The Meeting of Aredhel and Eol. The

The Meeting of Aredhel and Eol
Approx. 16"x 20", black watercolor pencil
©Matthew Stewart

The ill-fated meeting of Aredhel and Eol the dark elf, from The Silmarrilion. This piece in my sketchbook started as a study of a door overgrown with tree roots. I kept adding to it, using photos and inspiration from a visit to Wistman's Wood in Devon, England last May.

Dragon study

This could be Fafnir, or Glaurung. I was interested in the scale patterns. Since he is flightless, he should be heavily protected. There's a lot of komodo dragon in this one. From my large moleskin sketchbook. Its graphite on paper, the two page spread being about 16" x 22".

The Teeth of Scatha

The Teeth of Scatha
oil on panel, 24" x 32"
©Matthew Stewart

“Jewels such as these you will never match in your treasuries, for they are hard to come by.”

Appendix A, The Lord of the Rings,

By J.R.R. Tolkien

Here’s a new painting I’ll be showing for the first time in a few days at the IX Preview Weekend, held at the Delaware Museum of Art. 

It’s a scene from the appendices of “The Lord of the Rings.” A legend of Rohan, the hero Fram has slain Scatha the Worm. A necklace made of the dragon’s teeth and the words above are Fram’s defiant answer to the dwarves’ claims on the treasure.

Images of Fram and Scatha would decorate the tapestries seen by Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli as they entered Edoras hundreds of years later. The small silver horn that Eowyn gives to Merry came from the hoard of Scatha.

Sketchbook drawing of The Teeth of Scatha
Graphite, approximately 16" x 22"

The Evolution of Makindi Sliderunner

Makindi Sliderunner (1st attempt)
graphite on paper, 8.5" x 11"

Makindi Sliderunner (2nd attempt)
graphite on paper, 8.5" x 11"

Makindi Sliderunner (that's more like it)
graphite on paper, 8.5" x 11"

Makindi Sliderunner
oil on paper mounted to mdf, 12" x 16"
©Wizards of the Coast

                           

infraREAL: The Art of Imaginative Realiam at the Jonathan Levine Gallery

Ozymandias
oil on panel, 20" x 27"
©Matthew Stewart

 On Wednesday this week, Jonathan Levine Gallery will host an opening for infraREAL, a special exhibition of Imaginative Realism art. The show is curated by Patrick Wilshire, who along with his wife Jeannie are have been collecting art for over twenty years and are the organizers of the highly successful annual IlluxCon conventions. It's an honor for me to be included with such a prestigious roster of artists.
My contribution "Ozymandias" sprang from a sketchbook exploration below. Not a literal illustration of the poem by Percy Shelley, the title refers to the theme of the poem- Nothing escapes the ravages of time, and the contemporary glory is fleeting.

infraREAL-the Art of Imaginative Realism
August 5-August 22, 2015

Opening Reception with the Artist
August 5th (at two locations)
557C West 23rd Street: 6-8 pm
529 West 20th Street:7-9pm

"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. 

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

Recent Drawings

Some Tolkien inspired drawings I've done over the last few months that I don't think I've shown here yet. 

Bard the Bowman
18" x 24" , red and white pencil on toned paper

Bard the Bowman II
18" x 24" , red and white pencil on toned paper

Beneath the Dragon
11"x 14", red and white pencil on toned paper

In Moria
11"x 14", red pencil on toned paper

Ring a dong dillo
11"x 14", red pencil on paper

Samwise
11"x 14", red pencil on paper

Abzan Skycaptain

Abzan Skycaptain
oil on paper mounted to mdf, 12" x 16"
available for purchase for $1,250
©Wizards of the Coast

 Abzan Skycaptain was done for the Fate Reforged expansion set for Magic: the Gathering.  I've painted these anthropomorphic birds for Magic in the past, basing my designs on golden eagles or snow owls. The supplied concept image for the aven design in this set looked like a vulture. So I based the Skycaptain on a griffon vulture, which is native to the near east and central Asia. The Abzan clan takes its inspiration from the medieval empires of this region, so it seemed only appropriate. Also, maintaining the feeling that the creature is flying while it holds its weapons with its wings was surprisingly tricky, but I think I'm happy with the results.

