Blog Portfolio

The Feeding Pool: finished

Here's the final version of the piece I did a color rough for a couple days ago.
I like it. I haven't used this style for awhile. Kinda nice how certain skills stay with you. The finish has a sort of creepy Frazetta edge to it I think. Triangle composition, scantily clad amazon warrior confronting a slimy tentacled fiend. By the way, legally, the creatures and concepts related to the creatures are property of Wizards of the Coast, I did not make them up. One thing I did add is the small pyramid on the Mind Flayer's head. I thought it would be a cool/decorative way for the Flayer to protect his brain from rivals.

The feeding pool

Here's a color rough of another sample I'll be sending to Wizards of the Coast soon. Hope they enjoy it. This time I'm using one of their creatures from D&D, the Mind Flayer or Illithid. Squid head, zaps your mind, sucks your brains out...cool.

The Sentinel

This is a color rough that i got a little carried away with for a little oil painting I'm hoping to start soon. Good grief, I haven't done oil in years...

New Technique

So I've always wanted to be "painterly" on the computer. For the most part my experiments have ended up being colored drawings to one degree or another. I've been practicing this technique for the past few days and viola!
My action sequences needed action even in the way it was painted, trying not to even think about the airbrushes. So I studied some rockin' guys like Foster, Berry, and a little Hale(even though he tends to cover and "finish" his stroke a bit more).
This is what I came up with.
It starts a great deal like a traditional oil. Sketch, then oil drawing complete with "shadow edge". But instead of laying appropriate color in appropriate spots, I began pushing and pulling with the knife. Then figuring out color areas, in this case minor tints. Softening with bristles. More knife. Details with smeary bristle. Then final details with smeary round or detail brush. I really like it and intend to continue on this track for most action sequences.

Orc Slayer

Tried another sample for Wizards. On this one I combined the techniques used for "Djinn Hunt" and "The Oni". I feel like it came out rather well. I wanted speed to the piece. I think by leaving only some areas within the focal point fully resolved while letting everything else be loose and painterly, we get to feel the crash! Haven't done traditional fantasy characters in a awhile. This was really fun.

published work

These were actually in stores a few months ago. Plum forgot I had 'em around. Just a few spot illos for a table top gaming company called Privateer Press. They own all the rights, so no snagging. Both characters belong to a sort of druid army. The witch is called Morhvanna the Autumn Blade, and the beast man (2 views, man and beast) is a Tharn warlock that can transform between his human and Ravager form.

Oni redux

This is another re-vamp. This one is a re-do i guess of the "in the mist" from my website. Most of it is "real" paint with just a dash of digital. Runny, dirty, misty fun.

Djinn Hunt

Not a 40min one, but a cool sample painting for Wizards. I've been working on a fail-safe digital painting method. Took it for a test drive and this is what came out. Really happy with this.

Frumious Bandersnatch

"Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

I guess a Jubjub bird is next, but in the meantime, here's the frumious bandersnatch. My concept watercolor for the bandersnatch is on my website www.brianvalenzuela.com. This was a bit over 40min., just because of double checking with my concept painting, but pretty cool. Kind of like a twisted hyena wolf lion monstrosity eating a yummy deer.

Giants

Latest 40min. painting. Hope you enjoy. Certainly a difference since I first embarked on this quest.

gONzO fiSH

Yes,I've been gone for a bit. Finished up Star Trek over these past few weeks, so getting back into the "goodnight" habit will be slow going. Gotta recover y'know? In the meantime here's a "Gonzo" fish I made today. Hope you like it, Ralph.

Achilles re-vamped

So the painting for Comic-con was cool. But I think this is super wicked extreme to the max. Working on Star Trek has given me MUCH more experience with drawing on the computer, and i think it shows. This was the final version sent to Spectrum. Didn't take too long to make, and only about 3 different paintings! Let's hope I hear back from Spectrum soon.