Jonny Hodgson Art

Rumours of this blog's demise...

2011-10-04T01:22:00.000-07:00

Well that was something of a long pause between posts, eh?

So what's been happening? The One Ring is out. I have been most neglectful in not posting at least the highlights of the artwork here, but it is all over at my DeviantArt account, and indeed on my website. We went immediately into production on several supplements, so there's been no let up on the Tolkien front. Can't complain about that. I love it.

Battles of Azuran, the Facebook game I've been doing loads of art for is nearing full release. We're on the last lap there. In more general freelance I've been busy for Paizo, and D101 Games.

Shadows Over Scotland came out for Cthulhu Britannia, which was a major victory for Cubicle 7, and I'm extremely proud of the artwork the team put together for that one. It was a big book, fraught with challenges. But we did it, and it looks beautiful. Living here in Scotland I really couldn't let it be anything less, loving this country as I do.

The big news however is that on the 1st of October this year I went in house at Cubicle 7, full time, to do art direction and produce illustrations for The One Ring. There's so much art needed for the game that it made good sense to take me onboard more or less exclusively. I am still free to freelance for other companies, provided I can fit it all in. I plan on taking on a couple of things a month just to keep me fresh, which will benefit everyone.

If I can find the time I'm hoping to write up a couple of longish articles about my 12 years of full time freelance. I learned a lot of stuff, and whilst I may well return to that at some point (hopefully not for a couple of years at least), I'd like to mark the end of that particular era with some reflections on what I learned and what I did.

The sense of relief at having a confirmed income every month, and being able to focus on painting and art directing to the best of my ability without the distractions of running a business is quite a thing. I think it was time for that particular change to happen. Despite enjoying some real career highlights in the last 12 months, I've also encountered more chain-yankers and non-payers than ever before, and it has really ground me down. Whilst I don't have any regrets about being freelance for so long, I think it had reached the point where psychologically it was paying 100 cents and costing me 99.

I guess it would be wrong to make a post without some art, so here's a couple of my favourites from The One Ring:

Descending the Misty Mountains:

Greatspider of Mirkwood:

The One Ring - Characters

2011-06-29T08:26:00.000-07:00

Hey! It's been a while, eh?

So more art has been released for The One Ring, so I can share here:

Barding:
So these fellows are broadly based around a hopefully credible mixture of late Romano British and vikings. All the mannish cultures within The One Ring have a hefty dose of Northern European feel to them, as is appropriate to the material. You won't find any plate armour in what I produced for example. So given the nature of the Bardings as a wealthy and expanding trading culture, and that that are, within the scope of territory the first set covers, the foremost culture with the strongest bloodlines, it felt right to give them that slight feeling of distant Roman-ness. But it's limited to Romano Britain, rather than a truly mediterranean/classical feel. Their closeness to the dwarfs gives that norse feel, and whilst the two cultures don't ever really merge in this way in real history I felt it was something that could be pulled off. And is about as fantastical as I allow myself to get in designing the mannish races. If I recall correctly the idea of using the Romano British influence came about due to the mail of the Bardings being noted for its strength, and using that shoulder reinforcement in the style of the Romano British seemed to fit, and then things flowed from there.

Dwarf:
So the dwarfs to me are almost straight vikings. Short grumpy vikings, but vikings, Highly influenced by norse culture. Actually quite straight forward to do these guys, very little to worry about here.

Woodwoman of Mirkwood:
The woodmen were probably the culture we struggled with the most, and didn't gel until right at the end of the creation process, where we found a kind of Frankish, Merovingian feel for them, which seemed to suit. The point at which the character below was created we were still working to more directly Germanic themes, which do fit, but are not quite as fully developed as the ideas came to be later in the process. We also played with Welsh and Finnish influences.

These are a mighty tough people living within the shadow of Mirkwood. But I didn't want them to feel primitive - for one that is more the domain of the Beornings, and for two I tend to see a lot of simple sophistication in cultures that inhabit inhospitable places. And so whilst their resources are limited and under constant threat they are a proud and crafty people, able to use what comes to hand with great skill. Finding these kinds of strands of character was an essential part of the process. Whilst we shied away from massive stereotyping of each playable culture, you do need some hooks to hang a character on, whether your character is typical of their origins or atypical, you need something to grab onto. And it's the same for the visual look.

In other news I have overhauled my website again, adding several new pages showing my youtube videos - both art walkthroughs and video editing work, and a whole new commercial illustration section. Take a look: http://www.jonhodgson.com

The One Ring: Misty Mountains Goblin Video

2011-05-08T02:21:00.001-07:00

The One Ring: Misty Mountains Goblin

2011-05-03T07:51:00.000-07:00

(c)2011 Jon Hodgson

More art made for The One Ring, the new Tolkien table top rpg coming soon from Cubicle 7 and Sophisticated Games.

With the orcs/goblins I've designed I've really tried to make them threatening and frightening. Orcs in Tolkien are unique, often ancient, spiteful, merciless and cruel creatures. I really wanted the illustrations to reflect that.

Artrage, Painter, Photoshop

Middle-earth, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and the characters, items, events and places therein are trademarks or registered trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises and are used under license by Sophisticated Games Ltd and their respective licensees.

