Muddy Colors

Infected By Art 9 – Award winners

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 14:39:32 GMT

Infected By Art has just announced their jury selections for this years 9th Annual. Congratulations to the Award winners and to the artists selected for inclusion in the show. I would also like to thank the jury for their unpaid stress and labor in making the final selections, I know it is hard to make some choices – Ed Binkley, Tran Nguyen, John Picacio, Dug Stanat I would also like to acknowledge all those artists…

Fischer Paints a Strat

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 11:30:58 GMT

Are you ready to rock! This month I take you through my process for painting a 1980’s Fujigen Japan Strat. Guitars are a bit of an addiction with me, and the more mojo they have the better. So every once in a while I take that mojo a step further with paint! Making a one of a kind, utterly unique instrument. And as a bonus here is another custom Ibanez RG 570 that I…

8 Steps to Recover From Burnout

Mon, 18 Jan 2021 10:00:03 GMT

So you’ve spent years of your life honing your skills as an artist and working hard to reach your career goals, and eventually you begin to build a client base, and more and more people are willing to pay you money in exchange for doing what you love (is this real life?!). You feel SO lucky that you get to do this for a living! Over time though, you slowly start to lose motivation for…

Step By Step: Portrait In Oil

Sat, 16 Jan 2021 11:00:37 GMT

Back in 2017, I attended a working art retreat with friends. I was working in games, so my day job work was all digital, and I was itching to get the traditional media out and paint. I didn’t feel a pressing desire to paint a fantasy scene or portfolio piece at the time. I’d been meaning to paint a portrait of my mother and had taken photos the last time I visited her with that…

Sometimes we all need some art therapy

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 06:10:21 GMT

I don’t know about you, but sometimes you just have one of those days weeks months years that you could really use some art therapy. Some beauty and inspiration to lift you up! Join me and let’s do a dive through some auction sites and grab some beautiful art to look at! William Adolphe Bouguereau – Berceuse (Le coucher) – This painting has been really captivating me. I find the imagery beautiful (I’ve never thought…

atmosfear

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 10:00:01 GMT

Happy new year’s everyone! As expected, as soon as January 1st rolled around, everything immediately got fixed and 2021 seems like its gonna be smooth sailing! Anyhoo, been working on this tree painting (surprise!) off and on for the past few weeks that I’ve finally kind of turned a corner on. It’s been a long slow build up and gone differently from how these normally develop. We have this big maple behind the barn that…

The Unseen Work of David Grove

Wed, 13 Jan 2021 09:00:42 GMT

As a follow-up to my article on the Society of Illustrators, I thought it would be a good time to feature some of the David Grove’s unseen work. Prior to his passing in 2012, David had asked Greg Manchess and myself to archive, manage and distribute his work. A part of this management took the form of having David’s archives photographed and digitized. David left a large body of his work to the Society, where…

How Doth the Little Crocodile…

Tue, 12 Jan 2021 10:30:31 GMT

How doth the little crocodile Improve his shining tail And pour the waters of the Nile On every golden scale! How cheerfully he seems to grin How neatly spreads his claws, And welcomes little fishes in With gently smiling jaws! Thought I’d ring in my first post for the new year with an old-fashioned demo! Like many of you, I sometimes struggle with juggling client projects and commissions with my own personal work. And more…

Seize the Spoils

Mon, 11 Jan 2021 10:21:28 GMT

The Magic set of Kaldheim takes place in a world inspired by Norse Mythologi. This card illustration: “Seize the Spoils” is a classic plunder situation, like most people know from Viking stories. They come they burn and grab what they can and escapes in boats. Fair to say that my ancestors was takers. This illustration posed a huge bunch of difficulty for me. I had to create a scene of pillaging with people grapping stuff,…

Learning To Swim. A Metaphor

Sat, 09 Jan 2021 11:30:49 GMT

I can’t say I remember from my own point of view all of the moments that went into when I learned how to swim, but what I am certain of is that it involved another who was there for me to swim to. I was a small child, and she was an amazing and kind human and even after all these years, I can say I remember her kindness and guidance and that the experience…

