Fantasy Art Zazzle Posters of 2009

Fantasy art posters of 2009 and 2010 and beyond will feature more fantasy art posters by me, so look out for them.

All are available to buy now and you can customize them with framing and other goodies when you view the posters at Zazzle, so you can reduce the price by changing the size of the poster print or specific options, go and check them out!

Drawing Wizards

How to draw wizards is another fantasy creation that is fun to learn to draw, the wizards are usually old men in robes with long flowing beards and they look wise and full of wisdom, the trick is to try and approach the way of drawing them as bearded men even though you may want them to not have a beard in your final design, they way I draw them is always with beards and a look of old or ancient times so that I'm feeling that vibe to inspire me to draw the wizards I want, sometimes I may draw a bald wizard or a hairy wizard, it's all about testing your ideas to however you want.

Here is a video on drawing a wizards face that just could show you one potential wizard face variation and there are many you could do to bring your wizard characters to life.



Also you can see the first part of my wizard drawing series at Hubpages where I will cover some interesting variations that you can gain some inspiration from to draw your own wizards

Boris Vallejo: Fantasy Art Techniques Book

Image via Wikipedia

The fantasy art techniques book review by Boris Vallejo seems really promising on the outside from the books cover, but then you start to read the inside and it is a thinly disguised promotion of Boris Vallejos artwork, of course there are a few pages of the way the artist works and Vallejos art is brilliant, but I couldn't help to be disappointed with this book when I first got it, although it is an old book now as I've had it for over 8 years and I'm sure it's been around a lot longer.

If you're a fan of Boris Vallejo then this book is a must have if you don't already own it, as there are some useful insights and some early sketches which you see later he paints in his masterful style that is so recognizable in his 30 plus year artistic career.

So the book isn't a total loss as his art is inspiring enough to get by, but if you are looking for top fantasy art techniques like the title of the book leads you to think, then you will be disappointed too.

Good to flick through and get inspired by the art alone.

So this book is 7 out of 10.




Fantasy Art Techniques

See also ------ more recommended fantasy art drawing books

Drawing A Figure Running

When drawing a figure running there are a few things you have to think about first, such as what foot will be coming towards you and what the arms will be doing, so that they look like they are part of the actual running motion, this short video attempts to show you one possible example of a figure running, although it is not an exhaustive run down of a figure running it is useful just for something to practice off and try to perfect your characters in running motions.

Movement in your drawings is so important and it brings them to life when you capture the motion of living characters that interact with their surroundings.

Watch the short video and just practice drawing them running figures:-



Also read the art book review of Drawing Dynamic Figures

Draw A Pirate Skull Quick Video

Drawing Pirate Skulls are fairly easy to draw and especially if you know how to make them look even the smallest bit pirate like and in this case the video just goes through drawing a skull on a side profile and then I simply add a head scarf on the top of the skull and hey presto...instant pirate skull.

The pirate skull can be dressed up in lots of different ways, for instance you could add an eye patch, a pirate hat and even horrible looking greasy hair can be drawn on the skull to make it look like an authentic pirate skull, of course one of the great things what with the Pirates of the carribean is that undead pirates look pretty cool in their pirate costumes and so look for an updated video here with me drawing a full skeleton crew pirate.

But for now, here's the draw a pirate skull video below:-



So if you follow the video, you will be able to draw a pirates skull if you practice what is being drawn right in front of your very eyes, of course you don't have to re-tread all of my steps to draw a pirate skull, you can add other fun stuff to it if you feel it is slightly flat and you can colour it too.

If you are interested in drawing skulls, have you checked out these drawing resources?

Draw Flaming Skull

Draw Skulls Easily

How To Draw A Woman Warrior

Woman warriors are certainly a good fantasy theme to draw and you can draw them quite easily with that age old saying practice makes perfect, I've been looking at fashion catalogues and other magazine pull outs to copy models poses from in my drawings and this is the best way of drawing women for anything and so using this little drawing reference you can apply it to your women warriors and the strength that women show through their dynamic poses is one inspiring aspect of amazon women warriors.

Start off by understanding how you want the figure of your woman to be arranged as you can decide what goes where and you don't have to copy your catalogue photos exactly, you just need to use them as a base for your intended drawing, my drawing in the video below was created from two separate sources and so I combined them to make the pencil drawing in that video.

Women warriors are most powerful when you show their figure form at it's best and in a dynamic pose and also a large sword always helps too.

So in the video below, I tried to draw a powerful and dynamic warrior woman who is jumping in mid air, the movement is there in the preliminary drawing I think, although what you need to factor into your fantasy women drawings is long hair and an athletic build and that's generally it, but you could try some variation and sketch out some different alternatives, before you comitt to the final piece.

Here's the video and although the high heels are a bit much, they do add that x-faxctor to the fantasy warrior woman drawing slightly, just need to ink the drawing and upload it to the computer and try some computer manipulations.



I'll add a further post at a later stage which will cover the basics of fgiure drawing your woman warrior and if you feel you are more comfortable with stick figures, then I may work this into the beginning of a blog post.

I'd like to see any warrior drawiings you can come up with!