The One Ring: Smaug Descends the Lonely Mountain

2011-05-02T01:42:00.000-07:00

Appearing in SFX magazine this month:

Like much of the art I have made for The One Ring, the design of Smaug is taken directly from Tolkien's own paintings, with a hopefully appropriate update to match the times and the style of the other game art I have made. It was very important to me that Smaug show his (highly dubious) character, and be clearly capable of speech. The idea of him somewhat gleefully hosing fire into Erebor through pursed lips seemed to fit that idea.

I have also taken the opportunity to update my website with some new images: www.jonhodgson.com

Middle-earth, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and the characters, items, events and places therein are trademarks or registered trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises and are used under license by Sophisticated Games Ltd and their respective licensees.

The One Ring: Dol Guldur

2011-03-13T13:46:00.001-07:00

So this is a very exciting time for me. For the last 2 years or so I've been working on artwork for a new Lord of the Rings role playing game, to be published by Cubicle 7 in partnership with Sophisticated Games.

At last some previews of the art work are being released, and so I can share this one, which went live on Friday: Dol Guldur, home of The Necromancer in Southern Mirkwood, later revealed as Sauron. Click to embiggen:

Art: (c)2010 Jon Hodgson

You can learn more about the game here: http://www.cubicle-7.com/
Middle-earth, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and the characters, items, events and places therein are trademarks or registered trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises and are used under license by Sophisticated Games Ltd and their respective licensees.

Duel Above the City

2011-02-15T11:39:00.000-08:00

Long time no post. Mea culpa my friends.

Here's one I saw today is on the cover of the preview mag from Ulisses Spiele. I can't say much more about it than that!

ArtRage chat

2010-11-28T01:37:00.001-08:00

Hey All, Just a quick one to let everyone know that a bunch of luminaries of the ArtRage scene and me as well will be appearing live on the internet demoing and taking questions about ArtRage and our work tomorrow (29th November 2010) at 2.30pm UK time (9.30 am EST)

All the details are here, over at the Ambient Design forums:
http://www2.ambientdesign.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32150

Hope to see you there!

D101 Games

2010-11-18T03:22:00.000-08:00

Ahoy hoy. Couple of new covers doe D101 Games - the roman chap is a couple of weeks old, the knight was finished just the other day.

Personal work in progress...

2010-11-08T04:46:00.001-08:00

New site, new vid

2010-10-28T04:22:00.000-07:00

Hey all,
Just a little one to say I have updated my website at www.jonhodgson.com, since it was way overdue an update, after half years...

And here's a new speedpaint video recording doodah over on youtube:

Yikes! How long between posts?

2010-10-18T06:09:00.000-07:00

Man alive I am so busy. Art direction for Cubicle 7 continues apace, alongside all my regular freelance art duties.

Here's some recent work. A banner for Battle of Azuran:

(c)2010 Project Quest Ltd

A couple of speedies:

Accompanying video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhqLOFnsFbo

And one for Paizo:

(C)2010 Paizo Publishing

Sketching and a video movie film

2010-08-31T04:46:00.000-07:00

So I've been doing some real world drawing type stuff in an actual book with actual pencil.

And here's another little video I made about ArtRage:

Underpainting in ArtRage

2010-08-26T02:52:00.000-07:00

An video wot I made: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3OwoLHx6to

Anglerre Triple Jeopardy!

2010-08-25T06:54:00.000-07:00

(C)2010 Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd

This one was a challenge. An image that will be used as a whole, and in three horizontal sections. That had some major ramifications for the composition and sizing of figures, but I think it just about scraped into working.

DSA cover

2010-08-25T03:25:00.000-07:00

Hey. Another cover for my friends at Ulisses Spiele. Click it to see it larger.

(C)2010 Jon Hodgson

Artrage video

2010-08-12T13:33:00.000-07:00

I made another abstract(ish) piece, but recorded it this time. Watch the video on YouTube.

A page from my book

2010-08-12T01:12:00.000-07:00

Hey, I shared this page from my book "Fantasy Art for Beginners" with some artist friends the other day, and since it's online I thought I would put it up here too.

Click it to see it full size.

You can buy my book here:RUBooks (EDIT: oh! No wait, you can't - out of stock. And that's the publisher's store front. How very bizarre.)

Or on: Amazon.com

You can watch the intro video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAnrnx9k7Og

Personal werk

2010-08-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

Its been too long. Artrage I still love you:

Click for big.

From Gencon

2010-08-11T01:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks go to the ever wonderful Gregor Hutton for snapping some shots of The One Ring art preview from Gencon this year. Hopefully I'll get clearance to show off some of the original files rather than phonecam pics, taken on a bright monitor in a dark hall, very soon!

Most frightfully busy

2010-08-04T12:21:00.000-07:00

So between being art director at Cubicle 7 (which I'm really enjoying btw, and feel we're doing some really good work), working on art for stuff like The One Ring, and upcoming Facebook game Battle of Azuran I haven't had much time to post on my blog.

Here's my current favourite piece I've done for Azuran - a thug captain:

(c)2010 Project Quest Ltd

Dont forget you can follow my weekly reports on what I'm up to over on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jon-Hodgson/155241647318

Catch you later!

Old School Minis boxes.

2010-07-05T03:59:00.000-07:00

Cross posted from Scotch Corner, since time is something I no longer seem to have any of...

Some covers for miniature boxes (as in figurines, rather than small boxes) for the wonderful folks over at Otherworld Miniatures. Seriously one of my favourite clients to work with. These feature monsters in the old school style of DnD from the late 70s, and so were a lot of fun to do.

