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Early last year I was commissioned by Fantasy Flight Games to work on a few of their cards for the card game, Call of Cthulhu. They have been released for sharing so I thought I’d post them here. This project was lots of fun and was my first experience working on a card game of the sort. Some of the cards I like more than others but I learned SO much working on these. I’ve since then worked on other games of theirs including Talisman: The Dragon and more on Call of Cthulhu. I hope to be able to share some of those as well soon. Special thanks to Zoe Robinson, my AD for the project! :)

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Been working on lots lately. I’m preparing to have some new work ready for Spectrum Art Live in May this year. It’s going to be an exciting convention! If you’re in the Kansas City area, mark your calendars to come out and see some incredible art! I’ll be sharing what I’m bringing here as it gets closer and such.

One project I’m working on in between things is the Flora/Fauna Project. It started with an image I created for Imagine FX magazine a while back – in which I created a creature made from plants. I had so much fun exploring plant-life that I’ve decided to create a mini series out of it. The image above is the first (official) creature from that series. This time I decided to explore Opium – poppies and such. I’ll be exploring other plant groups as I am the Lily beastie below:

Lily (work in progress)

This weekend I created something for a blog I’m part of called Fanartica (finally). I decided to draw and paint one of my favorite comic book characters, Wexter. He was a challenge because I don’t usually get to draw guns too often but he was too much fun to paint!

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He’s from a comic called AxeCop, which if you haven’t read this comic, you NEED to. It’s amazing. The artist that creates it is incredible and the writer (his 6 year-old brother) is awesomely imaginative. This comic has me laughing and cheering non-stop. It’s a favorite among me and my friends. Go read it here: http://www.axecop.com.

More updates to come soon! Work from The Red Valley is on the way with some new environment and creature studies I’m very excited about along with announcements of some upcoming projects due toward this summer! :)

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An image created for a friend as a gift. This was so much fun to put together! I always love drawing animals and putting them in bee costumes made it way too much fun. :)

More work coming soon as well as some really exciting projects!

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The new year brings new and exciting projects to work on! I’m already very excited about some new work coming out as well as some really great new opportunities. I think this will be a fantastic year!

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These two illustrations are out in Imagine FX this month. You can find them in issue 77 in the US right now. This particular set of Q&A’s were really fun and challenging. The top image actually led to an idea for a small project. I had mentioned it a few months back but I’ve recently been distracted with a day job. Now that I have more time to spare, I’m able to pick it back up again as my daily warm up. The project is called “Flora/Fauna” and it deals with creature design influenced by plant-life. I’m hoping to create a small series of Flora/Fauna and compile them into a mini-book. This was one of the critters I had started a while back for the project:

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I like the design so far but I might work a bit on the pose. For now this is just a side project that I plan to work on when I warm up before I start work on client projects or The Red Valley Project.

That’s it for now. Stay tuned for more updates soon! :)

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I have been working on some new images that I really can’t wait to share! Life has been a bit hectic lately with the Holidays coming and work. More updates are on the way for The Red Valley along with a few new images for my portfolio. I have two new images in Imagine FX magazine this month. You can see both of these in Issue 76! Be sure to check it out if you can. I had lots of fun painting that landscape and, of course, the canines as well. It’s always a pleasure working with the Imagine FX team. :)

Stay tuned for more updates!

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Things have been sort of crazy these last few weeks. I’ve been working on a few projects that I’ll have to wait to share here. Until then I’ll be posting more personal work, now that I have a little more time for it. Work has really started to pick up with The Red Valley and the first post has been put up on the blog. You can see it here: The Red Valley: Rain. It’s a challenge. The way I’m visioning the storytelling aspect of the project will require lots of work, which is good of course, but it will take more time to complete.

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I’m hoping to have most of the first act (along with a few creature profiles) done by May of next year for Spectrum Fantastic Art Live. I’d like to have a small preview book of the project for sale there along with information about where I’d like the project to go. The project is still in its very early stages and so even I’m unsure of where it’s headed.

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These sketch images aren’t really related to the project so much but they were starting points for a very large creature I’d like to introduce on the blog soon.

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Saw these on the stands yesterday in Imagine FX magazine. They were created for issue 75′s Q&A section. Be sure to check them out if you can! This round was particularly challenging but the two creatures feeding on the carcass up top were especially tricky. My goal was to make it look natural – as if the predators have always eaten this way. Nature can be incredibly gruesome and gory at times and I really wanted to show that without exaggerating it. In any case, these were so much fun to paint.

