope you all have a great holiday coming up. I can't thank you all enough for being part of this for another year. I really hope I get to see some of your guys soon.

Mana Curves

I'm very excited to be working with a Chase or better known as ManaCurves, the MTG Faerie Queen, Twitch streamer, and writer for TCG Player, adding flavor text to the artwork on the tokens I'm making. She's been doing a great job and I'm excited to have them work on more.

We've worked on a few of the tokens in my shop to get started and while we're doing more I asked them to work on the current Patreon token as well. I hope you may have already noticed the flavor in the image above. If not sweep those peepers up for a moment. 

Over the past couple years I've had the opportunity to work with some amazing community writers and content creators. It's almost euphoric being able to work with these amazing people to add just a dash of flavor to the projects I work on.

If you're not familiar with their work check out these links and follow.

Twitter - https://twitter.com/ManaCurves

Twitch - https://www.twitch.tv/manacurves

Articles - https://infinite.tcgplayer.com/author/Chase-Carroll/e287626b-5cbb-4549-828d-33ca4591eed6/articles

Holiday Sale going on until December 14

Black Friday Sale!

Big ol sale happening today. If you were wanting something today is the day.

For today discounts are applied automatically for things on sale. After today use the code EXILE2020 for 15% off storewide until December 14.

Tokens and playmats - 25% off

MTG Artist Proofs and Original Art - 20% off

Pins and Accessories - 50% off

Rock Token update

Here's the actual final Rock Token. I went back into the painting about 5 times. More rocky, more gobliny, and more on target for the color palette I wanted. I've got a few more exciting details to share soon as well. I'm working with a writer for flavor text and something fun with Alter Sleeves.

Rock Steady

My crazy rock painting is all wrapped up. My eyes are not used to mixing these kinds of color so this was a tall challenge. We're ready early and that's awesome as it's usually pretty rare.

The painting is a 9x12" on linen. If this just screams that you need it let me know.

Rock of Ages - Drawing

I've scribbled up my drawing for this Rock token. Before I could get started something just felt off about my concept. It was ok, but I just felt like it needed another pass. And looking through my art book collection I found a great painting of some figure lit by a campfire that just snagged me. And I knew what I wanted.

I should be hopping onto this little painting soon in between some Magic paintings.

Wave info

Main: Rock

Alternate: Human Rogue

(non) Random Token: Fate

Full Art: Rock/Rogue flip

Drawing: Rock

Rock Token - Work in Progress

I got some references sorted out last night and here's what I'll be working towards in a 9 x 12" painting soon. I realized I hadn't worked on something that had a close up and some vast distance in the same image. 

For this piece I imagined a goblin shaman working elemental magic in conjunction with a rock with some natural magnetic nature to it. The floating rock in the center supported by the magnetic nature of the rock. Arthur C. Clarke said it simply “Magic's just science that we don't understand yet."

Well, I've got some work to do.

Oh, one more thing. I did open up the Collector Tier early. If it's something you're interested in be sure to check it out.