Ye Embiggenatorz:

In other news I'm now ADing for Cubicle 7, which is proving to be an educational and very interesting experience!

Plague War

2010-06-15T05:04:00.000-07:00

From the latest Legend of the Five Rings expansion:

Kingmaker

2010-06-14T04:20:00.000-07:00

Some images newly released, from Paizo's Kingmaker Adventure Path:

Discover a Muse Challenge

2010-05-31T02:25:00.003-07:00

So over on the ArtOrder blog, intarweb home of Jon Schindehette, head of art on the DnD brand at Wizards of the Coast, there is a challenge/contest in progress. Jon runs these things quite regularly, and they're well worth checking out. The ArtOrder blog is general is an absolute goldmine of info for anyone looking to break into freelance illustration.

Anyhow, this challenge is about taking some reference material of model and artist's muse Veronika Kotlajic and making a piece of art for a poster. The winning 5 entrants will feature on posters to be sold for charity. You can check out all the finer details here.

I don't normally get time to take part in these things, as my schedule runs pretty full most of the time. But since this one was for charity I found the time. Here's my entry:

And here's the thumb wot you can click to see it a little bigger:

The deadline for entries is tonight. Mine's in. Wish me luck!

Halflings

2010-05-25T06:04:00.000-07:00

Personal Work, ArtRage

Owlbear Saga concludes

2010-05-17T01:30:00.000-07:00

The previews of the Kingmaker Adventure Path have been coming thick and fast over on the Paizo blog, so in a double whammy we get to see the last two parts of the Owlbear saga!

You can check out the images at a larger size, and see the whole saga in it's entirety over here: http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/tags/jonHodgson

Moar, poor, Owl...boar? Wait...

2010-05-05T01:54:00.000-07:00

The next installment of the Owlbear Saga from Paizo's Kingmaker Adventure Path is revealed. Poor Owlbear!

See it big here: http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/tags/jonHodgson/v5748dyo5layq

Anglerre Revisited

2010-05-03T03:36:00.001-07:00

So the cover from the previous post had a bit of a facelift and has been swapped from the Companion to the Anglerre Corebook. Don't ask, it's a long story!

Here's the new version:

Click for embiggenation:

And here's a dwarf carpenter I did for Paizo:

Anglerre Companion

2010-04-20T11:34:00.000-07:00

Soz mah peeps, I hath been so very busy. Here's a freshly unleashed cover from Cubicle 7, which I painted last year:

(C)2010 Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd.

You may click here to see it bigger.

Brevoy

2010-03-30T10:57:00.000-07:00

Got my comps of Paizo's Kingmaker 1/6 - Stolen Land this morning. Here's a sneak peak before I post all the art I did for it tomorrow.

(C)2010 Paizo Publishing.

Wordplay: The Big Five

2010-03-22T17:01:00.000-07:00

Hey. A stylishly minimalist cover for my friends at d101 Games, for their forthcoming title "Wordplay:The Big Five"

Artrage and Photoshop.

When shall we three meet again?

2010-03-20T15:05:00.000-07:00

When the hurlyburly's done,
When the battle's lost and won.

That will be ere the set of sun.

Where the place?

Upon the heath.

There to meet with Macbeth.

(Artrage3 watercolours=love)

Victoriana the second

2010-03-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

Hey folks!
Another cover for my Cubicle 7 chums. This one is the first cover for the two parter "Faces in the Smoke". I completed the second cover some time ago: HEEEEAAAARRRR

Other news: Check out Episode 56 of Ninja Mountain Podcast. All-Brit line up this week: HEEEE-AAAAR

Plus: A very nice review of my book "Fantasy Art for Beginners" from Photoshop Creative:

Dragon Warriors Players Book

2010-03-10T08:02:00.000-08:00

Hey All. Can't stop to chat, apart to say I love doing this stuff, but here's the cover to the titular tome:

(C)2010 Jon Hodgson and Magnum Opus Press

Bigger:

Poem

2010-03-02T06:11:00.001-08:00

The Owlbear saga begins...

2010-02-22T13:38:00.000-08:00

So some of my work was featured in the Paizo blog: http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/tags/jonHodgson

Check out this first image from a series of Owlbear paintings I've been making for Paizo:

I very much enjoyed reading all the comments over there, since I know what happens next!
Click through to the Paizo blog and click the image there to see it superbig.

FAFB review

2010-02-06T23:48:00.000-08:00

Hey All,
Apologies for the slow posting lately. The family has expanded which of course devours time, and without going into uncomfortable level of personal revelation, things aren't going so well on the health front for the new one. Work is also very busy in between!

Anyway. life goes on, and this months ImagineFX magazine has a great review of my book Fantasy Art for Beginners:

Interior Colour...

2010-01-28T11:13:00.000-08:00

Personal life is in overdrive at the moment, but the beat don't stop.

Here's some colour interior work recently completed for my friends at Uhrwerk Verlag in Germany. Looks like it's shaping up to be a very exciting world they're building over there, and I'm happy to be a part of it.

(C)2010 Jon Hodgson

And to see bigger: http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/9098/126qh.jpg

Lord of the Rings RPG announced

2010-01-21T04:57:00.000-08:00

Here's the press release for the secret project I've been dropping infuriatingly vague hints about:

20 January 2010 - Cubicle 7 Entertainment and Sophisticated Games announce that they are developing The One Ring: The Lord of the Rings® Role-playing Game.

