My Goals for 2016 post has been judging me for the last eighteen months.
I did run my 10k Race for Life (and came in at 58:54, beating my goal time by ten minutes!) and my friends and family helped me raise £280 for Cancer Research.
I didn't finish five personal paintings by May, although I did a bunch of studies. This is because I did take on two cover art commissions. And then another three for a trilogy by the same author. I went to London for the Schoolism Live workshop where I listened to some amazing artists and met a lot of great people. I ran off to Corsica with my friend and awesome comics artist Rebecca Morse, and returned to complete a sadly-still-under-NDA illustration for a Scottish design agency. Then, I created my first painting for a Light Grey Art Lab exhibition and I managed to squeak in one more personal piece, A Midnight Wish, in the final moments of 2016.
Chase the Sky, for the Midnight exhibition at Light Grey Art Lab
A Midnight Wish, a little tribute for the 30th anniversary year of Labyrinth. Fittingly fnished within minutes of midnight, December 31st.
And in my day job? We released our first mobile game, Operation: New Earth for which I did the concept art, marketing, and around 400 screens of UI design.
So I guess I don't feel too guilty about falling short on those other 2016 goals!
Operation New Earth - Hero Portraits
It was a lot of fun to take a break from fantasy armour and paint some sci-fi characters for a change!
But hey, we're now in July of 2017. What have I been doing this year?
MOAR book covers!
I was commissioned again by my long-time client and friend, Grace Draven. She wanted to commission a new cover to re-release one of her novellas, Gaslight Hades, which had previously been published as part of an anthology. The sequel, Gaslight Viduus, was also on her drawing/writing board so I got to do both! Gaslamp fantasies set in London, these covers called for loads of moody atmosphere, Victorian architecture, and a particular challenge in bringing Grace's specific vision of the Bonekeeper armour to life.
Plus one of my all-time favourite subjects; men with great hair.
Yep, I am on the Blackwing trend. What can I say, we have an awesome local stationary shop and the limited editions are pretty.
Since wrapping up the Bonekeepers, I took a deliberate vacation from freelance work and I've been keeping things pretty chilled out. I made friends with my running shoes again because I was preparing for a very special trip that I'd been looking forward to since it was planned mid-2016, and booked on December 31st to toast the New Year.
In April I packed my bags and my sketchbook and headed off to Bali to surf in tropical waters, paint batik and climb an active volcano. And that is an adventure for another post!