I’m currently visiting the Mojave desert area to see family. I’m also taking the opportunity to take some notes and photos for The Red Valley. I’m very excited to begin posting content for the project. I should begin in early November.

New work to be posted soon!

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These two images have gone live in the current issue of Imagine FX magazine. I created them for the Q&A section to talk about how to paint slimey alien skin and how to color pencil lines, digitally.

Issue 74 is a special Star Wars issue so be sure to check it out! If you’re interested in creature design, it has an amazing tutorial section by Terryl Whitlatch! Anyway, pick one up if you can.

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I’ve also found out that I’ve been included in Ballistic Publishing’s Exotique 7 this year! Very excited to be included with so many talented artists! My piece “Mars” will be featured inside. Check it out!

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I will also be showing a piece in CCAC’s Faculty & Alumni show this year. I am incredibly honored and very humbled to be included in the show. I’ve also been asked to give a small talk about my experience at and after CCAC along with 4 other alumni. I’m very excited (and also very nervous) to be able to talk about my work and what I’ve done so far. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone and seeing the work this year.

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Anyway, that’s the news for now. I’m off to get some commission and personal work done before this next project hits. Really looking forward to October! :)

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Two new images that I’ll post more about later. One has inspired me to create a series of plant/creatures. Should be fun when I get more time! :)

In other news, I’ll be showing and selling a few Limited Edition prints at Rendition Gallery’s “IT’S ALIVE” show. The show is focusing on creepy creatures for Halloween! If you’re in the Fort Collins area, you should check it out! It will be a really great show! I will take some photos of what I will be showing this week once everything is framed.

Working on deadlines today. This weekend is going to be sleepless…

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Two new playing card illustrations I created at the beginning of the year. (wow! the year is slipping away!) Talisman: The Dragon is now on sale, and two of the cards I created for the game are inside!

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images are © to Fantasy Flight Games LLC

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Finished this up between projects. I am so ready for fall…

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Finished this up the other day and thought I’d post it here too. It served as a warm up for a few mornings. I tend to forget that I need to take about a half hour to warm up before I start working for the day.

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Also working on another image that I think I might make into a promo-poster. This was originally started for COW over on ConceptArt.org. I haven’t participated with COW in so long!

Anyway, more work to come along with some exciting announcements in October and November! :)

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Created for a private commission of the mythological bird: The Phoenix. Birds are always fun and challenging to paint! :)

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Two new images that I’ll post about later. Things have been busy with friends visiting this week! We’ve been having so much fun and we still have until Saturday! :)

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We went to Stinson Beach the other day and explored the coastline around there. It was so incredibly beautiful! Afterward, I felt so inspired. Sometimes I forget that putting your feet in the surf and being in nature can really help take the edge off. I’ve been under a lot of stress lately with work and finding more work. Somehow, standing in the sand and watching the ocean helped me feel grounded. It was just awesome to be with great friends in an awesome place. I will most likely return to this spot to recharge. :)

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John’s dad came to visit last weekend and we took a trip to see the Redwoods. Such an amazing place; especially right now. Because of all of the rains, the forest has exploded with green moss, lichen, saplings and new ferns everywhere! It looks almost prehistoric! It was nice to go and “re charge” for a bit. Sadly, I don’t get to make it up there all too often.

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I’ve been messing around with personal work lately too. Work on The Red Valley is picking up and I’ve begun to to lay out species ideas and thoughts about how the project will flow. I should be posting work on the blog come November this year. I’m very excited about the project and am really looking forward to exploring the concept.

I’ve been working on the illustration section of my website too – trying to round it out with more personal work lately. This is an image a created about a week ago.

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These two images are live now. They were created for Imagine FX’s Q&A section. As always, I have a lot of fun answering the questions and creating work for the magazine. I’m fortunate in that I get to answer questions that tend to relate to creatures and such. :) You can see them in the current issue (in the US now) here –> Imagine Fx – Issue 73

That’s it for now. Fall is looking busy! :)

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New personal work. Hoping to swap out a few of the images in my portfolio in the coming weeks…

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More creature work! I’ll post more about these soon. For now, I have lots of work to start on. Things are picking up again!

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These two images were created a while ago but they are in the current issue of Imagine FX magazine and can be seen in the Q&A section. I really loved creating these two paintings. It’s an awesome creature design issue! Bobby Chiu created an excellent cover for it! You can check it out here –> Imagine FX – Issue 72

Also, I just found out that I am on the confirmed exhibitor list for Spectrum Fantastic Art Live! - A new fantasy art convention being held in Kansas City, May of next year! It should be really awesome and the list of exhibitors is pretty incredible. Needless to say, I have lots of work to get done before next Summer!

