Hello all! I am very excited that the skin tutorial is finally going live. Hope you all find it useful. Thanks for being so patient.

As I mention, knowing your color theory and anatomy is vital to painting skin well. Someone has already asked for resources on color theory, so it seems logical to post this list in a journal so everyone see it:

Color theory tutorials on the web:

Phil Straub : Color Theory Simplified [link]

fredflickstone @ conceptart.org : Color Theory 1 & 2 [link]

Henning Ludvigsen : Color Theory [link]

Socar Myles : A Practical Guide to Color [link]

Eugene Arenhaus : The Color Gray [link]

Those are all great starter tutorials. For more in-depth theory, look around on amazon.com for books on the subject. I am sorry but I don't know any to recommend. And of course, if you can try to take a class on the subject!

If anyone has other good resources or recommendations, link me and I'll add to the list.

Cheers

Some news for all you Painted Man / Warded Man fans: Peter V. Brett is living the high life these days, and I’m riding his coattails as best I can.

First, Peter is putting out a limited edition short story collection called “The Great Bazaar, and Other Stories”, published by Subterranean Press and due out in January 2010. I’m absolutely pleased to say that, unlike some other Del Reys, they decided to use my Painted Man painting as the cover, along with a bunch of the wards. The result is pretty awesome: [link]

The title story centers around Arlen during his time as a Messenger; also included are a few “deleted scenes” from the first book that stand on their own, a ward grimoire, and author commentary. You can preorder it now. (Pressing is limited.)


Also, apparently the guys who did Resident Evil have bought the rights to make a Warded Man movie. Not many details yet, of course, but my painting is again featured in the news article. It’s certainly making the rounds.

Read the story here: [link]

The sequel for The Warded Man, entitled the Desert Spear, is currently scheduled for worldwide release in April 2010.

Cheers

(Sorry about re-publishing this; da’s being weird.)

I've been meaning to make some tutorials for ages, and now that I'm out of school I have the time. I've got a few ideas of my own I've been planning, but I'm also curious to know what you guys are interested in seeing. General theory? Specific painting techniques/subjects? A full-on "How I paint" tutorial? Beginner, intermediate, advanced? Let me know; if there's enough interest or I think it needs to be talked about, I'll put something together.

Check here for my existing / coming soon tutorials: [link]

Just a note to say I’ll be away for a few weeks. I’m going backpacking in central and northern Europe from May 28th to June 18th, and will have limited internet access. So if you try to contact me, please be patient. I will not be checking dA or any other galleries and will only answer personal emails and business inquiries. (And the business end of things will be “get back to me in three weeks”.

I graduated college a few weeks ago, so I suppose I’m officially done with school. Still not sure how I feel about it. It’s left something of a bitter taste in my mouth. I’ve always liked school…or wanted to like it. But looking back, it’s never given me what I needed.

Oh well. Next chapter, right? I’ve got so much I want to do over the summer, and I no longer have anything standing in my way. It’s something to look forward to.

Take care everyone.

In 2007 I did some commissions for a certain Peter V. Brett. [link] He told me he was a debut author being published by Del Rey and wanted a portrait of his title protagonist, The Painted Man. [link] Along with it, he asked me to design a series of symbols--“wards”--that were integral to the concept of his book. All this was, to my knowledge, just for his website and his personal use.

A few months later, he tells me Del Rey liked my wards so much they were using them inside the book and on the US cover, which was to be re-titled “The Warded Man”.

It didn’t really sink in how completely awesome this was until last week when I went to a launching party to celebrate the book’s US release, and I got my hands on the final copy of the novel. I can’t believe how extensively my ward symbols are featured in it, and it rocks: [link]

The jacket cover, the spine, the main title page, each section title page, and in each break between scenes. And my name is on the back leaf of the jacket.

‘The Warded Man’ by Peter V. Brett was released today in the United States, in fine bookstores everywhere. Go buy it!