Cubicle 7 Entertainment and Sophisticated Games are proud to announce that they are jointly developing The One Ring: The Lord of the Rings® Role-playing Game.

“We’re tremendously excited about The One Ring,” said Dominic McDowall-Thomas, Cubicle 7 Director. “Our aim is to give our audience an authentic Middle-earth gaming experience, one that really captures the feel of Tolkien’s world.”

The designer and lead writer of this project, Francesco Nepitello, is a games industry veteran, best known for the hugely successful and critically acclaimed War of the Ring strategy board game, which he designed with The One Ring co-designer Marco Maggi and Roberto di Meglio. A recipient of the International Gamers Award, War of the Ring is recognised by many ‘Lord of the Rings’ enthusiasts and hobby gamers alike as one of the most engaging recreations of the world-renowned fantasy saga by J.R.R. Tolkien. Francesco and Marco are the designers of other immersive board game titles like Marvel Super Heroes and Age of Conan, but started their game-designing careers creating Lex Arcana, the most successful and popular fantasy role-playing game published in Italy.

Francesco has designed the new LOTR RPG game system to make sure that players are completely immersed in Middle-earth from the moment they begin creating their characters. As an experienced designer of games based on JRR Tolkien, as well as being a lifelong devotee of the Tolkien works, Francesco brings a dimension -and a depth- to this RPG which has probably never been seen before in a LOTR game.

Robert Hyde, head of Cambridge (UK) based Sophisticated Games said, “When we first acquired the rights from Tolkien Enterprises to publish this RPG - as part of our wider LOTR book based board game license- we had no hesitation in approaching Francesco to conceive a completely fresh LOTR and The Hobbit RPG, and for him to be the writer. We knew that he possessed both these skills and that the game would be in very safe hands. His presentation of Middle-earth, along with stunning artwork from John Howe and others, brings this incredibly evocative and exciting world to life.”

“We also approached Cubicle 7 to be our publishing partners on the new The One Ring RPG because we loved the quality of their previous publications and felt that Dominic and Angus (Abranson) had both the experience, and with the creation of Cubicle 7, the role playing game resources, to bring LOTR and The Hobbit to a very wide audience.”

For more information on The One Ring: The Lord of the Rings® Role-playing Game please contact Cubicle 7 on info@cubicle7.co.uk

The One Ring: The Lord of the Rings® Role-playing Game will be published in the second half of 2010.

The One Ring, Middle-earth, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and the characters, items, events and places therein are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises f/k/a Tolkien Enterprises and are used under license by Sophisticated Games Ltd and their licensees.

Invoice 300

2010-01-18T06:09:00.000-08:00

Hi All,
Just wanted to write a quick post to commemorate issuing my 300th invoice. The lucky recipient being D101 games.

It's funny looking over 300 jobs, some for tiny one off illos, some covering entire books solely illustrated by my own fair hand.

Hey ho, onwards and upwards!

Oh and just to bug Jan, the secret project I haven't been able to talk about should be announced very soon, and I've just learned i will shortly be doing more work for it. Double yay!

Digital Artist 2

2010-01-07T04:32:00.000-08:00

Hey All.
Back to work at a sprint, so my planned review of 2009 has been summarily shoved onto a back burner. Ever onwards! Hopefully I'll get a chance to write it up sometime. Hey just whilst I'm typing, here's a thought. I read in Chris Burdett's excellent article about when he started to get serious about making a career in art, that an AD had told him that if an artist didn't update their blog regularly they took that as a sign they were not working. Funnily enough I don't get time to do as much self promo as I would like, since I'm working constantly. And everything is generally under NDA for at least a couple of months, if not 12 to 18. Go figure. Seemed worth mentioning in relation to not getting as much blogging done as I'd like!

So back to the point. Issue 02 of Digital Artist is out and about, featuring a little interview with yours truly about ArtRage, and a bunch of my artwork. Go get it.

The Gentleman Cannibal

2009-12-29T12:15:00.001-08:00

Another AR3 sketch

2009-12-16T07:12:00.000-08:00

Just something in progress. Being able to make the brushes larger than 100% is handy.

ArtRage 3 sketches.

2009-12-15T04:54:00.000-08:00

Just a mini post today. ArtRage 3 came out yesterday/today and I've just downloaded it and had a play. I hooked up with some other UK illustrators - Scott Purdy and Andy Hepworth to record a chat whilst we opened our AR3 boxes, and compared notes on the new edition of the art software people either love or hate. Should form part of a NM podcast at some point soon.

Here's a couple of little studies I made with the new version:

Nothing too earth shattering, but I thought my fellow AR fans might like to see. If you have any questions about 3 drop me a comment and I'll do my best to answer.

Fantasy Art for Beginners Intro Part Three

2009-12-07T08:03:00.001-08:00

The third part of my video intro to my book Fantasy Art for Beginners is up here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAlbzjSlSRI

This time we get into the real substance of the book -the six thirty to forty step walk throughs:

DSA Shaman

2009-12-03T06:46:00.000-08:00

Hey all! An image I completed last week for my friends over at Ulisses Spiele for Das Schwarze Auge:

***Images removed after polite request from client after change in plan from the marketing dept****

Dragonmeet Report

2009-11-30T03:30:00.000-08:00

So I'm back from London and Dragonmeet, and trying to get back into the swing of work.

