Storn's Art & Characters thread.

[Storn]

Long Hiatus

 

I've been very busy this summer, some of it not art related, some of it was. Went on a very nice vacation to Salem, Oregon with my wife to visit her daughter. Had a wonderful time.

 

Came back to Grassroots here in Ithaca (Trumansburg), NY, 4 days of bands from around the globe. Just 4 miles from our house. Unfortunately, Millie, my wife, got some kind of allergic reaction to something and we ended up waiting in a lot of medical waiting rooms. She is fine now. We are not quite sure what triggered it.

 

And I've been working on doing "plates" (re: backgrounds) for a movie... off and on. Which was really fun and difficult. Lots of new terminology to learn, lots of hard mental thinking trying to marry the actors in front of the green screen to the creators vision of what the background was supposed to be. Really neat job. I hope to share some of that soon.

 

Right now, I have 3 Legend of the 5 rings card art on my table and I'm pleased with how they are coming out. I'm doing 2 traditionally (combo of acrylic underpaint, oil finishes) and 1 digitally. But all three start out as pencil drawings.

 

Commissions really took a back seat while doing the movie job. But I've gotten a couple done recently for Death Tribble, both anthromorphics. One, of course, is a bit of a pun... courtesy of DT. I do love a bad pun! Presenting Hippochondria. Zebra was kinda interesting, because the description pushed him towards "Brick" archetype instead of the speedster like archetype. I love going against type. Check 'em out!

 

 

[death tribble]

I cannot wait for the Arc to see the Zebra picture as this is the winner of the concept to art thread this year

[Storn]

I wanted to post this earlier, but I've been rebuilding my website after it gathered a horrendous virus. I just completed a bunch of fantasy commissions and they are compiled into one of LPJ Design's Storn Cook Portfolios, number 25 to be exact! So, if you are looking for good resolutions of my artwork for clip art, look no further! Link here:

 

Storn Cook Portfolio # 25

 

Here are couple of samples from Portfolio #25 (and you can see all of the art of any of the portfolios before purchase, no blind buys, over at RPGnow). Kind of a strange selection because I was asked for THREE sitting poses. I rarely get asked to do single figure commissions with specifically sitting situations. Fun!

 

 

Also, check out my new banner art for my website, you can see it up top on my web/art/blog/site. And put here for showing off sake:

[Hermit]

While I like the harpist and noble just fine, I REALLY like your new banner. That's a great example of how many genres you cover seemingly daily

[Matt Holck]

Got three femme fatales for ya! The first is another Death Tribble special, I called her Jewel, we didn’t really come up with a codename besides that.

 

 

Jewel

 

 

 

 

Jewel WRGUB Planes Walker

+1 Untap 2 artifacts

-2 Pull WRGUB.

-7 Take control of all artifacts.

(5)

 

White Red Green blUe Black

[Storn]

Got another foursome for ya. 3 from Paul L. and these are bit strange.... I love 'em. I've got one more to do soon for Paul T., but it is a bit more involved. It is so fun to do strange.

 

And the karate Elvis is for Death Tribble.

 

 

 

 

[Enforcer84]

Looks great Storn.

[TheQuestionMan]

Lady Gem looking for her stud? Apologies... QM

[Pattern Ghost]

I wanted to post this earlier' date=' but I've been rebuilding my website after it gathered a horrendous virus. [/quote']

 

I hate to say it, but you still have that viagra/cialis spam at the top of your page when you look at the site with noscript running.

 

[Storn]

 

I hate to say it, but you still have that viagra/cialis spam at the top of your page when you look at the site with noscript running.

 

Well, my site caught hacked again, after I wiped out everything. Then I rebuilt some of it, so it got infected yet again. So, I went to Securi, spent the money and had them clean the site and together, a bit more security (hopefully) was put into place.

 

Meanwhile, I've been getting artwork done. Here are a few pieces! Here are one from Paul L., his last of his oddball religious illos he had me do. And the Decathelete (my title) for Death Tribble as a new take on the "weaponmaster" archtype on super-hero/villain.

 

Working a lot with toned paper on these, doing both pencil to darken, and white acrylic for highlights. Then working with multiply, normal and color overlay levels in Photoshop and Manga Studio. I'm kinda digging it.

 

 

 

[death tribble]

Meanwhile, I've been getting artwork done. And the Decathelete (my title) for Death Tribble as a new take on the "weaponmaster" archtype on super-hero/villain.

 

Working a lot with toned paper on these, doing both pencil to darken, and white acrylic for highlights. Then working with multiply, normal and color overlay levels in Photoshop and Manga Studio. I'm kinda digging it.

 

 

 

This was an idea for weaponsmaster as archers are the usual. And it suddenly struck me. Field athlete ! So here he is festooned with his armoury including mini-javelins which are like lawn darts but sleaker and better.

