Justin Gerard

Process Page for "the SLUGLORD" September's Monster of the Month

Here is a preview of what to expect from the Monster of the Month Club Process rewards. 

Through September this new tier will include a wallpaper-sized image of the month's monster as well as a process image showing the progression of the image from rough to final. In this one it goes from ink thumbnail to digital color, but some month's may emphasize the drawing more or the color aspects more.  

Starting in October, Monster of the Month Club subs will include a themed, Photosh...

"the SLUGLORD" September Monster of the Month

Here is a preview for the new $10 Monster of the Month Reward Tier! 

Through September this new tier will include a wallpaper image of the month's monster as well as a process image showing the progression of the image from rough to final. Starting in October, this new reward tier will include a Higher resolution wallpaper version of the monster as well as a themed, monthly Photoshop brush set based on each month's character. 

So for those of you who into digital painting, you ...

SLUGLORD! Monster of the Month

September's Monster of the Month is the Sluglord. He was drawn in graphite at 4"x6" on Canson drawing paper. 

I will be posting the color workup for this little villain later in the month. Stay tuned! 

Introducing... the Drawing Tier!

I've just added a new subscription tier! The Drawing Tier is $2 and will be fully dedicated to traditional sketches and drawings of figures. The plan for now is to focus on characters, specifically those for each month's main illustration. However... Coming soon (hopefully in October!) I will be adding a new $15 Tier soon called "Monster of the Month." This tier will offer a new monster painting every month, which will be drawn traditionally and painted in Photoshop. I will post the drawings for...

"The Lair of the Firebreather" Process Spread

SPECTRUM 24 POSTER

I recently had the opportunity to work with John Fleskes on the Spectrum 24 Call for Entries poster. It was a great project to work on and today I’m going to share a bit about the development of it with you.   

Development Comp

The scene is inspired by Tolkien’s depiction of the fall of Gondolin in The Silmarillion.  In the above comp I hav...

APPLYING TRANSPARENT COLOR IN PHOTOSHOP

In a recent post I was asked if I’d go into more detail about how I apply and saturate color when I work digitally. Today, I’ll be giving a brief overview of this.

Please note that this post is geared toward people who are familiar with Photoshop, but still searching for how to best use it to colorize their illustrations. Photoshop Geniuses may find the following a little basic. (Digital ninjas, yetis, warriors, and Kevin Sorbo will find this utterly beneath them)

2018-09-08 00:59:09 +0000 UTC View Post

THE SILMARILLION: FINGON AND GOTHMOG

“Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs, high-captain of Angband, was come; and he drove a dark wedge between the Elvenhosts, surrounding King Fingon, and thrusting Turgon and Hurin aside towards the Fen of Serech. Then he turned upon Fingon. That was a grim meeting. At last Fingon stood with his guard dead about him…”

-From The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

2018-09-08 00:41:10 +0000 UTC View Post

“LET THE WIZARD DO THE TALKING”

So you’re making your way to the grocery store for pop tarts and there’s a  dragon blocking the pass...  

Today I will be going through a few of the development stages for this painting to share some ideas on how you might get around a situation like this.

2018-09-08 00:39:08 +0000 UTC View Post

THE WRONG DOOR

This painting is an intricately-layered, cultural criticism, ingeniously disguised as a fairy tale about rediscovering our inner falcon spirit. It transcends social constructs, it defies human wisdom and confounds science. It launches the viewer to dizzying heights of …

Wait..  oh no, wait, that was for a different post.

*ahem* 

This painting is...

LET’S DRAW REAL-LIFE DRAGONS

Drawing from life is hard.  And drawing from life that insists on being alive and wandering off is even harder.

But it can be highly rewarding as well. There is a wealth of information that you glean from direct observation that you just can’t get any other way. (Like that someone taught that miniature monkey over there how to make obscene gestures.)

But also more useful ...

ILLUSTRATION PROCESS PART II : DIGITAL TRICKERY

In the last post, I focused on the traditional aspects of my process for watercolor and digital. This week, we focus on digital hocus-pocus used to complete these pieces. My digital process is mainly derived from the Dutch-Flemish indirect manner of working. If I travelled back in time and gave the Dutch-Flemish painters an Imac with Adobe Photoshop on it and a Wacom, they might h...

ILLUSTRATION PROCESS PART I : TRADITIONAL WORK

Over the years, my process has mutated from the clear and straightforward approach of my early childhood:

Step 1: Tear page from coloring book.

Step 2: Turn page over and apply crayon directly to back of paper

...And this delightfully simple method has turned into now an overly-complex, needlessly technical mess that involves hundreds of extra steps and expensive, new-fangled gadgetry.

So, I will break this post into 2 parts to keep things more manageable. T...