The convention was as much fun as expected - that is to say "a lot". I gather footfall was lower than last year, but I couldn't say I noticed a pronounced difference. Not that I was went looking for one.

Travel was easy, as my old school friend Stuart was kind enough to put me up and even drive me across town to the show. Mega-Kudos to him, since I was able to stroll in to the hall in good time, completely un-hassled. Which was a boon. Of course the train journey from Scotland to London was a chore, but with plenty of good books and some films on the ipod I was fine. Seemed to go quicker than last year.

Sales of prints were good, though (as ever) not the stuff I personally thought would sell. Some really busy flurries of sales, which is always nice. Interest in my art-book was high, and I wish I could have carried a few more copies down with me. However carrying any amount of paper products soon racks up the weight, and I've made the mistake of taking too much stuff before and lived to regret it! Financially, despite reports to the contrary from some of the other traders it was well worth my time to make the trip. Which was a relief!

Had a good old laugh being half of the guest artist section with Linda Pitman, who is always very friendly and easy to get on with. This year I did my utmost to stay put behind my stall, as I felt somewhat guilty last year having been taken out to lunch by Magnum Opus Press, and then couldn't sit still! This year however I behaved myself and enjoyed it just as much as a boozy lunch in Kensington.

It was a curious experience meeting people from Deviantart, or listeners to the Ninja Mountain Podcast in the flesh. They feel like they know me, and of course I don't know them very much, if at all. All nice chaps and chappesses though.

I singularly failed to chat to Erik Mona, despite setting out to do just that, and catching sight of him on several occasions. Cons are always busy for the publisher guests, and I didn't want to interrupt his conversations with the gamers. Still frustrated I didn't catch him just to say "hi" in person.

Did meet Jeff Richard from Moon Design, and was impressed by his passion and clear dedication to what they are doing. Nice chap.

There's a whole bunch of people I know online who it was good to see face to face. The Collective Endeavour chaps, Angus and Dom from Cubicle 7, Jonny Nexus, Warren, Darran, Jim from Postmortem... couple of gents from teh Scottish scene who I haven't had a drink with in far too long - the indubitable Gregor Hutton and John Wilson. Lunacy to see them so far from home. Note to self: get out more.

Big thanks to Angus Abranson for the invitation and looking after me so well.

A bit of fun!

2009-11-23T03:33:00.001-08:00

Gosh it's been a busy old time! As a reminder if you're desperate to keep up with what I'm up to week to week I have a Facebook page here:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jon-Hodgson/155241647318

So here's a fresh(ish) one I can show straight off the bat. I was asked by the fine folks over at Ordo Draconis mag if I would consider reworking an image for them to use on their next cover. I found some time over the weekend to finally finish up alterations from this:

to this:

This is a feature I really love about owning the rights to some of my work these days. I can customise this stuff as much as I like. And I'm slowly improving the background and so on every time I go back to it.

FAFB - Video Deux

2009-11-16T06:54:00.000-08:00

Hey All,
It's been a busy old time of late, hence the lapse in posting, but I'm still here, working away. I managed to find time this morning to put together a second video about my book "Fantasy Art for Beginners":

Here's some Amazon links to the book!:

UK chums: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fantasy-Art-Beginners-STEP-STEP/dp/160061342X

US chums: http://www.amazon.com/Fantasy-Art-Beginners-Jon-Hodgson/dp/160061342X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1255595696&sr=8-1-fkmr0

Canadian chums: http://www.amazon.ca/Fantasy-Art-Beginners-Jon-Hodgson/dp/160061342X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255595724&sr=8-1-spell

Pathfinder Monsters

2009-11-02T04:54:00.001-08:00

Hey!

The Bestiary for Paizo Publishing's Pathfinder RPG is out, so I am at liberty to share some of the monster art I made for it.

(C)2009 Paizo Publishing

Dragon Warriors Elves

2009-10-30T02:54:00.000-07:00

So I gather copies of Prince of Darkness for Dragon Warriors are making their way into the eager hands of the punters. Which is always good! So for this book I got a true treat - to make the first images of elves for the new edition. Elves in Dragon Warriors are something of a conundrum. The game's 1980s roots demand elves as a player race in line with D&D. But the authors were never so hot on that idea. The elves of Dragon Warriors are the Shi, the Tuatha de Dannan, the people of the Otherworld, The Erl Kings, rather than the shield-surfing pointy eared uber munchinkins we've all become a bit too familiar with.

The original elf drawing by Bob Harvey in the first Dragon Warriors book was, whilst a typically masterful pen and ink piece, a little... odd. The elf noble pictured seems to be wearing speedos. Looking at it just now, I actually appreciate it a lot more than I did as a kid, when it made me feel a bit repelled. I was a proto-hippy even aged 11, and basically wanted to be an elf. I didn't really picture that involving black swimming turnks with a big belt. Maybe that was Bob's take on the other-worldly quality. I have no idea how the art direction went back then, so maybe he was just doing what Corgi Books told him to do? On the very slim chance Bob should ever read this I should just add I have been consistently in awe of his work since I was yea big, so I hope my mild mickey taking of his elf doesn't offend. I can rest safe in the knowledge that my interpretation of DW elves will get worse, no doubt.

