Dwarven Merchants-Giant Fox, 14″ x 11″ Watercolor Pencil and Chalk on Toned Paper, 2017

From the beginnings of my professional career in 1992 to where I am today, I have held the persistent need and desire to deliver the best of my abilities for my clients projects. Typically if a commission has six to eight weeks to deadline, and I love the content, I try to carve out as much of that time as possible with labor for that commission.

There are obvious constraints here of pricing and complexity around these deadlines, but I tend not to let the monetary value of the project dictate just how much creative, mental, and physical labor I place in the artwork. Each piece speaks to me of its needs, and I try to listen and feed it accordingly.

Fumble, 11″ x 14″ Watercolor Pencil and Chalk on Toned Paper, 2017

With that said, finding time for personal projects can be quite difficult. I never have ‘down time’ given I am working non-stop on client’s projects, therefore I need to carve out very specific time frames in my schedule to fit in larger personal projects, be they Empathetic Robots, Astronauts, or ventures into Middle-earth.

But in the cases presented here, I only need a few hours of concentration for the opportunity to ‘draw for fun’!  These windows have ranged from an hour in the waiting room of a doctor’s visit, to a cross country airline flight, to a couple late evening hours after visiting with my parents.

Hill Giant – ‘Look wha’ da dawgs cornurd!’, 14″ x 11″ Watercolor Pencil and Chalk on Toned Paper, 2021

The times I find myself away from the studio and typical work flow are a chance to enter into a portal of ‘personal creative time’. It is like I am in an art bubble, feverously racing to finish this newly found concept/project before the bubble pops and I am cast back into the world of client projects.

These short time bubbles bring on a heighten sense of productivity from me, force artistic choices I may not linger over – make a choice and keep moving! No time to second guess! There are no mistakes, all marks get incorporated into the final!

The point is not to make something ‘perfect’.  It is to make drawing fun.

Knock at the Door, 11″ x 14″ Watercolor Pencil and Chalk on Toned Paper, 2015

Shared here are my art bubble forays into drawing. Given I do not tackle any Dungeons & Dragons work commercially, but have an immensely deep history in narrative art and story generation, I love to turn on the gamer inside of me and see what comes out.  Some of these are inspired by specific elements or triggers from role-playing (a spell, or random monster encounter) while others spin off from something I have seen which may never find its way into commercial work, but felt justified as an artistic expression.

Any way you cut it, these Drawings are for FUN! And all were for a single client…me!

Wall of Fire, 14″ x 11″ Watercolor Pencil and Chalk on Toned Paper, 2021

 

Wizard’s Room, 14″ x 11″ Watercolor Pencil and Chalk on Toned Paper, 2017

 

Trolls!, 14″ x 11″ Watercolor Pencil and Chalk on Toned Paper, 2017

The Ornithologist, 11″ x 8″ Watercolor Pencil and Chalk on Toned Paper, 2017

 

+4 Save vs. Poison, 11″ x 14″ Watercolor Pencil and Chalk on Toned Paper, 2014

Orc Shaman, 14″ x 11″ Watercolor Pencil and Chalk on Toned Paper, 2016

 

Invincible, 14″ x 11″ Watercolor Pencil and Chalk on Toned Paper, 2017

 

Island Giant – Ranged Weapon, 14″ x 11″ Watercolor Pencil and Chalk on Toned Paper, 2019

   

Arya Stark, Jon Snow & Nymeria, 11″ x 14″ Watercolor Pencil and Chalk on Toned Paper, 2015

 

Cold Hearts – Arya Stark and The Hound , 11″ x 14″ Watercolor Pencil and Chalk on Toned Paper, 2015

Hungarian Horn-tailed Dragon, 14″ x 11″ Watercolor Pencil and Chalk on Toned Paper, 2017

 

The Rookery, 14″ x 11″ Watercolor Pencil and Chalk on Toned Paper, 2017

 

Rivendell – The Riders, 11″ x 14″ Watercolor Pencil and Chalk on Toned Paper, 2015

 

Retrieval, 14″ x 11″ Watercolor Pencil and Chalk on Toned Paper, 2015

 

Prisoner Within, 14″ x 11″ Watercolor Pencil and Chalk on Toned Paper, 2017

 

Low Tide, 14″ x 11″ Watercolor Pencil and Chalk on Toned Paper, 2017

 

Pippin and the Palantir of Orthanc, 14″ x 11″ Watercolor Pencil and Chalk on Toned Paper, 2018

Kvothe, 14″ x 11″ Watercolor Pencil and Chalk on Toned Paper, 2017