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This is a work is progress. I help run an activity on CGhub called Creature Planets. It’s a creature design activity and the current topic is to design a new mutant creature Villain for the TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle) Universe. I chose to create a Honey Badger chick! Excited to get her done – I think I might put together a tutorial for this image if I get the time.

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New personal piece. I actually didn’t like the way this image started but it grew on me as I worked on it. I’m currently working on some new work to replace some of the images in my portfolio that I feel are “out of date”.

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One of the images I was working on was this one, of a female space pilot. (Can you tell I’m trying to include more humans in my portfolio?) Anyway, this character is actually part of a private commission that sort of came to a halt a while back. I decided I’d use some of the prompts as a loose inspiration for some character studies. When I was fleshing out the costume for this character study I looked up X-Wing pilots from Star Wars for reference:

(© Lucas film)

I love this costume. It looks so simple. I mean, I’m pretty sure you could replicate this pretty easily at your local hardware store. It’s awesome and I think it points to a time in film where there weren’t massive budgets to be thrown around. At least the budget wasn’t the selling point of a movie anyway. It was about keeping it iconic. You immediately know what this is when you see it (assuming you’ve seen Star Wars). I think it’s a great reminder that, in design, the best solution is usually the simplest one.

Anyway, I’m not sure if I’ll finish the pilot or not. She was a good warm up but I think I’d like to explore more ideas about the costume and such…

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Anyway, head down to your local magazine shop or visit Uppercase online and check out my interview in issue 10! The 10th issue had two covers – two adorable dogs in bow-ties! I suggest picking one up!

Special thanks to the team at Uppercase and Super Special thanks to Glen Dresser for contacting me about the interview and asking excellent questions! :)

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Here are two new beasties! I’ll post more about them later when I get more info and such.

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I hope everyone (in the states at least) had a happy 4th of July! It was a great weekend for me. I was able to see family and sort of take a break from work. It was a good “re-charge” and I totally needed it. Excited to get back to work though. I have lot’s planned for the next couple months!

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This was sort of an experiment that turned into a finished piece. It’s what I imagined Katniss Everdeen to look like from The Hunger Games series.

Been working on lots lately. Mostly for Sychey Games. We’re working on getting content put up online so I should have more to show and talk about in regards to that soon.

Been working out more about the Red Valley too. I’m hoping it will turn out to be a fun project.

But for now, more ridiculous sketching:

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Note: The cat in the tutu is none other than Luna the Fashion Kitty. It’s become a personal mission to spread word about this cat!

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Finished up this study last week. I would call it the very fist image for The Red Valley project. I’m hoping to work more on this project when I get the time between things. Life is getting busier, which is good.

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Sketching hipster alien kids in blue pencil while photoshop saves a massive file is always fun too.

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Two new pieces. I’ll be posting more about them later. I had a lot of fun painting these!

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I feel like I learned a lot working through these. I’m finding that the more I slow down while drawing and painting, the better results I get. I know, that seems obvious. I think it can be hard to remember that when painting digitally though. It’s simple to lay down one color and move on but I’m finding that I need to stay and really add to the color to make it look more textured and rich. I’m also learning more about textures lately. I’m hoping I’ll keep improving my technique. Lately, I feel like I’m actually understanding how to paint in the computer (what, two years after I really started!) I know I have SO much more to learn.

I also ordered a few postcards and business cards to send and hand out. I mostly wanted to try out Moo.com and get in on the small business offer they had going. I got a square card reader for free! Looking forward to being able to take credit cards at conventions and such. Hopefully I’ll actually get a touch phone by then! haha!

Anyway, working lots on game stuff this month. Hopefully I’ll be able to share some updates about that later this summer. More work coming soon!

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Starting the first image from The Red Valley project. Still very much in progress…

trying to squeeze personal work in between client projects :P

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Here are the two illustrations I created:

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Been working on lots lately. I was also recently asked to do an interview about my work for a different magazine – I’ll share more details on that later when I get the go ahead. Gearing up to start my new personal project soon as well. Really looking forward to focusing on some personal work. I’ve been working to round out the fantasy side of my portfolio lately too.

But for now, tea time! :)

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A new personal piece. More work coming soon!

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A new personal piece I finished up. I’ll be updating my website with some new work soon but for now you can see new work here and on my facebook page – Brynn Metheney – Concept Art & Illustration on Facebook.