Anyway. Every now and then I see a film and think "Dammit!" as an idea I had already had gets used on the big screen, and is then completely lost to me. When I was a kid running roleplaying games we always had our elves as these terrible, otherworldly creatures who were bleached white like those earwigs you find in ancient blanket. And when I saw Hellboy 2 some 17 years later I felt (happily) robbed. Their Tuatha De Dannan were precisely the elves from my imagination, right down to the bronze age influence in some of the costuming.

So some of that went into these. I reclaim it, or at least my share of the common idea floating in idea-space that we all tap into. Tackling elves is always a difficult one. But without breaching any confidences handling my beloved DW elves did at least prepare me a little for a much bigger, more daunting elf-related task that was to fall into my lap some months later...

Enough talk.

(C)2009 Jon Hodgson and Magnum Opus Press.

Jewel of Empire cover

2009-10-27T03:02:00.000-07:00

Hey! Here's a recent cover - Jewel of Empire for Victoriana by Cubicle 7 Entertainment.

(C)2009 Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd

Something of an experiment in stronger colours.

Video Introduction to Fantasy Art for Beginners

2009-10-26T08:39:00.001-07:00

I done made a video for my new book, which comes out November 1st!

Here's some Amazon links to the book!:

UK chums: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fantasy-Art-Beginners-STEP-STEP/dp/160061342X

US chums: http://www.amazon.com/Fantasy-Art-Beginners-Jon-Hodgson/dp/160061342X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1255595696&sr=8-1-fkmr0

Canadian chums: http://www.amazon.ca/Fantasy-Art-Beginners-Jon-Hodgson/dp/160061342X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255595724&sr=8-1-spell

Twitter Madness: #EPICBLOGRT

2009-10-23T05:56:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone. Over on Twitter a few of us started a thing called #EPICBLOGRT. Wherein if you tweet your blog with that tag, everyone else involved will retweet your blog, and you retweet theirs. Its spreading like wildfire, is wildly out of control, is being taken up by complete strangers, and fills my heart with joy to see artists and photographers (so far) joining the dots and engaging in unfettered mutualism. So if you're over on Twitter join in! And of course repost this or something similar on your own blog!

I'm jonnyhodgsonart on Twitter. Feel free to chuck me a follow, and I'll probably follow you right back!

Dragonmeet 2009

2009-10-22T02:42:00.001-07:00

I'll be there. Check it out! I sound awesome! HAHAHA
http://www.dragonmeet.co.uk/index.php/guests/65-jon-hodgson-artist

Hope to see some of you there too!

H2DFA: Sneak Peek One!

2009-10-21T06:19:00.000-07:00

The first sneak peek at my instructional artbook for beginners, which hits the stores on November 1st:

Stay tuned for more sneak peaks in the run up to release!

"Fantasy Art for Beginners" is full of non threatening, easy to follow ways to draw and paint your favourite fantasy fings! The first half is gently introduced theory, aimed at absolute beginners, and then the second half is a series of step by step walkthroughs of 6 paintings of favourite fantasy subjects. All in an easily approachable art style for beginners. Rather than me just letting rip at it in my usual manner...

Here's some Amazon links!:

UK chums: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fantasy-Art-Beginners-STEP-STEP/dp/160061342X

US chums: http://www.amazon.com/Fantasy-Art-Beginners-Jon-Hodgson/dp/160061342X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1255595696&sr=8-1-fkmr0

Canadian chums: http://www.amazon.ca/Fantasy-Art-Beginners-Jon-Hodgson/dp/160061342X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255595724&sr=8-1-spell

Dragon Warriors Internal Art

2009-10-15T07:13:00.000-07:00

From the forthcoming "Friends or Foes" from Magnum Opus Press. After a long break from black and whites I really enjoyed these a great deal. And I think it shows a little bit.

Images (C)2009 Magnum Opus Press and Jon Hodgson

Fantasy Art for Beginners

2009-10-15T01:32:00.000-07:00

On the First of November my book on creating fantasy art for beginners hits the streets. It is full of non threatening, easy to follow ways to draw and paint your favourite fantasy fings! The first half is gently introduced theory, aimed at absolute beginners, and then the second half is a series of step by step walkthroughs of 6 paintings of favourite fantasy subjects. All in an easily approachable art style for beginners. Rather than me just letting rip at it in my usual manner...

Here's some Amazon links!:

UK chums: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fantasy-Art-Beginners-STEP-STEP/dp/160061342X

US chums: http://www.amazon.com/Fantasy-Art-Beginners-Jon-Hodgson/dp/160061342X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1255595696&sr=8-1-fkmr0

Canadian chums: http://www.amazon.ca/Fantasy-Art-Beginners-Jon-Hodgson/dp/160061342X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255595724&sr=8-1-spell

Career High Point.

2009-09-28T08:08:00.000-07:00

So whilst on holiday I happened upon a bottle of ale for which I painted the label art, (over another unknown artist's pencils). I was never sent samples by the client, so I snapped this one up. Last in the shop!

Scotch Corner prize arrives

2009-09-28T03:43:00.000-07:00

So I don't know if you've been following Scotch Corner - a group blog put on by a group of Scottish/Scotland based artists? In August we ran a contest to win a print of my "Dragon Rein" image. The winner was Brian, who works in the Ukraine as part of the Peace Corps, teaching kids there English. He felt such a print might inspire his kids to read more. What could we do? Of course he was the winner, and the print, along with some bonus extras was duly despatched. We recently heard that the parcel had arrived, and here's the kids with the work!

