This one is called "Loxodon Partisan" This one was a lot of fun, and although I'm very happy with how the painting turned out, there is one thing I would change. When the image is reduced to card size, the strange dog like creatures the elephant headed loxodon is fighting are lost in the background. Maybe a more cropped composition, or at least some fog or something might have helped.
Oil on paper on board , 12" x 16".
This is "Quilled Slagworm". An enormous, copper plated worm, with quills and hair. When Gina would look at this one on the easel and say "eew, gross", I took it as a sign I was on the right track.
For reference, I made a model. Most models I make are not this elaborate-a relative term when you see the ones James Gurney makes. It's made out of sculpey, copper sheers, and plastic bristles from a broom. Regardless of the quality of the model, there's almost always information that can be gleaned proves useful.
Most times I make a model, it's done exclusively for lighting. This time, however, in addition to the lighting, I got some useful information about color, texture, and reflections. The ground is aluminum foil spray painted black. Originally I intended to paint it completely black, but I liked the way the spray paint collected in the crevices of the crumpled foil, letting metal show on more elevated areas. For something that is supposed to exist on a world literally made of metal, I thought this was an interesting surface I couldn't have made up on my own.
Oil on paper on board, 12" x 16".