I also wanted to give a shout out to Chris Koehler! Chris is a freelance illustrator  and instructor who I met through college. I never had the joy of taking his website class but he is an awesome and inspiring dude! You can check out his work here: Chris Koehler Art and Illustration.

He recently featured me on his awesome blog along with some other incredibly talented people:

http://chriskoehler.com/blog/artist-spotlight-books/

The post is about books and FishHooks was featured. Check out the rest of the post to see some awesome work from the other artists! Big thanks Chris! :D

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Been working away lately and the year is going by so fast! I can’t believe it’s already May. Where is 2011 going? So far this year has been full of surprising opportunities and good things.  Just finished two new pieces. I’ll post more about them later when they go live and such. These were super fun to create! I always enjoy painting Gnolls and weird alien creatures.

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This critter above was actually inspired by an older sketch I did. You can find him in one of the sketchbook pages of this post.

Trying to fit in personal work lately. Finding it harder to find time for things of the sort though. However, it is a must so I’ll be posting some progress here soon to stay on top of it more. I have a new project I’ve just become a part of. I’ll be working as lead artist for a new start-up in Seattle, WA. I’m very excited about the project (as it involves a huge amount of creatures) and I can’t wait to start sharing work. I’ll be posting news and such as we release content online. Of course, this is a freelance gig so I’ll be staying here in Oakland for the time being. :)

Here is something I’m currently working on:

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Obviously still a work in progress. I’ve warmed up to the image in the process of creating it but I’m not sure if I’ll keep it around. I’m wanting to update my website with some new work and this image was the beginning of that…

I’d also like to post a reminder about my book “FishHooks”. May is my birthday month so if you buy FishHooks during this month you can save 15%! I had a lot of fun putting together this book and have started plans for my second volume. Of course, that means that I will probably discontinue this book once I release volume 2 this fall. You can view more images of the book here: http://www.fishhookstudio.com/2010/09/fish-hooks/

You can buy FishHooks on Lulu.com, here: http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/fish-hooks/12917022

Anyway, I suppose that’s it for now. I’ll be posting more news soon!

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I am very happy to announce that I’ve found out that “Elegant Hunters” has made it into Spectrum this year! I got the letter in the mail yesterday. I am so incredibly happy and honored to be a part of this amazing publication! A big thank you to the judges for accepting me into this awesome book! I really can’t wait to see it.

“Elegant Hunters” was created for Imagine FX magazine. You can see the magazine article here.

Anyway, I’ve been working on updating my current portfolio. This is a study I did for my concept art section – Mother and offspring. I’m wanting to try and expand on some other subjects and show them in alternate views more. I don’t think I will expand this species though. I’m also working out some new environments and such too. I’m excited to start posting some new work! I haven’t been able to much in the way of personal work lately so I’m excited to actually have some time. I’ll be posting some progress on a few new images for my illustration section later this weekend. I’m also working on lots of new work for Sychey Games. It’s a very exciting project to be a part of! I’ll be posting lots more on it as we release content online.

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Things have been bittersweet lately. The sketch up above was something I thought I’d finish but it’s been “collecting dust”. I’ve had some really great prospects for a new job coming up soon. I’m really very excited about it! It would definitely be a step up and more in the direction I’d like to go with my career. Of course, as it is with movies and video games, everything is “Non-disclosure”. I can share things as I go along though. I’ve been working closely with Sychey Games recently on a new project they are creating. Here is some artwork that I am allowed to share. Sketches for Plasmagonia™ :

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This project has been a blast to work on so far! Lots and lots of creatures to design. I’ll be sharing more about this project as it moves forward too!

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I suppose (some) of the bitterness of the last couple of weeks would come from the fact that my project, The Morae River, has come to a close. I’ve decided to leave it alone for now. It’s hard to let go of a project that has been such a huge part of my life for the last three years. I feel as though the project has grown stagnant and I’ve fallen into a “system”. Which is always good but I need the project to be more than that. The Morae River taught me so much though. Really, I’m seeing it as somewhat of a jumping off point for my next project. I’ve realized that I’d rather not be in Solturna. Of course, even though I rarely have time to work on personal work my mind needs a place to go so I’ve decided to take on something new a little closer to “home”.

This is a rough banner for my new venture. I’ll be posting more on this project soon but for now it’s very “under construction”. I am really excited for it though. I feel as though it’s closer to the project I envisioned in the first place.

Also a reminder that you can follow my activity and such on Facebook now:

Brynn Metheney – Concept Art & Illustration

I also post sketchbook pages on that page a little more frequently than I do here so check it out! :)

More exciting news coming soon!