Great stuff.

Faces in the Smoke

2009-09-17T05:48:00.000-07:00

Another cover for my friends over at Cubicle 7, this time for their rather good Victoriana line

And you can click this for a bigger view:

Mountain Boy Prints

2009-08-31T02:54:00.001-07:00

So I'm offering a limited run of ten of this print:

The prints come on heavy 230gsm stock, and measure 120mm x 40mm. £50 including postage and packing to anywhere on people world.

Each print will be signed and numbered. I've already taken some orders (awaiting confirmation so can't give precise figures right now), so if you do want one, don't wait. Drop me an email, or a comment here for more details on how to get one.

Edit: The first batch arrived. That's a big print!

Derro

2009-08-27T06:59:00.000-07:00

So Paizo are using one of my quarter pagers as a cover here.

Here's the original.

(C)2009 Paizo

Done for the day

2009-08-25T06:38:00.000-07:00

Done for the day:

Work in Progress

2009-08-25T02:41:00.000-07:00

A new big landscape piece. This will have a character in there eventually, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to have a massive widescreen mountain backdrop available for emergencies and variant versions.

I also have some plans to make a series of these for gallery usage. But it's very early days for that plan.

Moar AR

2009-08-21T06:06:00.000-07:00

Here's another AR quickie, just for fun.

Someone else's thought for the day

2009-08-21T00:46:00.000-07:00

Very well observed ponderings on illustration:
http://www.christophniemann.com/man/bpages/gallery6.html

I'd like to credit the person who showed me this, but it was a secret person in a secret place! How exciting! Shhhhhh!
Enjoy.

Edit: Oh! I was also messing around with stencils in ArtRage late last night. Extremely powerful feature which I highly reccomend. Under it's slightly wild and yet modest exterior ArtRage is a cheeky little powerhouse.

Thought for the day

2009-08-18T02:26:00.000-07:00

Everyone is self taught. I/someone else can show you some tools, point to some of the obstacles, but at some point you have to do it for yourself.

Yes indeed, this does come off the back of being asked again what brushes I use in Painter. When I answered the response was a request for finer detail - what settings?

Perhaps a suggested goal should be to learn Painter so well that you don't have to ask which brushes a fellow artist uses. You will be able to tell by using your eyes?

Werk!

2009-08-11T02:08:00.000-07:00

Hey.

Here's some work I've done this year which I have received permission to show!

First up two covers for burgeoning company Cubicle 7. Both for their upcoming Cthulu Britannia line.

(C)2009 Cubicle Seven Entertainment

(C)2009 Cubicle Seven Entertainment
Next up is a cover for my friends over at Ulisses Spiele:

(C)2009 Jon Hodgson

Two images for the Eberron Campaign Guide published by Wotc for D&D 4E:

(C)2009 Wizards of the Coast

Thanks for looking in!

Oh!

2009-08-03T01:51:00.000-07:00

And check out the contest Scotch Corner are running just now!
http://scotchcorner.blogspot.com/2009/08/august-competition-dragon-rein-by-jon.html

Making ideas from fresh air...

2009-08-03T01:02:00.000-07:00

Here's a thing for a Monday morning as I settle down to a heavy schedule. With a preamble. Whenever you say anything on line you can come across as assuming some kind of authority. This is true even of the simplest things like opinions on films or books or fruit or makes of car. If this were not the case there wouldn't be the millions of flame wars we see about such inconsequential matters. The net is not necessarily the best place to put across an observation or opinion in the neutral way one can in "meat speech".

I feel this particularly keenly on something like our podcast, Ninja Mountain. We record off the cuff with a minimum of planning. There certainly isn't a script. Of which if you have heard the show you will be painfully aware...

There's a real danger when you say "this is how I do it" or "this is what I perceive" that someone will hear or read an invisible "and all other opinions or observations are wrong or invalid". I mentioned the other week on the 'cast that I used to provide tutorials on rpgnet Freelancers forum. And I stopped doing those for precisely this reason. I always felt uncomfortable that someone much more able than me would look at them and think I was assuming some kind of authority which I did not actually possess. These days I much prefer the term "walkthrough" to "tutorial", and that's generally what I do. As an aside I was actually somewhat horrified to read someone mention a test walkthrough I did (it's here, for what it is worth!: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1861443) as a tutorial.

Anyway, that's been buzzing round my head this morning as I thought about offering some stuff that helps me come up with ideas. I was in conversation with a bunch of aspiring artists last week (along with some pros who's abilities way outgun mine!) and the topic as it often does turned to coming up with ideas and how difficult that can be. Here are retyped and expanded some of my thoughts on the matter:

Big ideas are made up of little ideas.

Grouping together little ideas can make a painting. A painting can actually be about something quite small. The way the light falls, the colour of the leaves on a tree, a formation of rocks, a detail of landscape or atmosphere. A general colour scheme. Any of these small things can kick start a painting.

By trying to dream up a finished painting in its entirety before you begin is a recipe for "Artist's block".

Some ways I think up new ideas for paintings:

Take a mental walk round somewhere familiar. What small details could spark a painting?

