2013 Sketchbook: News Update and WIP!

Because it is mere days until I hope to offer my new 2013 sketchbook (and due to the fact that I simply cannot wait!) I wanted to drop in a little sneak peek of a WIP painting I've been working on the last several days.

This piece entitled "Fisherman's Song" will be included in its black and white form in my forthcoming sketchbook. A color version (which you see above) will be included in a digital version of the sketchbook, which will include some bonus content, and will be available for download on Etsy. The plan is to offer the physical sketchbook, as well as a digital version which will include a few color paintings. The above painting will also serve as a promotional postcard, which I plan on sending to art directors, etc.

The above piece was created to be a part of a series of 4 new drawings that I created specifically for this personal project. I did them all over the course of The Lamp Post Guild's "Art of Personal Work" with Cory Godbey. I would strongly recommend you take this class if you're interested in building your portfolio, getting the attention of potential clients, or just interested in developing your voice as an artist in general. I cannot stress enough how beneficial this class was in my pursuit of illustration as a career, and I hope some of you will find it to be helpful as well!

Our Fall Class begins on Nov. 18th, 2013, and registration is open! You can sign up at http://lpg.pathwright.com/school/catalog/course/the-art-of-personal-work-cory-godbey/

and you can find an article by Cory on the importance of personal work (and a discount code!) here:

http://muddycolors.blogspot.com/2013/11/personal-work-making-it-count.html

Thanks for reading, and I will be posting more soon!

-Will

The Birdstaff Monk

Here's a quick sketch that I did last night. Sunday evenings are great for sketching. Anyway, the strange thing about this is how uncharacteristically well it came out. I wasn't really planning it, it just sort of flowed from my brain onto my sketchbook. I started drawing the girl. She turned out okay, but then it sort of felt like she needed a companion of some kind. So, I figured the Monk of the Birdstaff Order could keep her company. Now she can wander through goblin caves all she wants without having to worry about being eaten anymore. Because nobody messes with the Birdstaff and his hipster haircut. Nobody.
 
I guess that I'm improving somewhat, because I was able to draw the figures and faces directly from my head, without guessing too much. Hands, however, are another story. I need a lot more work to perfect my drawing of hands and faces. And this sketch signals a bit of a different direction for me. I think that I need to start developing more character sketches. I'll be doing a lot of that in the coming week - I have character studies to do for my Lamp Post Guild class. I'll post more about that soon.
 
Keep drawing!