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A very big thank you to the Imagine FX team for featuring some of my work! :) It is always such an honor to be included in this magazine and always so much fun answering questions for the panel!

Here are the two images that were created for the tutorials:

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That’s it for now. Some other really great news to come soon along with some new work from a new project I’m beginning to work on.

:)

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This was an old sketch I stumbled across and I thought I’d post it. I was reminded of it by my recent “Daily Deviation” feature over on DeviantArt.com. “Dinner With Gnolls” was part of an idea I had to explore gnoll customs and physiology as a way to boost my portfolio with more fantasy/concept work. The piece was sort of a turning point for me as I began to experiment with light-source a bit more than I was used to. While I’m not really fond of the piece now it was a nice surprise to have it featured as it was to stop and remember it for a minute. In any case, I’d like to explore gnolls a bit more as I usually think they are overlooked in fantasy and such. Most times they a written off as bloodthirsty and dangerous – which I suppose could be the case. However, I always have fun taking something like this and putting a naturalist twist on the subject. ;)

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This is a more recent piece. Another one for Imagine FX magazine. This one should be out in stores soon. I have a few other Q&A’s that will be out sooner that this one but I felt as if I should post about it now since it hadn’t been put up anywhere else before now.

Work on personal projects is slow as I am busy with other projects – I feel like I’ve been saying this a lot. :P  Either way I’m beginning to adjust to the work load so I’m hoping to get some personal work done soon. I have some ideas for a new project I’d like to start. The Morae River has been halted for now. I think the project has been exhausted. I think there were too many restrictions with the way it was set up. In any case, I’m excited to start exploring a new world.

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Just got this in today – a piece I did for Imagine FX’s Q&A section. These have been so much fun to work on! This was one of my favorite questions to answer: “How do I give my creature a human personality?” You can view the article here and the step by step I did here:

It’s available in this month’s Imagine FX magazine, (USA) which by the way, had a really great cover featuring Catwoman by Adam Hughes. It’s always such a pleasure working with this magazine. I’m very excited and honored to be a part of their Q&A panel! :)

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Something fun for promotion.

I’ve also added a subscribe feature to this blog. Now you can receive email updates in your inbox whenever I post new content. It’s in the sidebar ————>

Recently I’ve been working on more and more projects. It’s been exciting as some of them have been with some bigger clients – which I hope I can talk about more soon! While I draw and paint for most of my day there are times when I’d like to just do something else to pass time. Not that I don’t absolutely love what I do but there are times when I’d like to have a change of scenery. I don’t think I’m alone. Some artists like to take walks, garden, play video games, make things or do something else that stimulates the brain and body in a different way.

Recently I’ve been working on these small brooches. They started as Christmas gifts I gave to friends and family this past year and they have turned into something I do when I’ve finished working for the day and just need to unwind on the couch with a glass of wine. The name “Coyote Tail Crafts” come from my living in the Mojave desert. It was a hard place to live – it was always hot and there wasn’t much out there growing up. Recently it’s been expanding into more of a suburban paradise which, was something I always wished for as a kid. However, I find myself feeling heartbroken over the fact that some of those empty fields have been filled in with tracking homes and that some of those large open expanses of desert have been replaced by Super Wal-Mart. There aren’t too many coyotes near the city anymore but they’re still out there somewhere. I want it to be the desert again, not some weird artificial environment. :/

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Anyway, the brooches are really fun to make. I like to name each pin after a place or memory – which is what the “name” is here in this image. Anyway, I just thought I’d share on of the little things I like to work on other than illustration and such. I’ve always thought it was important to branch out and try everything. Sometimes it’s just fun to make something with your hands that you can give to loved ones or sell to strangers. Either way, doing something creative everyday is important even if its just cutting up felt and fabric. Its a way to get through it all…

To see more brooches you can visit my etsy store here –> http://www.etsy.com/shop/CoyoteTailCrafts

What do you like to do in your spare time?

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Lately I’ve been working with Imagine FX magazine on their Q and A section, answering art and illustration questions. The experience has been fun and exciting as most of them have been on the subject of creatures! The magazine is incredibly inspiring and I’m really excited to be pat of it.

This is the first (of a few) Q and A’s I’ve done for the magazine. It can be found in the current issue of Imagine FX – issue 66. I’ll be posting others as they appear in future issues. More posts for other work I’ve done for clients soon.

Meanwhile I’ve been pinching myself about some opportunities that have presented themselves… Life is good.