Even better take an actual walk with a sketchbook and a camera. Remember that scale is only fixed in reality. Small things made big, big things made small are keystones of fantasy. Matter out of place is a keystone of horror.

What can other disciplines or crafts teach us, what ideas can they spark? I think about things like... olympic swimming. How could that relate to a fantasy painting? Swimming is something you don't often see. Underwater? The rigourous training swimmers do could be a jump off point for a painting. Adventurers training? How? A youth learning to use a sword? Tutored or self taught? What's the story there? What about a race? What are the psychological features of a race that we could use as an allegory in a painting? Or what visual allegory could we use in a painting to reflect those psychological features? What about some other random stuff? The guys collecting the rubbish in the street? Go on a mental wander based on the idea of urban refuse. Fantasy bin collectors? Hmm nope. Open sewers in the streets. Interesting. Sewers under the ground. Even more interesting. How would you get into one? What would be down there?

Working your perspective is always useful. Looking up, looking down - these things come with psychological effects.

A painting is all surface when considered a certain way. And sure, you do need to concern yourself with costume, character, and location design. But these things become a lot easier when you know why they exist. What the underlying narrative is. And don't confuse narrative with "story" in a vulgar sense. A narrative can be a very small thing. Just a small moment which infers other moments. Rather than some dragging procession of moments compressed onto just one canvas. Let the viewer carry some of that weight by just hinting at the story.

Big themes are also good inspiration. Small fights big. We humans love that story and its variants, from David and Goliath to an X Wing taking on the Death Star. Fear of the dark is another big human story. Friendship, loyalty in extremis, duty, love against the odds, impending tragedy, tragedy that has struck, victory... Urban myths are worth exploring since these stories contain elements of the classic human stories.

What is it Pete Waterman from Stock, Aikten and Waterman fame says? There are only 4 types of pop song? "I love you", "I hate you", "I'm leaving" and "I'm coming back"? Something like that. There's a bunch of paintings right there. Having written that down I now need to paint "I'm coming back".

Other tips I've used:

Remembering pictures I loved in childhood and thinking about why I liked them, or trying to reimagine them now. Something even as simple as stealing the idea and making it my own.

Illustrate your favourite song. What's the story, what's the best moment in that story? Draw it.

Shakespeare: Rob him!

The classics like Homer. All the big human stories are in there.

And remember you don't need to tackle a big story whole cloth. Just use it as a spring board. Sure you could pick some moment from the Iliad, and paint the whole scene. But equally you could just draw a character. How does a dude look when he's had that level of adventure in his life?

It is important to develop an understanding about originality. See Apocalypse Now? Its just Heart of Darkness (look this stuff up on Wikipedia if you don't know what it is) retold. But its certainly none the less for being that. In fact it is arguably more. The original story is a springboard. Standing on the shoulders of giants and all that. Don't worry too much about doing something new. You most likely never will. IN A GOOD WAY!!!

"Inpsiration" or "the muse" is a wonderfully romantic idea. When it comes to approaching something as work (such as earning a living from art) chucking out romantic ideas with the other trash is often a good plan. Taking a non-authoritative stance (your truth is as valid as mine) I personally think inspiration is where you unwittingly do some hard brain work by accident. You can create "inspiration". The mental muscles that create "inspiration" can be worked like any other muscle.

It's just a test...

2009-07-28T00:42:00.000-07:00

Post The Third

2009-07-14T06:28:00.000-07:00

Hey all,
Frenzied work and crazy personal life roller coaster means new posts in this neck of the woods are sporadic. But I'm doing my best!

The cover for a role playing games supplent, Friends of Foes. This book will provide extra material for the recently reissued classic Brit rpg Dragon Warriors.

I had a mare with the palette on this one. Which is pretty funny when it turned out in my usual earth tones. But I came to that predictable conclusion via a very different route than normal, so I felt some progress was made! And that grey green is pretty different for me, and for added otherworldly atmospherics the whole scene being in quite unnatural colours. Local colour out the window!

To see it bigger have a bit of a click on this one:

This is the sixth or seventh cover (I lose count!) I've provided for Dragon Warriors, and a narrative is building surrounding several iconic characters. In this scene we see our heroes after a dismal defeat that occured in this one: http://JonHodgson.deviantart.com/art/Dragon-Warriors-Bestiary-99496884

A mysterious female knight has resuced/captured our iconic knight (he laid over the mule back there) and now our barabrian chum is negotiating his release in his own inimitable fashion... Meanwhile the locals get busy earning a crust off the rich adventurers.

This one was made with ArtRage, Painter and Foatyshop.

Thanks for looking!

Thought for the day

2009-06-12T02:15:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the illustrationist's skill is to take the short film that is the brief and draw a single frame that implies all the others.

2009-06-09T08:20:00.000-07:00

Hey All.
Whilst I already have a blog over on LJ, I decided it was high time I actually created something over here on Blogger, since I'm following a bunch of blogs here, either via the blog roll on my google account, or via bookmarks, and so it seems to be where the artz peeps hang out.

The main draw back right now is that I don't have very much that's new to show. I'm a couple of months into what I hope will be a career defining project which is understandably wrapped in a tight blanket of secrecy. Luckily I do have a fairly high turnover of other things too, so hopefully some of them will be replacing this very boring piece of text as soon as.

Meanwhile here's a picture of a monster.

And here's an image from a long term project I've been working on called The Gentleman Cannibal.