Friday, July 17, 2015

"I will not say the day is done"

"I will not say the day is done"
red pencil on toned paper, 11" x 14"
©Matthew Stewart

Having climbed to the top of the tower of Cirith Ungol in pursuit of the orcs who have taken his master, he finds a dead end. Believing Frodo to be now beyond rescue he sits down and begins to sing. This is one of my favorite scenes in the book. 

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Honored Hierarch

Honored Hierarch
oil on paper on masonite, 12" x 16"
©Wizards of the Coast

Honored Hierarch is one of the two card illustrations I painted for the new Origins set for Magic:the Gathering. Magic fans would recognize him as an inhabitant of Bant from armor and golden sigils he wears. The man is the keeper of a sacred olive grove. I originally intended to paint a younger man, as seen in the preliminary sketch below. After submitting the sketch, I thought it would give him more gravitas, more of an implied history, if he were an older man. Rather than just the caretaker, he proudly looks on the grove of trees he planted and raised from saplings. 
Honored Hierarch (drawing)
8 1/2" x 11", graphite on paper
©Wizards of the Coast