Abzan Skycaptain preliminary sketch
graphite on paper, 8 1/2" x 11"
available for purchase for $225
©Wizards of the Coast

Ivorytusk Fortress

Ivorytusk Fortress
14" x 18", oils on mdf
©Wizards of the Coast

Here's a bit on the process that Ivorytusk Fortress went through from thumbnail to final.  For some pieces I know right away what I'd like to do. For others, which is most of the time, the image must go through many incarnations before I'm happy with it. 

Small thumbnail sketches, sometimes pages of them, are done. Promising ones are imported into photoshop for further development. I like to think about value and color as early as possible, and photoshop allows me to do that rather easily. 

A page from my sketchbook. Not pretty. 

Various thumbnails, developed further and with values and color added

When I arrive at a rough I like, I usually go back to pencil and paper to really nail the composition down, adding information from reference, and working on the details. With everything worked out, the painting of the final image goes a lot smoother. 

The final drawing

The image as it appears on the card, in foil. 

In the Forest Under Night

In the Forest Under Night
oil on panel, 30"x48"
©Matthew Stewart

 "A wandering Elf, a thrall escaped, whom Beleg met and comforted,' said Gwindor. 'Yet once I was Gwindor son of Guilin, a lord of Nargothrond, until I went to the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, and was enslaved in Angband.'"

J.R.R. Tolkien

Of Turin Turambar, The Silmarillion

In the Forest Under Night is a scene from the tale by J.R.R. Tolkien that appears in both The Silmarillion and in a longer form in The Children of Hurin. Gwindor is a Noldor Elf lord captured in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, also known as "The Battle of Unnumbered Tears". At this catastrophic defeat, the kingdoms of the Noldor elves were smashed by Morgoth. As one of the Noldor, skilled in mining and smithing, Gwindor was kept alive as a slave. He escaped, however, into the forest Taur-nu-Fuin, which in the elvish language means "great forest under night". He has lost a hand in his escape, and carries with him a Feanorian lamp in the other. It is light of this lamp that Beleg, in pursuit of the captured Turin, sees and finds Gwindor. You can read the story and decide for yourself if Gwindor would have been better off left alone.

I'll have both this painting and the drawing seen below, along with many other pieces on display next week at Illuxcon 7 at the Allentown Art Museum. The show runs from Wednesday, Sept 17 to Sunday, Septemebr 21st.

In the Forest under Night
preliminary drawing for the painting
red pencil on paper,  21" x 33"
©Matthew Stewart

Master of Predicaments

 Master of Predicaments

12" x16" , oil , Photoshop.

©Wizards of the Coast

Master of Predicaments was done for the new M15 core set for Magic the Gathering. The art description called for a cruel looking sphinx, who enjoys forcing those unfortunate to come across him to choose their doom behind the doors. Originally I was asked to paint three doors, but changes in the card design while I was painting the illustration made only two doors necessary.  I try to make the changes in oils when I can, but with schedule constraints, along with the fact that the changes were architectural (lots of straight, evenly spaced edges, along with a shiny floor that would also have to be repainted too), doing the changes digitally made a lot more sense. 

Master of Predicaments (preliminary drawing)
8.5" x 11", pencil on paper
©Wizards of the Coast

I liked the slender doors with the vertical orb windows in the sketch.  I was afraid, however, that they would get lost when the image is reduced to card size. Though its a creature card, the background doors had to be very clear for the illustration to work. 

 Master of Predicaments

12" x16" , oil on paper mounted to board

©Wizards of the Coast

Power Play

Marchesa Enthroned aka. Power Play
oil on board, 16" x 24"
©Wizards of the Coast

Here's the second painting of Marchesa, The Black Rose I created for Magic's new Conspiracy set.  I really enjoy painting these vertical full format cards. It's a nice change from the usual horizontal format, and being that the text box is covering the bottom half, it allowed me to indulge myself in painting all the the marble throne details without having to put anything too important in the area.

