By now Interzone issue 246 should be out so I thought I’d post the second interior illustration I painted for that issue. This one is for a story titled Sentry Duty by Nigel Brown. The story is a little retro in style so I tried to give the image a similar feel. It’s full of humor with a little sting in it’s moral tail!

Thanks again to Andy Cox at TTA Press.

21″ x 14.5″, Oil on Canson Paper.

The light flare coming from the ship is mostly digital as I was short on time and needed to scan a dry painting!

Warning: Smoking kills!

Enjoy!

Now that director Wes Ball has let the cat out of the concept art bag, I thought I’d re-post the sketch I did several months ago when Wes approached me to work on Maze Runner.

This was a tiny 1.5″ thumbnail sketch I drew up (whilst working on The Wolverine) which I then scanned and painted in some rough colour. Wes used that as a guide to render out the final poster image and give the walls of the Maze a real sense of scale.

If you think this image of the glade is cool you should see the two other concept paintings I did for Wes.. But I guess you will all have to wait a while to see those!

Enjoy..

I’d like to share my new illustration for the Interzone magazine story, The Machinehouse Worker’s Song by Steven J Dines. I thoroughly recommend getting your hands on this magazine for some excellent SF stories. Steve’s story and my artwork will be out in issue 246.

Many thanks to Andy Cox of TTA Press for the opportunity to paint for such a great publication.

The original painting is 18″ x 13″, oil on Canson paper.

Here is a preview of the page and the beginning of Steve’s story. Enjoy!

Just a news update to let you all know what I’ve been up to lately. Just before Christmas last year I finished off two concept paintings for the Maze Runner film. I was slated to keep going on this but production so far hasn’t needed me.

I was also asked to finish off two new Wolverine concept paintings by Fox which was great. The moment the film comes out I’ll have my Wolverine concept art up. One other film job I can’t mention has also crossed my desk these last coupe of weeks.

I’m working.. (slowly) with Marianne de Pierres on a short graphic novel project called Sentients of Orion: The Hue, that I’m itching to get back onto.. Sorry Marianne, we’ll get there!!

On the scifi side I’m painting two interior illustrations for Interzone magazine and working on an oil painting tutorial for ImagineFX magazine.

The Concept Art course that I was going to help teach at Randwick TAFE didn’t pan out, but an even better course looks to have risen from North Sydney TAFE. So a good chance I’ll be teaching there later this year and into 2014. This course will be a more intensive program of Illustration for the Film, Games and Publishing industries.

In amongst all of that I have repaired roofs, dug drainage and replaced pipe work and finally.. finally found the source of my studio flooding!!

Anyway, enough of that.. here is the cover image for the GN project I’m doing with Marianne. Enjoy!

Spectrum 19, The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art has just arrived in the mail! My painting Sky Burial #2 made it this year in the Unpublished section. Thanks again to the Fenner’s for publishing such a wonderful book.

If you haven’t seen this book or the 18 earlier editions, I thoroughly recommend them if you’re interested in Fantastic Art.

Enjoy!

Been a busy beaver lately finishing of concept art duties on The Wolverine (Sorry, still can’t show the work..) and finishing off my basement/studio. I now have most of my books in place and computer set up, so I’m ready to work. The down side of all that work was that I missed attending Illuxcon in November.

Before..

After… The new pad!

I have also been teaching a basic Illustration/Concept Art short course at Randwick TAFE here in Sydney with fellow teacher, illustrator and friend, Paul Bajada. The course will be full and part time right through 2013. I will be teaching the Colour/Lighting portion of the course at nights.

And as the title of the blog post suggests, I am also starting Concept Art duties on the film adaptation of James Dashner’s The Maze Runner, directed by Wes Ball. You gotta check out Wes’ awesome short film: RUIN, right here.

Enjoy!

UPDATE: Just to let folks know that I am no longer painting concept art for Maze Runner, I finished two pieces before Christmas last year and wasn’t called upon to do any more.  The production may require more later but who knows.

The TAFE Concept Art course currently being run at Randwick also did not pan out for me due to bureaucratic reasons. Randwick’s loss however is about to become North Sydney TAFE’s gain!

Quick update to let regular followers of my work know that I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth. I haven’t oil painted in quite a while due to moving house around mid June and almost immediately afterward, I got hired to paint Concept Art for The Wolverine film. What started out as a two week stint in the Art Dept here at Fox Studios, has stretched into 10 weeks and still going. It’s been great watching the film design and magnificent sets come to life. A welcome change from VFX land!

As they say it never rains but it pours.. after Wolverine I’ll be creating concept art for two very cool science fiction films, of which I will elaborate on soon. I will also be illustrating something for Marianne de Pierres release of Sentients of Orion, scifi novel series in the US for November.

Not sure when I will get back into the oil painting as my new digs need quiet a lot of work in eliminating leaks, dust and general fitting out for studio practice. It is getting there! My plan was to exhibit at Illuxcon this year but I haven’t the volume of work nor the resources to get there AND finish my studio at the same time. Illuxcon 2013 however.. I will paddle a bloody canoe across the Pacific if I have to!

In the meantime, here are some pics of the new studio in various states of repair..

Enjoy!

Source of major water leaking..

The fist sized hole I discovered, now plugged. The hole has now been tarred and back filled.

The Good..

The not so Good..

The Bad..

.. and the Ugly!

Inside corner, cleaned and sealed!

Fighting the brick and mortar dust.

The Supervisors keeping an eye on progress!

You didn’t actually think I was going to show Wolverine artwork did you?!

Quick post today just to show the oil painting study for a larger canvas I’m working on. Inspiration in equal measure from Chris Foss and Ralph McQuarrie. This scene also takes place within the Sky Burial world.

Enjoy!

Rendezvous . Study .  21″ x 8.5″ . Oil on Canson paper

Detail.