Character design comparison

Been awile since i posted due to pressing deadlines (what's knew?). Here's a comparison in a character I did for the game Skateboard Madness done digitally and a version I did for kicks the old fashioned way with pencil and watercolor. It felt weird painting with a brush and paint instead of a digital pen, but it also felt like being reunited with an old dear friend. Took awhile to realize there was no undo command when I painted.I will have to keep doing these painting refresher courses up...Waddayathink?

Dice Game box cover art

Happy New Year! This my first post of the new year. This illustration was done back before Christmas but it has been too busy to post it sooner. Its actually the entire layout with final art for the box cover. Also posted it to my Facebook fan page. It was done for the dice game Fandooble which should be in stores this spring...cool! What a treat to work on a fantasy piece like this with stylized characters I created. I used to love drawing Lord Of The Rings type stuff like this back when I was a kid, before computers, internet...MTV :-) I love the tag line: The only thing more fun than stealing gold from a Dragon...is stealing it from your friends! I was given free reign to do what I wanted, character wise and composition wise and with no revisions at all....totally awesome experience! Love how I was given name credit nice and big on the side panel where the bar code is.

Just wondering if I can steal away this week to play hooky and go snowboarding :-)

Skateboard Madness Board Game cover Illustration

Heres an Illustration I did for a game board box cover for wonderful folks at Mindtwister. I also did character art that will be on game pieces and various pieces of art for other aspects of the game. It should be out in stores hopefully this spring. What a great project to work on. Being a skateboarder its very rare I get to combine my passion for art and skateboarding in one shot. The characters (which I will post soon) were really fun to create, they reflect different personality types in the world of skateboarding. Working closely with Tony Mag (skateboarding legend and owner of Mindtwister) has been a real blessing! One of the coolest guys I've had the pleasure to work with and get to know...period! In the process of creating art with Tony for a dice game with a fantasy theme...dragon,knights and wizards...AWESOME! I will post the sketch for the cover next week...so stay tuned.

I have this wicked chest cold. I've lost my voice....bummer!

Horned Lizard Character Design

Heres a recent character design of a horned lizard named "Spike" for Texas Parks and Wildlife. Did him up, in Illustrator CS-4 which is a real treat and change of pace from working in Photoshop. I really like the flat colors and simple shapes and overall clean look you can achieve with vector art. I have 4 more poses to create with this guy before its wrapped up.

Going to post some other characters soon for a gameboard I am doing which involves skateboarding as the theme of the game. Still in the process of working on it so I can't post just yet.

Still trying to find time to set up a shop on Zazzle.com linked to my site to sell goods with my art. Lemme know what you think if you've had any experience with that...I'd love to hear your input.

Read this quote the other day on Facebook from a friend of mine which goes:

Opportunity tends to knock once, then it's gone... temptation, however likes to stand there and lean on the doorbell.

Sooo true!

-Fian

Bloodsuckers bug final art

Finally getting a chance to post the final art for my bloodsuckers illustration which I completed about a week and a half ago. It was a real fun project for me to do, I just love drawing bugs, creatures and monsters... anything with a big mouth and sharp teeth. Got some creatures for me to draw? Bring 'em on!

I am in the process now of creating a storefront to sell "the goods" with my artwork on them. Just putting together images and getting ideas for new ones to get some awesome product out there. I've been bouncing back and forth with who I would use whether its Zazzle or CafePress and I think the winner for now is Zazzle. There will opportunities to win free FianStuff...so stay tuned!