Satyria – Acrylics & Watercolors – J Edward Neill
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Satyria – Progression from Pencil Sketch to Finished Piece
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For more artwork like this, visit here.
Monday Morning Myths – Satyria
Tag: fine art
Two Years Later
Two years ago, around this same time, I was preparing for my first convention as an artist. I’m doing the same now, for the same convention–Dragon Con. Genre art (fantasy, science fiction, horror) for me at the time was still a relatively new venture. I grew up on late 70’s and 80’s genre films. As a teenager I was consumed by Stephen King and other speculative fiction authors. You’d think this would be reflected in my art, but it wasn’t until 2012 that I began letting myself explore. A wall in my psyche came down and my art evolved. Two years later I was at Dragon Con and now another two years later I’m returning. In that time, I’ve continued to explore, evolve and learn.
I began thinking about what I truly wanted. What did I want to create with my art? What did I want to say? Did I need to say anything? That introspection gave birth to Renascentia. She is the first painting I felt connected to on a deeper level and I realized I need that connection. It reminds me of this quote I heard recently:
If you don’t feel anything for the painting your working on, your viewers won’t either.
When I brought Renascentia to Jordan Con in 2015, I realized the truth of these words. However, I still hadn’t figured out what I wanted. The vision in my head was still veiled in mist. It took nearly another year for me to begin piecing together what I now call Earth Rituals. I’m creating a body of work around this idea of connecting with the earth, but it’s not the only art I plan to make. I will continue to make purely nature art, delve into Sci-Fi, and whatever else catches my fancy.
But what have I done and learned over the last two years?
- I learned how to create art from direction.
- I ran a successful kickstarter and printed a book.
- I won Judge’s Choice from Todd Lockwood. O_O
- I signed my first contract with a small games publisher.
- I knew this already, but it was reaffirmed–true friends are invaluable.
- I will break my no dancing rule if you give me mixed drinks.
- I learned I don’t really enjoy game illustration.
- I learned you can be a part of a large community and still feel utterly alone.
- I learned there’s an art to using Instagram.
- I enjoy licensing art for book covers more than custom commissions.
- I learned I just want to create my own art, on my own terms.
- I guided my daughter through her last year of high school and into her first year of college.
- I was invited to be a member of Changeling Artist Collective.
- I launched a Patreon campaign that’s still going.
- I rediscovered my love of graphite and drawing.
- I’ve had a taste of being an art director (large project in progress now).
Ultimately, I’ve realized I’m not an illustrator, nor do I really want to be. Sure, there may be some overlap occasionally. If a project fits my vision and my style I might jump on board. But at the end of the day, I’m an artist. I think my art will always hover between fine art and the fantastic. In some cases it will sway back and forth between the two. That’s okay.
From my current work in progress, Forest Dreams.
Eerie, Haunting and Beautiful
It’s that time of year again… I hope you enjoy these fantastical artworks and have a delightfully dark Halloween!
Untitled (1984) by Zdzislaw Beksinski
Anatomical Pieces by Theodore Gericault
Dante and Virgil in Hell by William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Fortune-telling by Sergey Solomko
Faun by Karel Hlaváček
Nokken by Theodor Kittelsen
Erlkönig by Julius Sergius von Klever
Prophète by Odilon Redon
Madame la Mort by Paul Gauguin
The Face of War by Salvador Dali
The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli
Will-o’-the-wisp and Snake by Hendrich, Hermann
Death of Anhelli by Witold Pruszkowski
Did you miss last year’s post Monsters, Magic and Moonlight?
Creative Interview With Comic Book Artist Sean D. Hill
Continuing in our creative interview series, next up to bat is comic book artist/ fine art illustrator Sean D. Hill. Sean is the talented artist behind the pencils/ inks of “Route 3”, ” “Jaycen Wise And The Secret of The Rose” and is the current penciller on Zenescope Entertainment’s critically acclaimed “Dark Shaman”. Let’s get things rolling!
Tell us about yourself, where you’re from and any training you’ve had in the visual arts, comics medium.
Well I’m from Washington DC, born and raised. As far as training goes my grandfather began showing me stuff from an early age. After that, when I was in 4th grade, I was introduced to an artist named Kofi Tyus.
Sean Hill’s “Lineage”
Kofi quickly become my mentor and I even got my first sketchbook from him. As I got older I went to an arts high school called the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, where my major was Visual Arts or VA as they called it. I had great teachers like Bill Harris, Cathy Cann, Mel Davis to name a few. I always wanted to be a comic book artist ever since the Spike Lee Levi’s commercial featuring Rob Liefeld.
I pretty much stuck to fine art until I started dating my wife, and she was going for a Media Arts and Animation major. I learned everything I know about comic illustration and storytelling from her and the classes I would sit in with her.
What is the first thing you remember drawing?
The first thing I vaguely remember drawing was KITT and Michael Knight from “Knight Rider”. I was obsessed with that show as a kid. I would show the pictures to Grandpa and he would tell me what I had to work on and then I would get excited to redraw it again because I’d learned something new.
A page of Sean Hill’s work from Zenescope Entertainment’s “Dark Shaman”
Can you tell us a little about your process and your choice of medium?
I work mostly digital nowadays. I use Manga Studio 5 for my software and I draw on a Yiynova MSP19U, which is a screen that I draw directly on, which is similar to a Cintiq.
I still do stuff traditionally though when I get the itch. My favorite traditional tools are my Pentel Brush pen that I never leave home without , and I love my Zebra G Pen nibs. The best Bristol I have ever used is still the 500 series Stathmore Smooth 4ply. It’s great stuff.
A page of Sean Hill’s work from Zenescope Entertainment’s “Dark Shaman”
Are there subjects you find yourself drawn to again and again in your art? Are there any particular artists who inspired you to work in the comic book medium?
The stories I seem drawn to the most are ones with a lot of character development and a lot of action. I love stories that take in the aspects of blockbuster films also. The artists who inspire me are numerous, though ones I think mentioning are Mshindo Kuumba, Ivan Ries, Lewis La Rosa, Brian Hitch, and Jason Fabok. It’s a pretty long list.
What are you working on now? Where can we go to view/purchase your work?
Right now I am working on the final issue of Zenescope Entertainment’s “Dark Shaman” mini series. It’s a story steeped in a lot of Timaucuan Native American lore which I love. You can order the books from your local comic shop if they don’t have them on the shelves already, or through the digital comic book distributor, Comixology.
I am also very proud of the work I have done on “Route 3” for Terminus Media which is available for digital download on Amazon, and the Comics Plus app.
Sean Hill’s “Lineage”
You can view all my work at:
–www.nazirstudios.blogspot.com