How To Draw A Devil

Drawing a devil is just like drawing a demon and quite easy, on my youtube channel I go through a 4 step process of drawing a devil and I do it from scratch, I've collected all four videos and published it as a hubpage so you can check it out here - Drawing A Devil

Monster Art Design Gimp Colouring Effects

Attempting to work out the many features of Gimp with this monster art design, I drew the first drawing which was a pencil drawing that I inked the lines and then shaded the image here:-

Notice that the drawing just looks like a basic drawing that really cries out to be computer coloured and given the Gimp treatment, now what I did was to go over quite a few of them shaded pencil lines with a black paintbrush using Gimp, so that later I could blend them into grey and have the jaw line and the whole of the side of the monsters face stretch away to the right and this I did quite well, even though it took me time to zoom in and fix the smaller details that I couldn't reach at the normal viewing size.

Next I coloured the tongue with a light red using the airbrush tool and again I just went over the main black lines and some of the shading in a random way and this was smudged to blend the red further and then I added a large size airbrush of a light yellow to highlight the monsters face and a bright blue to give the eye of the monster a sense of evil power or something.

I also made the background black and blended all of the edges of the monsters head, so that it would look cool enough. Adding a light source to the front of the monster also helped the lens flare look more brighter and added a contrast to the whole monster design.

You can see a few more examples of my Gimp software adventures here - Gimp Art Design Software

Here's the finished drawing....

DickBlick A Superb Art Supply Specialist

For years now, I continually hear about how DickBlick is the best art supply store online and off with it's superb customer service, although they do supply internationally, it is generally the best if you live over in America to recieve the full benefits of getting the art products delivered to your door.

Find out about DickBlick and see what you could buy for your art projects as I wrote a small review about them here - Dickblick art supplies

Fantasy Blog Header Undergoing Some Computer Graphic Magic

I drew the header graphic for this blog awhile back with the intention of adding a little photoshop magic, but my computer crashed and took with it the best part of £400 worth of photoshop software installed on the computer and so I've been experimenting with Gimp the free art manipulation software quite alot lately and one of the first drawings I played around with was this blog header.

And I knew I could make it better somehow with just the blend tool and adding some deeper reds to cancel out the flet tip marks on the original art and so that's what I did, although I would like to draken the background, so that the flames illuminate the darkness and create more depth to the shadow side of the demon.

My first attempt at using the Gimp software seemed to turn out quite well I think and I will keep you updated about finishing the graphic design on this top header graphic.



Here is the working version as you can also see right at the top of the blog, but it will change in time as I want to deepen and improve the depth of the design.

Art Drawing Book Reviews

There are two art drawing books I've read recently and they have some really good information in them when you apply them to your fantasy work, the first review I did was this one Drawing Still Life By Barrington Barber and in the book he explains the best expert techniques to draw still life and how important it is for artists to observe and sketch interesting objects aswell as visually appealing subjects.

And the second book Draw Like Da Vinci is a sort of case study of the sketches and art of Leonardo Da Vinci and in this book the author Susan White attempts to guide you through the drawing processes as Da Vinci would have done and how he would have approached his compositions and drawings in a way only he could.

I hope you like the reviews of the two books, because they are two that really stuck in my mind and I have started drawing from both of them and continue to be inspired by other artists work quite frequently these days.

I will try to review more art and useful drawing books as time goes on, as it could prove quite good for any artist who needs to learn a bit more and decide what book would be great for their art to improve.

Experimenting With Gimp On Photos: Castle Photo Transformation Stormy Clouds

Over the last few weeks I have been experimenting with the free software Gimp, to see what I could do and also to learn all about the digital side of computer art, because that's what I feel my art needs, a digital edge to make it look professional and so I urge all artists to learn about computer art early on, or do a course about it.          

So here we have a castle ruin photo that we took in the summer and thought I would have a go at editing it so the sky looks kind of stormy instead of a nice summers day, bare in mind that I am totally new to this and I'm having fun too, first I uploaded the photo into my Gimp control panel ready for editing and I used the pipette tool to select a good grey colour from the castle ruin structure and this would be the grey to use for the sky in between the clouds.

I then used the colour fill tool to fill in the blue with the grey, obviously it didn't fill the whole blue colour with grey as there was bits of blue still showing, but I tried to use some of this to show the calm under the storm, then I picked a darker grey to the first grey colour and airbrushed on the underside of the clouds and this would later be blended using the smudge tool which is amazing by the way.

And so it was just a case of softening the edges where I'd been and the end result was a decent but quick art piece....

Of course as a first attempt, I know that I can't just use the smudge tool all the time and that's it, as there are other features and tools that are more advanced, so I'd recommend Gimp for anyone who draws and ants to take their art to the next level, it's free, but if you already have photoshop then you've already probably done a bit of digital art here and there.

I'd like to do more of these Gimp blog posts to show you the features and stuff you can do, so hopefully I'll get better at it.

See some more examples of my Gimp Adventure ( I'm not a gimp!!)

