I have a recent Magic: the Gathering card get released in the Ravnica Allegiance set. Cynthia Sheppard was the art director for the painting and it ended up as one of my favorite pieces I have done for Magic. I was happy with the movement, the imagery they asked me to develop and the palette I was able to explore.

My sketches are often pretty rough. I like to explore a lot of options and keep the sketches shape and value driven as much as possible.

While my concept sketch was digital, I also did a full pencil drawing before going to oils. Here is the finish oil painting below.

So far people seem to really like the giant acorn…

Here is a detail of the face as well.

And a time-lapse of the painting from the line-work to the final.

I have also been trying to stay active painting from life. Here are a couple more videos I posted over on Instagram that I hope are helpful.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BsKW-KThi4J/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BrmSZyZhJNS/

The two models happen to be sisters and I had them sit for my Wednesday night class a couple weeks apart. I added in a warm backlight for both of the sessions that I think tied them together nicely. I continue to be amazed and grateful at how valuable painting from life is. I have learned to simplify shapes and identify values more effectively because of it. I am also learning more about the application of paint and how to use my brushes more effectively. I have a long way to go, but there is a lot of joy in the journey.

Thanks for giving my post a read and I hope that you find in beneficial.

Howard