[Storn]

Paul C is one interesting patron. He has me do the usual single figure commissions for his fantasy game. But then he turns it up a notch and gives me these scenes to do with the previously done characters. And I get to do ACTION! I like doing action. A lot. These are a lot of work, but boy, both of these were SOO much fun to do. Getting to do monsters, neat locales and heroes in motion.

 

You know you are having fun when working late at night and your wife calls you to watch something and you can't tear yourself away. I hope that comes across

 

. Don't get me wrong, I like introspective scenes, single figures, landscapes...heck, I like doing pretty much all art. When I haven't done black and white brush/ink work in awhile, it is really nice to come back to that medium... or if I've been doing a lot of digital, it is nice to pick up an actual paint brush.

 

Both of these are digital, but the Black Dragon one was done over a very loose thumbnail, because I liked it a lot better than the pencils I was working on (more energy) from that thumbnail. Which I promptly abandoned about 1/3rd of the way through. Conversely, Marilith was done from pretty tight pencils on bristol. Both times I did sorta digital underpaintings with a tone layed down, punching the blacks up a bit and then going in with white to pick out highlights.

 

I'll shut up now and show the art.

 

 

[The Arc]

Cue the theme song.

 

[kahuna's bro]

Cue the theme song.

 

 

thanks I needed that

[Storn]

Heh. Yup, totally going for the Raiders vibe with that pic, was part of the description from the patron. Maybe I made it too obvious?

 

I purchased today at the Standard Art Supply in Ithaca, NY, a new white pencil. It is a big, huge, thick white pencil that I hope doesn't break like my prismacolor white pencils always do INSIDE the pencil part. A tip breaking is fine, I can resharpen, but I hate when a color pencil breaks multiple times inside the wood and the lead starts falling out. Grrr.

 

So this was a quickie little sketch that I did at a coffee shop. I liked it, so I scanned it in and posted it for funnsies... not finished artwork by any stretch. The new pencil, by the way, is for Lyra, called, appropriately, "Color-Giants" and made in Germany. While I had a pencil sharpener, it is too fat for it and I didn't have my usual pen knife, so a bit awkward and clumsy for detail work...but I liked the feel for it. Hope when sharpened by a knife, get a bit more of a point to work with. At the moment, it is bit more like a crayon. But I like the solidity and feel of the pencil. The tip might break, but the lead won't break inside the wood due to any kind of normal wear and tear.

 

[Storn]

Here is some work I did awhile ago, but got permission to post.  It is for a virtual card game for facebook, and the working title is Phaeton.  I don't know how far along it is, or quite how it is played.  But the core concept is based around some kind of school for teen supers, ala X-mansion.  

 

My friend Steve Ellis was lead artist and art director on this one, and it was both fun and tough to work with the constraints and character concepts he had set up.  Tough in that we have very different ways of working, especially when it comes to inking.  So, I was trying to come close to his inking style.  But that was fun too, because it pushed and prodded me to really think about how I do things and I learned a lot.

 

So here are a smattering of images that I done for the game.

 

[Storn]

The Devil is in the Details.

 

Well, in this case, Devil is coming out of the arch way.  Here is a commission done for my awesome patron, Paul C.  This one was a lot of fun to do, especially while watching my beloved Packers beat the Ravens yesterday.  (I have two monitors, so I can watch stuff while I work).  But I did the finishes this morning, early afternoon.

 

I had the layout in my head before starting the painting.  I pencilled both the demon and Dana there on separate paper, scanned them in, created the cathedral and statuary in Manga Studio 5, combined it all in Photoshop and then did a semi-sorta digital underpainting.

 

I have not released a lot of the Paul C commissions as LPJ Design Portfolios because the time that goes into them, I don’t want to release them at the price point those portfolios go for. So.  If anyone needs some 2nd use printing rights for covers or what have you, these paintings will go for a lot less than 1st use artwork.  And I will make some extra monies that is more reasonably compensation.

 

[The Arc]

 

Here is some work I did awhile ago, but got permission to post.  It is for a virtual card game for facebook, and the working title is Phaeton.  I don't know how far along it is, or quite how it is played.  But the core concept is based around some kind of school for teen supers, ala X-mansion.  

 

My friend Steve Ellis was lead artist and art director on this one, and it was both fun and tough to work with the constraints and character concepts he had set up.  Tough in that we have very different ways of working, especially when it comes to inking.  So, I was trying to come close to his inking style.  But that was fun too, because it pushed and prodded me to really think about how I do things and I learned a lot.

 

So here are a smattering of images that I done for the game.

 

 

 

Is it just me or do the black and white guys make you think about Spy vs. Spy?

[Storn]

Painting on a different canvas

 

I painted on Saturday.  That is not particularly unusual for me.  What was unusual was that it was on my friend Pete’s face.  I’ve done a couple of wounds for my wife, when she does roleplaying scenarios for nursing students.  My wife is a professor of nursing and recently, she “played” a patient who had fallen and had a huge gash on her leg, bleeding.  The students have to access and figure out what to do.  It is startlingly real for 1st semester students and they get all kinds of flustered.

