The Cloud Roads

Here's a book cover I just finished for Night Shade Books called The Cloud Roads. The story is about Moon, an orphan who finds he has the ability to transform himself into a flying creature. Moon finds more of his kind, and joins the fight against an strange power called the Fell.



Digital comps showing two different approaches to the cover. An action scene, and a portrait of the main character, Moon.

Strider

This is a new piece I’ve been working on between commissions. In The Lord of the Rings, Strider the one of the many names and pseudonyms that Aragorn goes by in his travels to conceal his true identity and the heir to the long empty throne of Gondor. This is how we first meet him though, rough looking with mud caked boots and a weather-stained cloak. Though it’s a fairly literal interpretation of the text, I felt it also illustrates who Aragorn is at this time in the story. Strider’s face is obscured in shadow, just like his true identity and lineage is hidden. Just as he is waiting for the hobbits, he is waiting for the time to be right to reveal himself and confront Sauron openly and claim his rightful throne.
Oil on board, 24” x 30”

Armor studies

These were done a while back at the arms and armor section at the Philadelphia Museum of Art . Pencil and white chalk on toned paper proved to be the perfect tools for quickly rendering the steel pieces of armor. Studying the real thing, understanding how it all fits together, all the little bolts and rivets, is invaluable when designing an armored character in a illustration.

jousting helmet

helmets

gauntlets

fluted armor

cuirass

side view of a cuirass and pauldrons