An Excuse to Post Drawings that Inspire Me

Fri, 08 Jan 2021 11:00:09 GMT

Drawing is many things to many people. It is, foremost, primarily a tool of study, of observation of the world around us. There was a time that drawing was the primary method of recording information to be brought into the studio and further into painting. Today this is still the process for many artists. As a tool to heighten observation it is unsurpassed at least where form and value are concerned. As a foundational course…

Vogue Parshendi

Thu, 07 Jan 2021 09:00:30 GMT

I’m quite the fan of Brandon Sanderson‘s novels, so it’s always a special treat for me to be able to contribute art to them. Brandon loves to add art to his books that helps explain some complex aspects of his story (maps, armor charts, war routes, etc), but also enjoys adding art that simply fleshes out the world, even if just in mood. Something that helps the reader immerse them self in that world a…

New Year… New Members!

Wed, 06 Jan 2021 09:00:54 GMT

Muddy Colors strives to provide it’s readers with insight into the industry that is as relevant and current as possible. Part of that mission involves rotating our roster on occasion, and bringing on new members, to ensure we are providing you with a wide range of expert viewpoints. With that said, it is our great privilege to announce several new members of Muddy Colors, all of whom will be making their debut posts in the…

Showdown of the Skalds

Tue, 05 Jan 2021 11:00:18 GMT

Never complacent to settle on a regular process and stick with it, I decided to paint an assignment in acrylic. Acrylic is not something that is foreign to me. In fact, I used acrylic paints as early as the fourth grade. I continued to use it throughout high school and college—either as a chosen medium to do class assignments, or part of a process that used a bunch of different mediums layered over top of…

Richard V. Corben 1940-2020

Mon, 04 Jan 2021 15:39:44 GMT

One of the most influential artists in the history of comics—and of the fantastic art world in general—Grand Master Richard V. Corben passed away following heart surgery December 2, 2020. Born in Anderson, MO on October 1, 1940, Richard graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1965 and remained a life-long resident of the KC area. While working as an artist for the industrial Calvin Animation Studio he created the short live-action/animated film Neverwhere…

Concepting with Dan dos Santos

Sat, 02 Jan 2021 09:00:49 GMT

“Where do you get your ideas?” is one of the most asked, and often one of the most difficult questions for an artist to answer. In this live demonstration, Award-Winning Book Cover Artist, Dan dos Santos, attempts to explain his abstract thought process and show you how you too can come up with new and innovative solutions to your pictorial problems. Using entirely audience suggestions to invent an imaginary novel on the spot, watch as…

Circe let me look into the future

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 07:00:09 GMT

Here we are at the start of a new year! 2020 was… interesting. I won’t try to capture everything that transpired because words just aren’t enough. I have memories from this year that I will treasure and events that I will mourn. I know that is true for so many of you. I will say that once I got past the strange aura of the lockdown that started in March, my work habits started to…

Goals & Gratitude

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 12:00:16 GMT

I generally tend to get a slot near New Years Eve/Day here at Muddy Colors, and I enjoy that, because New Years is a good time to take a look back at the past year, and get your plans in order for the year coming. I know that you can “start a new year” really any time of year, but the end of the calendar year carries a cultural weight to it, and I really…

Portrait As Story

Wed, 30 Dec 2020 11:00:54 GMT

Over sixty thousand years ago we started our visual communication. We didn’t just pop out making beautiful animal paintings. They didn’t just appear from nowhere, like a voice in the night. It took time to learn, to improve, to express. There was a learning curve, like anything else, to understand the materials and gain experience. The caves at Altamira and Lascaux aren’t sketches. They are statements to future generations coming after them. They certainly weren’t…

"The Krampus” Drawing Timelapse

Tue, 29 Dec 2020 11:58:07 GMT

Today I have a drawing time-lapse to darken your holidays! *Ahem* I mean brighten your holidays. Did I say darken? I meant brighten… For Christmas this year we decided to draw and paint a Krampus! It was a lot of fun, and in the following video you can get a sense of how the image progressed from sketch to tight drawing . The pencils I was working with for this drawing were a standard 2H…