And here is the finished Shivan Dragon.

2/25/2019

I use colored pencil for my basic color wash-in. It looks very pale now, but this is all I need to establish how the colors are going to react with each other, and it shows me if I need to modify anything. The background will be the dark blue sky with stars and the shadows, along with everything else will be more intense. Many thanks to my client for his patience. 

The Lord of Atlantis sketches will be the next up. Once both are at this point, the painted block-in and finish will be worked at the same time.

9/3/2018

This is the final sketch of updated Shivan Dragon. I went with one back leg seen. It will also have a fin on the hip to break up the green. I'll put up the color study (colored pencils) soon and move to the Lord of Atlantis sketch, although that is going to have to wait for a bit. The stars are not really indicated, but they will be included in the finish.

 8/29/2018

OK, here we go.

This is a loose sketch, and color study of the head for Shivan Dragon. As you can see, it is in the same basic pose, but the design is more focused on the claw coming at you.

And since the finished piece isn't going to be published so small that it will fit on a card, the design is larger and can be more detailed. The blue in the fins to help it break up all that green, and the red accents do not get lost.

This was sent over to my client who is happy with this direction, so I will complete a more finished sketch and see what he thinks. If all goes well, I will start the Lord of Atlantis sketch.

I am thrilled to begin designing a commission for a fan who wants two iconic images of mine from Magic: the Gathering. 

Both characters are from the alpha set. The reason I'm so chuffed is that I will be doing them as I would if Jesper offered them to me today. I like to think that I have improved over the last 25 years so they will be much closer to what I had in my head those many years ago. 

So in a couple of days, sketches will appear on this page. You won't see everything my client and I discuss, but you will see the stages that the work goes through. If you have wondered how commissioning an artist works, stay tuned!

By the way, the characters being done are Shivan Dragon and the Lord of Atlantis.