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Things have been really busy as of late. Working on lots of projects all at once these days. This is always a good thing though. I’ll have more info and images to show when things go live and whatnot. I did post some of the new work on BrynnArt.com but I’ll post a more detailed look here in the coming months. Looking forward to sharing some of the work I’ve been able to do over the last few weeks. This was something I doodled in my sketchbook weeks ago and I thought I’d revisit the fellow. Trying to focus more and more on creatures as of late. I’m finding that they are really what I’d like to continue doing.  Still trying to figure out what I’d like to do with The Morae River…speaking of which:

I believe about a year ago I was asked by Brazilian Magazine – Contém Glúten to be included in their lovely publication. It features artists from all around the globe so be sure to check it out – There are some very talented people in there and I am very honored to be among them! It’s gorgeously designed! As you can see, the work I submitted is a bit older – The Greater Fugamus is still walking on two feet!

I’m also re-designing my website! This will be the 8th time I’ve done it since 2007 I believe. Sort of ridiculous right? I suppose I’ve never found a look that I’m fond of. I feel like I might stick with this look for a while though. It’s a simple design. I should have it up within the next few days.

I’m off to work on sketches for card illustrations…

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Happy New year! I’m so excited to start a new year. 2011 has some exciting promises! I’ve been busy this last month so I don’t have much in the way of personal work. Here are some pages from the sketchie book. (I’ve been loving my blue pencil lately) The top image is of a few doodles for an upcoming assignment. The others were probably done while I was watching some sort of nature documentary.

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I’m looking forward to the end of this month. I’ll be finishing up a project I’m excited to share!  I’ll also be sharing some work I did for Future Publishing – Creature fun!

Pixar Animation - click for info!

Something for you East Bay folks : If you live anywhere near Oakland, Ca. you need to make a stop by the Oakland Museum and see the Pixar: 25 Years of Animation Exhibit. It’s only up until January 9th so be sure to see it before it closes. I’ve never been so inspired. It really is a remarkable show. Here is where you can find: Information.

In other news my sister is getting married at the end of this month! I’ll be making the journey to Southern California, yet again, to celebrate with her and our families. I’m looking forward to seeing family and friends that I haven’t seen for some time. :)

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I have a very talented friend who is part of a site called Alphabeastiary. She’s part of a lot of other sites too but I was recently inspired to join the project to fulfill those moments when my mind is blank for ideas and I just want to draw. The letter D was dedicated to the creature: Dobhar Chu

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This was my take on the critter. Be sure to check out the whole bunch, they are all awesome!

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In my attempt to be festive this year, I began to draw a reindeer in a stoic pose that I thought I would make Christmas cards with. However, he slowly turned into some sort of imp gnawing on a candy cane. Go figure. Anyway, these were my Christmas cards this year. I’m hoping to do something fun every holiday season. The cards were lots of fun to make too.

I have two other bits to share, one a book that has just come out – which I’m super excited about and an animation that blew my mind. First, I’ll talk about the book.

The book is titled, “Animals Real & Imagined“ and it’s illustrated by one of my most favorite creature artists of all time, Terryl Whitlatch. It looks to be a whole book of her studies and illustrations of animals that she’s observed and those she’s imagined and created herself. I cannot wait to get my paws on this book and I suggest that if you are into creature design, that you grab it as well. You can read about the book and Terryl here: Academy of Art News – Terryl Whitlatch

Anyway, here is the animation I mentioned before. It’s been circulating on the internet for the last week. If you haven’t seen it, I suggest you take a look:

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I think this is done for now. She’s part of a collaborative project I’m working on with two other very talented ladies.

… been busy with other stuff I can’t really post.

More work coming soon.

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Navigator – Commission work (work in progress)

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doodles for Creature Planets

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Work in progress for Dominance War

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Life of the River – Finished for the Morae River – check out the show at Sagebrush here –> The Morae River.com

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work in progress for a collaborative project involving two very talented ladies – Allison Theus and Tiffany Turrill – Which I’m incredibly excited about!

Lots of works in progress for now… they will all get finished. Eventually…

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Next week there will be a small work show entitled: “The Walls” at Periscope Cellars here in Oakland, Ca. I will have four small prints from The Morae River for sale there. There will also be a crafts bazzar where you can fine things like jewelry and small items of the sort! Hope you can come out if you’re in the area! There will be an awesome collection of art and of course, wine!

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This was created for Creature Planets. I’m too busy this month to participate this round but I thought I’d make a quick sketch anyway.

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Here is a scary beastie I created for Creature Planets.