 

So.  I’ve had some experience doing blood trails, wounds and puss with cheap make up.  But Pete, who is a drummer in the heavy-metal Ire Clad, was doing a gig at the Haunt, here in Ithaca, on Saturday as a zombie.  Pigment is pigment, hopefully, I could pull this off.  So, here is my very first horror make up job.  This is all brushed on.  No cool airbrushes like on Face Off.  Pete did the clothes with a belt sander for the distressing and watered acrylic through a spray bottle for the blood.  I think his clothes came out better than the make up.  But it was a ton of fun to do.

 

Here be a link to Ire Clad’s own facebook page with more pics.  https://www.facebook.com/ireclad

 

And here are my pics!

 

 

Also, unrelated, I needed to do a warm up the other day, so I decided to do the Ten Ton Studio’s sketch challenge.  Which is DC comics’ Mad Dog.  Come on by the Mad Dog sketch challenge thread and check ‘em out.  You can vote on them too.  So, if you like one sketch in particular, please vote, you do not have to belong to Ten Ton Studios to do so.  Voting starts tomorrow (Wednesday).

 

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Those are good pics, but you should post some with the make-up on, too.

 

 

 

 

[Storn]

A couple of post ago, I mentioned not wanting to release the more "cover" oriented private commissions as clip art.  Well, LPJ Design and I worked out a price point that, yup!  We ARE releasing some artwork as Single Portfolio pieces.  Yes, these are more expensive, but compared to a cover, which I charge from $400.00 to $1000.00 depending on complexity, these are a STEAL!  So, if you are a publisher who needs some fantasy adventure artwork, please consider my offerings:

 

Check out the Single Portfolios, 1 and 2, here:

 

http://lpjdesign.rpgnow.com/product/121045/Image-Portfolio-Singles-001-Storn-Cook

 

http://lpjdesign.rpgnow.com/product/121046/Image-Portfolio-Singles-002-Storn-Cook

 

I'm about to enter into a contract with a ton of work that needs to be done in a month.  So my posting will probably be a bit spotty, if non existent.  I don't think I will be able to put up the artwork I will be working on for awhile.  But it is fantasy art for "digital" card game.  

 

But to leave you with a bit of artwork, here is another Ten Ton Studio challenge.  This week, it is Captain Marvel!  I did this sketch on vellum with pencil and black color pencil... mostly the color pencil.  I kinda like the waxiness on the smooth vellum.  

 

Here is the link to Ten Ton Studios.  Voting begins tomorrow on it.  

 

http://www.tentonstudios.com/forum/index.php?topic=9973.0

 

And here is the artwork in case you don't want to go over to Ten Ton.  

 

Shazam! It's Captain Marvel!

[Storn]

HUGE art dump!

 

Folks, I've had such a horrendous time with my failing computer.  I won't go into it, except I'm still down a video card (which I love having dual monitors, having reference on one screen while working on my Cintiq), but the rest of the machine is up and running with new motherboard, new processor, a bit more RAM, new power supply etc.

 

But I've been plugging away at doing art, sometimes pilfering my wife's laptop and using my ancient wacom while the main puter is all in pieces.

 

So, got a ton of images for you.

 

First up, I was honored and lucky to get a chance to do the cover for "Wield!", John Wick's RPG on being powerful, mystical, highly intelligent and cunning artifacts and trying to get that lame brain barbarian who carries you to do the things you want him to do.  Or that pathetically weak, sorcerer king to give you something for all that strength you lend him.

 

Check out John Wick's Kickstarter video...  

 

On that youtube site are links to the pdf of the game itself.  Seems really cool.

 

So.  Without more rambling, here is the cover!  Hope you like!

 

 

Next up, I have several commissions for Death Tribble I've been meaning to get up for some time, but computer woes, deadlines and sheer inertia have prevented my from getting these up til now.

 

Here is a bobby with some kind of shadow powers...

 

 

Next.  Death Tribble wanted a straight up Kendo master, no apparent super gadgets or anything...

 

Next, we have a huminoid crocodile.  DT picked up on what I thought was pretty subtle Egyptian motifs immediately.  Can't get nuthin past that guy...

 

Next, a modern-ized Roman Legionnaire.  I got this one today, having put it off for deadlines for the video card game, Clash of Dragons.  I am not sure when I can show CoD artwork, still checking in with the client on that one.  But this was one I really was looking forward to doing.

[death tribble]

The Bobby is meant as a goodie and is from the Foggy London Victorian era, thus the mist sort of powers.

 

Likewise the Legionnary is a good guy. Modern take means a shock lance, updated helmet, quasi-plexiglass shield, a gun and a sword. 

 

The Crocodile has the full snout which mnakes him different to DC's Killer Croc.

 

And the Kendo Master was an idea for the 12 month 12 character martial artist but was superceded by Elvis.

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

"Shadow Bobby" has a nice ring to it.

[Enforcer84]

Sergeant Fogg