Gyaarrr! I've been tagged! Gyah!

Gyarrrr, avast! I've been tagged mates! 'Tis the end o' me, I fear!

What this means, as far as I can gather, is that I must tell 7 little known things about meself, then tag and link 7 others. Gyaharrr, pity me! I know no otherrrs yet save the Seven Seas! So herrre be 7 thing little known about me!

1. I unabashadly love dwarves and giants. Aye, and if it weren't fer me height, I'd be one or the other, I'm sure.

2. I own more copies of Beowulf than I have had girlfriends (yeesh! Maybe I shouldn't share that one, yarrr!?)

3. Oi enjoy talkin' loik a poirrrate, gyaharrr!

4. I am an Agnostic Odinist.

5. I enjoy candle-lit dinners, long walks on the beach and sunsets... wait, wrong list!

6. I have a deep love of the Romantic poets (Tennyson, if only ye wert alive. Alas...)

7. I feed my cats grilled cheese. Only one really likes it.

Battle Axes RULE!

What can I say, dwarves and battles axes... does it get any better than that? I think not.

Dragon Sketch

Here's a sketch of a dragon.

Yetis

Yetis. One of the projects I just did for Triple Ace Games involved Yetis. Here are some sketches from that project.

Tony di Terlizzi Tribute to the Goblin

Here is a sketch I did for Tony di Terlizzi. Hopefully he won't see this before he gets the physical image. There is a funny story about a goblin in the original AD&D Monster Manual. It was an unfinished doodle that they used anyway. I know people who don't like it, but I loved it the moment I saw it. And when my friend told me that story it made me laugh. His work is so free and whimsical to begin with, but this was great because it carried all the emotion of the doodle that it was. 

Sleeping Giant

A sleeping giant...

A Giant Sketch

This was done today using pen and ink and a brush. I haven't done this in a long time. A buddy contacted me telling me someone may want some black and whites. So, back to the drawing board. I'll have some more stuff up soon. Please stop by and feel free to upload your own sketches for discussion.

Celtic Myth Podshow

In case you haven't already, please check out the Celtic Myth Podshow! It is an excellent resource for celtic folklore and brings to life the traditional ways of telling oral tales. The hosts are wonderful people, as well. They are very articulate and a pleasure to listen to. So don't read this ... go and check them out! ;p

Three Wise Giants

Here is a quick study from my sketch booke. It started as a line drawing, then I decided to take it farther. I hadn't rendered anything in a while, so I thought it would be a nice change of pace and would stretch my artistic muscles.

Dragons

Here are some dragons from the last week. The top one was inspired by a movie cover. I liked the composition of the dragon wings a lot. The image was fun to do. The other one, the one on the bottom, is one I did in the waiting room of a doctor's office.

I recently acquired a book on night animals. There is a wonderful picture of a bat in it. The last dragon is inspired by it, but more by the wings. When I think of dragons I think of them as having these massive, membranous wings that stretch from their shoulders down to the tail or just below the pelvis. I think this is more realistic and points to dragons being more capable of flight than they would be otherwise (unless, of course, they have magic to help them out ;p). I hope you enjoy these.

Tree Studies

Here is a cool tree I saw one day last week. I like to keep my eyes peeled for inspiring scenery. This tree was beautiful. I will use this in a painting or drawing at some point.

Away to a Distant Land

I'll be visiting a beautiful castle bnb (http://www.castlebnb.com) in the Land of Philadelpha over the weekend whilst exploring the fun of Faerie Con. I'll have some cool sketches up from that outing. Alan Lee and Kinuko Craft will be there!

Dwarf Door in the Backyard

My imagination is always working. I'm always seeing the world beyond what is there. I love it. I wouldn't trade that gift for all the money in the world.

My girlfriend has a cement erosion wall up a forested hill in her backyard. I went into the forest (as I am wont to do ;p) and found this wall. All I could think of was, "Wouldn't it be cool if I was coming to this wall for a secret meeting with the People that Live in the Hill?" I could visualize the cement being a magical facade for the real door, which looks something like this...

The Dragon Wizard

This image I did while working. Just a quick sketch over the to-do list ;p He's a character I have been playing with for awhile. A story is forming around him, but he just has to keep telling me what that story is. And images like this are little conversations I have with him.

The Dwarf, Baragir the Unhomed

I guess this would be a good time to just upload some sketches that I found inspiring and share some of my techniques and processes. Enjoy!

The above image is a character I meant to play in an online pbem. The group disbanded and the character fell thru, but he still lives on to me.

He was a dwarf with a fairly standard history. His people had been destroyed and he was out for vengeance. However, he had come to be enslaved by those who destroyed his home. He escaped and inadvertantly led them to his town. He carried alot of guilt, hence the shadowed hood and brooding, closed nature. I drew this fairly quickly. It was spontaneous and free. I loved doing this one.

Wilkomen!

The Epic Werkes Sketch Booke is a place where people can put up their fantasy drawings for others to see. I will put up sketches here frequently. Please feel free to pop on in and give a friendly "Hail and well met!" My other blog is www.epicwerkes.blogspot.com. My website is www.justinrussellart.com. Please stop on by!