“Unknown to many is Lucifer’s gate guardian, Lilith. When Lucifer challenged Yahweh with a higher throne, he was thrown down to the abyss forever. His most faithful lover, Lilith, followed him into darkness becoming his most beloved. Lucifer appointed Lilith as his gate guardian as she was most jealous and most protective of him. Her tongue can taste the lies on your breath, her eyes can see the darkness in your heart, and her whispers drive you mad. Only the most deserving can stand before her most beloved Lucifer and those deemed unworthy are torn and broken by her.”

Have a Happy Halloween Everyone!

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For A.P.E. this year I decided to put together a book promotional and personal work from the past year or so. I thought I’d take a few pictures of the book to give a feel for what it will look like. I’m really excited to have finally done this and I feel like it came out really well.

The book is 40 pages of full color drawings, sketches, and illustrations. It measures 8.5 x 11 (vertical) and is perfect bound. It will cost $22.00 usd. You can buy the book at from me at A.P.E. and it will also be available for purchase online a few days before A.P.E. weekend – I’ll make an announcement here and on twitter.

Its is available on Lulu here – http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/fish-hooks/12917022

Here are a few photos of what is inside:

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Anyway, This was so much fun to put together! I hope you come out and see me at A.P.E. The convention is full of amazingly talented people showing off and selling all sorts of stuff! Be sure to drop by if your in the area!

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Two works in progress. The first is a study of the Southern Shore of Tul. It’s still in the “awful looking” stage but hopefully that will change the more I work into it.

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This is a page of studies of a new organism in the works… More on her coming soon.

Lately I’ve been trying to get ready for APE. I’ve put together a sketchbook though Lulu.com. I’ve sent out for the first draft and I’ll be posting pictures of it here on my blog. It will be available at my table as well as online through lulu. Look out for it soon!

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This was an experiment I started the other night in pencil, watercolor and oil – a method I used to work in constantly. It requires lots of layering with fixatives, and matte mediums. The end result is usually a more layered looking effect than this. I kept the technique up for a while until I started to get sick from the chemicals in the fixative – the back of label read: causes nausea, vomiting, headaches and dizziness. I endured a year of these symptoms before I realized what was happening.  I was careful to spray things outside, wear a mask or cloth around my face and let the piece dry for a day or so. However, with tight deadlines in school I’d have to breathe in the fumes while I was working on the final product almost inevitably. The fixative would linger around the piece for a week or so.

I recently tried the method again without the fixative, with this drawing of a dodo, but found that turpenoid has the same effect. I’m not sure if it’s association now or if it is something in the thinner but I can’t use the stuff without getting dizzy spells and headaches for a few days. I hate writing about this because I feel like its my fault. I feel like I’m less. In any case, I’m trying to find new methods to replicate the way in which I used to work.

When I couldn’t produce work the way I wanted to, I learned how to paint in the computer. I knew I needed to learn because of the field I had decided I wanted to be a part of but was always reluctant – I think it had something to do with the environment I was in at the time. I had one instructor who always told me to learn it but it didn’t hit me until I went to “Revelations” – an art convention put on by Massive Black. I saw digital painting in a way I hadn’t ever seen it before – in the process of being done. I understood that it wasn’t so different from what I was doing on paper, in fact, it was structured exactly the same. I was excited about art-making in a way I hadn’t been in a long time. I came home, bought a wacom tablet and photoshop and began to teach myself…slowly. I didn’t have too many resources in college in the digital department. There was one class that covered everything briefly, but nothing that taught painting or anything that would be necessary to create a digital illustration from scratch. I taught myself almost everything I know now with class assignments and personal work when I could. Needless to say, most of my attempts were pretty awful in the beginning. I’ve since deleted a lot of my student work except for the work I did for The Morae River my last semester.

I am in no way an expert in digital media either. I only know about 10% of what I should probably know. I’m learning new things every day and I hope to be for a while. The illustration above has digital enhancements added to it. I couldn’t finish it in oil due to the headache. I’m wanting to figure out my process again, in a more health-friendly way because I like to work in watercolor and pencil.

I’m not sure why I felt the need to type all of this….I guess that’s what blogs are for? haha…

edit* …And since you’ve endured my rambling on, you should watch this as a reward. (if you skip ahead to watch it I wont blame you either, hehe)

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Things have been busy lately, leaving me little time to produce any work for myself. I have  a few projects happening, all of which are unmentionable right now. I was recently asked by the crew over at Science…Sort of to design a shirt for their 52nd episode – their one year anniversary. The shirt features Peaches the Brachiolope, their mascot, in some party gear. Science…Sort Of interviewed me a while back about my project, The Morae River. Anyway, check out the show – it’s really interesting, awesome and hilarious. If you like science, beer, and all things geeky then it’s definitely the show for you!