Preliminary drawing for Marchesa Enthroned
Red Brown pencil and white chalk on toned Canson paper, 14.75" x 22 image area
©Wizards of the Coast

Marchesa, The Black Rose

Marchesa, the Black Rose
Oil on paper mounted to board, 12" x 16"
©Wizards of the Coast

 Marchesa, The Black Rose, for the new Conspiracy set for Magic. Our femme fatale has just eliminated a mark through the use of a poisonous pin hidden in one of her rings. She also carries deadly needles in her hair. I enjoyed painting all the lush costume details and Italian renaissance/baroque feel that characterizes this set. 

I got to paint this character twice, the other piece being on the card Power Play, which was just spoiled last night, but I'll get into that one in an upcoming post. 

Preliminary drawing for Marchesa, The Black Rose
graphite and white chalk on toned paper, image area 9.5" x13"
©Wizards of the Coast

Sage of Hours on Ebay!

The original oil painting Sage of Hours is up for auction on Ebay. Click here to see the auction. Happy bidding!

Cyclops of Eternal Furies

Cyclops of Eternal Furies
Oil/Digital
©Wizards of the Coast

In Theros, certain inhabitants are living enchantments, creations of the gods. When we see these creatures, where shadows would normally be, we see through to the plane of Nyx, which is the home of the gods.  Unfortunately for me when I painted it early on in the set, I didn't quite understand the effect. As you can see below in the oil painting, I thought all shadows in each illustration would show the effect. Pressed for time, and not especially adept at painting star fields in oils, I chose to continue the painting in Photoshop. 

  

Cyclops of Eternal Fury (unfinished)
oils on paper mounted to mdf, 12" x 16"
©Wizards of the Coast

Sage of Hours

Sage of Hours
12" x 16" oil on paper mounted to board
©Wizards of the Coast

A new one for new "Journey to Nyx" set for Magic: The Gathering. The inspiration for this piece came from the working title in the art description, "Clock Architect".  I was asked to paint a human scholar standing proudly beside an antikythera mechanism, an ancient analog computer used to predict the positions and phases of planets, moons, stars. The man was to be within a "mystical structure of stone tablets and glowing air-writings " It was to have a "mysteries of time" mood. The word "architect", however, immediately implanted in my mind the idea that the mechanism was massive, with huge turning gears and chains, powered by waterwheels. Less mystical, more mechanical. Not sure that my interpretation would fly, I did two sketches. One with a more accurately sized antikythera mechanism and a more wizard like human and another other with my giant machine idea. I was pleased they went with the latter.

Clock Architect #1
pencil on paper, 8 1/2" x 11"

Clock Architect #2
pencil on paper, 8 1/2" x 11"

Original Art for Tromokratis on Ebay!

The original oil painting for Tromokratis is up for auction on Ebay. Happy Bidding!!

Tromokratis

 Tromokratis

oil on paper mounted to board, 12" x 16"

©Wizards of the Coast

Tromokratis is my contribution for the upcoming Born of the Gods expansion set for Magic: The Gathering.  It's a Theros version of the mythological Kraken, an immense monster that lurks in the depths of the ocean only to emerge and squash cities. Though there are other Kraken (Krakens?) in the set, this one is supposed to be a singular and legendary character. There was a longer design process on this one than what is normal for me. I guess that's par for the course when doing "important" cards. 

My initial sketch. The creative team at Wizards thought it was a bit too much like the other Kraken already depicted in the set.  Tromokratis had to be different. Before proceeding to the second version, they asked if I could submit some quick concepts. Just a couple different designs that they could choose from. So went to my sketchbook and played around with some ideas. 

                                      

The first sketch was kind of a cross between a lobster and a scorpion. Adding in other influences such as snapping turtles, goblin sharks, and squids varied the design a bit more, giving it what I felt was a look all its own.