I was working on this Twitter graphic for my site but then I found this great Wordpress Widget that handles everything I ever wanted in one shot!  Now I have no use for my little bluebird so I’ll post him!

“Where are the Wild Things?”

I was so thrilled and honored to be invited by Cory Godbey to contribute an illustration to his blog Terrible Yellow Eyes. Terrible Yellow Eyes is a blog that features artwork from many wonderful artists who all have a love for Maurice Sendak’s, Where the Wild Things Are.  If you haven’t checked it out you should!  Not only because I’ve made it there (ha!) but because it has a ton of amazing artwork!

My brain went in all directions when trying to come up with my interpretation for TYE.  There are so many possibilities, but having come into the project several weeks after it had started, a lot of great images have already been made.  I didn’t want to do something that had already been done!  I just love the little boy, Max, who is so mischievous and bold!  And the monsters, while obviously scary, wither under his unyielding gaze!  Well, I’m sure that part of the Wild Rumpus would have been a rousing game of hide and seek and that’s what I was trying to show in ‘Where are the Wild Things?’

Thanks, Mr. Sendak, for such a wonderful book!

I noticed recently that several of the artists that I follow have been creating images based on drawings by the kids at Chicken Nugget Lemon Tooty.  CNLT is a blog by 3 kids who draw CONSTANTLY (according to their bio .  Isaac, Grace, and Lily are celebrating their 3rd year of sharing their amazing pictures online!  They posted an invitation asking for anyone interested in re-imagining one of the drawings on the blog.  I found out about this a little late but am going to send in my illustration today.

There were so many fun and creative drawings to choose from but this dancing monster caught my eye.  I guess she entertains the kids at night!  I wonder if she would visit me?!

I just completed a few illustrations for some Sunday School papers.  I really liked these two pieces and thought I’d post them.  Hope you like!  You never know what you’re going to get around here .

I’m back with another ArtOrder challenge.  Two in a row!  I think I’m about 4 weeks ahead so you won’t see any for a while .

Back in the day when D&D was just getting started apparently they were hurting for monster ideas (not the case any more!).  Occasionally they would brew up a monster by taking random parts from different animals and sticking them together.  In this case the Owlbear.  Head of an owl and body of a bear.  Well, the ArtOrder challenge this time around was to re-imagine the owlbear.  What if the creature as so alien that the adventurer could only use the words he knew in order to describe it? Here is my submission!

I thought that it would be interesting if the teeth of the monster were vaguely shaped like the big round eyes of an owl that would glow yellow in the dark.  The silhouette of the monster would almost look owl-like but up close it would be terrifying!  The O-bears favorite treat are the glowing bugs that hang-out in the canopy of trees at night so their teeth are stained yellow from their phosphorescent goo.  And here are some of my sketches.

This time around on ArtOrder we were to create a new create based on the provided description.  Here are my results with a few sketches.

Thanks for stopping by!  I’m sick today so I’ll keep this short .

I came up with this for another round of promo cards and thought it would make a great desktop screen.  So, if you click on the picture above you can download a 1600×1200 image for use on your desktop if you are so inclined.

The second image is on the back of the promo card and shines a little more light on the story of a boy and his belt buckle.

Yeehaww!

UPDATE! : I received this comment from an art director at Wizard’s of the Coast books via ArtOrder …

Kate Irwin – “The lighting draws you in and the composition works well. It seems kind of “young audience” and that might be another reason I’m drawn to it.”

Well, these days it seems like I’m only posting on the challenges over at ArtOrder .  Well, they are such amazing challenges!  If I have any artists reading this who aren’t already involved please take a look.  They are fantasy related so if you aren’t into that then you may be out of luck.  But the prize for playing along are things like having your work looked at by well known artists and art directors in the business!  This has been my motivation to submit entries and really work on my technique.  It’s just fun.

At any rate.  This week we are trying our hand at creating a book cover with two characters locked in battle.  I think my take may have come out a bit James Bond-ish due to the massive explosion coming from the castle but it served to add some contrast and visual interest to the cover so that the potential buyer would be drawn to it.  Let’s see if the judges agree .

Below is just a peek at my process.  I’m still ironing out the kinks but it is getting there.  Thanks for stopping by.

Click the image for a larger view

Earthquake Dragon

Hey gang!  I’ve got a fun update for you today!  The ArtOrder Concept Tuesday challenge this week was on catastrophic dragons.  These dragons embody the catastrophe they are named after… so a fire dragon would be filled with fire.  This is an Earthquake Dragon!  I feel bad for our intrepid knight and his faithful squire .  He may have bit off more than he could chew.

Enhance your desktop with the 1600×1200 version of my Earthquake Dragon.

***Update***

ArtOrder posted comments from the judges!  Here are the comments regarding my entry #47.

Lars Grant-West - 47. Really cool, dramatic scene. Nicely composed, well rendered. I’d
like to see more of the beast, but what I can see is excellent.

Todd Lockwood – There were many that struck me with the strength and energy of their rendering — 36, 47, 50 to name but a few.

I love warm fuzzies!

Another ArtOrder Concept Tuesday Challenge!  This week we were challenged to create a biker gang from one of the imaginary races in D&D.  I chose the Halflings… not to be confused with hobbits these guys are nomadic race and live along the shores of lakes and streams in stilted huts.  Since they spend a lot of time near the water I designed some amphibious cycles for them!  Also, I read that they like to trade so they ride laden down with goods and are always ready to haggle .

Below is a little of the doodling I did to come up with the amphibious bikes.