You can see and buy the shirts –> Here.

I’ll be posting more personal work later.Aactually some sketches for The Morae River. The project has been suffering from neglect. It’s a matter of time and not having it lately. I’m adjusting to a new job and so things are sort of on hold.

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This was a sketch I did for a recent Creature Planets. It’s still rough and I probably won’t go with it but I thought I’d post it anyway…

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- My work always starts out with a crappy sketch (above) Just to get an idea of what I want to put in the image.

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- With this piece, I flipped the image and worked out the pose a bit more until I liked it.

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- Then its on with the pencil drawing. I work with an irregular shaped brush on a normal setting with opacity at 100%. The brush works with the pressure sensitivity on my tablet so I can get dark and light without having to adjust anything. (the fact that I don’t know how to “talk” photoshop is showing…) I keep my sketch layer on a lower opacity than the final pencil layer so I can see my sketch while I’m drawing.

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- Now its time to add in some color. I’ve set my pencil layer to multiply (for now) and I have created layers for color – one for the rocks, one for BattleCat’s fur, and one for his armor. I like to use as few layers as possible when I work but in this case I needed to be able to edit the fur and armor separately. I’m adding in some modeling but not too much – just enough to get an idea of where I want my light-source to be.

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- If I were painting this traditionally I would have layed in the background first. However, with the magic of “layers” I can add in a background after I’ve painted most of BattleCat. For the background I used my “go-to” brush as well as a soft edges brush to make the clouds look softened here and there.

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-I’ve added in BattleCat’s stripes as well as add in some more shadows to his fur. I’ve done this on a layer above the fur but underneath the armor so I don’t have to worry about erasing too much.

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- Adding in some more shadows – this time to the armor.

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- Now I’m starting to add in some darker shadows over everything I’ve painted so far. These shadows are on their own layer and are a deep purple – as opposed to the darker greens and reds I was using for the armor and fur. I’ve also added in some whiskers at this point.

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- Highlights come in at this point as well as some cool reflective light to counteract the warmth in the piece. The highlights on BattleCat are a warmer, gold tone. While I’m painting all of this I will go back and forth in-between steps. I don’t paint the image completely step by step like this but this will give you an idea of how it all come together more easily.

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- Now I’m adding in some “ultra highlights”. Almost stark-white to give BattleCat some pop in his darker areas. I’ve also pushed back some of his limbs and his tail using a bit of atmosphere. This helps in giving the image a bit of depth.

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- Finally I’ve warmed up the piece by adding in a layer of gold tones on multiply. I set it to around 20% opacity. I’ve also added in some flecks of golds, reds and whites to the background along with some flags and things of the sort – keeping those on a lower opacity as well to keep them pushed back. At the end of the painting I’ll switch my pencil layer from “Multiply” to “Ghost”. “Ghost” is a filter by flaming pear that turns a line transparent. What I like about it is, that the line will become a darker version of whatever color is underneath it. The change is very slight, however if you scan in pencil drawings it will really come in handy. You can find that filter: Here. (It’s the download at the top titled: “Free Plugins”.

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All of the fur and texture on the saddle is created by my brush traveling back and froth on the wacom. I don’t use fur brushes or imported textures. This isn’t to say that they won’t save you lots of time and can’t look great – I just don’t know enough about them to use them confidently and I enjoy painting like I would be drawing in marker. Its just a preference for my personal work. For this image I used these brushes:

which you can download : Here. (That last brush, by the way, is my “go to” brush. I like the bristles and the slight texture it creates.

I also created a color palette to help with keeping the basic colors consistent. I don’t normally do this but it helps with something like this where color has to remain very vivid.

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Anyway, if you still have questions, you can contact me via the contact page or comment on this post. :)

Thanks for reading!

I should also add that BattleCat is © Mattel

]]> http://www.fishhookstudio.com/2010/08/mean-kitty/feed/ 12 http://www.fishhookstudio.com/2010/08/885/ http://www.fishhookstudio.com/2010/08/885/#comments Wed, 11 Aug 2010 18:58:38 +0000 Brynn Metheney http://www.fishhookstudio.com/?p=885

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Finished this, more coming later…

Pakasuchus kapilimai – the cat croc.

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Finished this one. I’m off to work on more. Although, this will be my only Tapir illustration for a while – sadly. They are awesome creatures. This little guy is next:

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Learn more about him, Here.

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