How To Draw A Wizards Face Video

Drawing a wizards face is something that I have done recently as I wanted to get a few ideas on wizard characters and so I thought of doing a video whilst I drew an example of a wizards face, it's drawn in a comic book style this is a quick 4 minute video of me going through drawing a wizard head.

Here's the video!



Or if you're reading this in a feed - Drawing a wizard

How To Draw A Flaming Skull Video Series

Another skull drawing video series that I created on my youtube channel and in this one I go through drawing a flaming skull, and I'll certainly add to it with a colour video and maybe later on down the road doing some computer colouring which would be quite interesting.

So if you want to see the 5 part quick video series, then you can here - Drawing A Flaming Skull

Enjoy the videos and if there are other types of things you would like me to draw on video then leave your comments below.

Cheers now!

Hell Demon Art Video

A Hell Demon drawn a few years ago, I have only just shaded this one as I thought it would either make a great tattoo or a design for something else, drawing demons has always been a favourite of mine and with this drawing we see a winged hell demon which I am also fond of drawing.

As with most of my youtube videos, I will update the progress of these unfinished drawings or ones that are half complete and upload a look at the finished drawings, some coloured, some shaded, so keep checking back on my Youtube account here - Wayne Tully Fantasy Art Videos.

Here's the video!



Also see another actual example of a demon drawing idea in progress with this post, as it has two videos  that show a demon design concept from draft to finished drawing

Buy a Fire Demon T-shirt which was based on another of my demon designs

Skull Art Inked Drawing Video

A look at a skull art project I started a couple of months ago, although the drawing in the video needs colouring, it just shows the finished inked drawing of all the skulls together, I will update with another video that will show the colour work progression of this drawing.

For now though just take a look at the drawing and see what you can do when drawing some skulls.

Drawing A Random Demon Idea On Video

When I was just drawing and sketching one night I decided to try and draw without the thought of sketching beforehand, just to try and do something on paper that is so simple and just almost spontaneous that it happened there and then, although the drawing is not perfect, but it illustrates a point of just to draw without knowing how it will turn out without a draft sketch.

I did the two videos and uploaded them on youtube and here they are:



And also here:



In the first video I go through drawing the design from scratch and the second is when I inked the drawing, there is no talking, just me drawing the random demon creature....

You can also see the hubpage here with the two videos if you prefer...Drawing A Random Demon Creature on video at youtube

And also another How To Draw A Demon Tutorial too right here!

How To Draw A Warrior Videos

Over on youtube I did a quick overview of a hubpage article I did about drawing a warrior (And you can find that here - How To Draw A Warrior) and it translated well I think to what I was trying to accomplish in a short time, if you want to see the videos then head on over here with the first part of the video warrior drawing video here
The other 2 parts will be around somewhere on my Youtube Channel, aswell as some new videos I've uploaded recently!

Enjoy!

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YouTube Test Video Of Me Sketching A Demonic Head

My very first attempt at a quick how to draw a demon head video, I learnt alot on how to do things and to improve when I do some more, but if you have any feedback I would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!



See some more demon drawing resources here:

Drawing A Demon

Comic Book Character Drawing: Spiderman Drawing Tutorial Hubpage

On hubpages I have a collection of very useful drawing tutorials in fantasy art and other comic book characters and so I though it would be useful if I linked a few up here to give you an idea of the steps involved to draw spiderman and other fantasy creatures and characters, for inspirational purposes.

Comic Book Drawing: How To Draw Spiderman

Drawing A Zombie Face Rough Tutorial

Zombies faces can be totally different every time when you draw them, so have a look at this drawing tutorial that I did and get some inspiration to draw ugly zombie faces...

How To Draw A Zombie Face

Drawing A Grim Reaper On Hubpages

Grim reapers, another fun exercise into the world of fantasy drawing with this tutorial on how to draw a dark grim reaper.

Grim reapers are something of an icon in fantasy art, they pop up everywhere and they are something of a popular image to draw for many artists, so I hope you like the short tutorial I created here - Grim Reaper Art: How To Draw The Grim Reaper

Learn How To Draw A Goblin

When drawing a goblin, it is easy to think of a goblin if you have some sort of reference from a film or a book and so in my hubpage tutorial I went through a step by step process of drawing a simple goblin and I found it fun, so if you would like to see how to draw a goblin, then go and check it out.

How To Draw Goblins

Goblins are best drawn wearing armour like in the picture in this post and if you would like me to write a post about drawing anything fantasy related, then please leave your comments below and I will be happy to help.

Learn To Draw Venom, The Evil Spiderman Villain

I've been tinkering with drawing tutorials as of late and have been immersed with drawing and building up a portfolio of drawing tutorials and one recent addition to this collection is the how to draw venom one I wrote and did the drawings for.

Now venom is a great comic book character to draw and it really brought home how fun it is to draw comic book stuff now and then, I do plan to do more comic book character drawing tutorials, but for now just check How To Draw Venom

and....Have fun!

Drawing A Monster Videos 1-5

I've had a little play around at doing a little more video and in this little series I took the small challenge of drawing a monster in 5 easy steps and I think it turned out pretty well, although I may need to learn to speak up a bit, I am excited about doing more videos of drawing certain fantasy art related tutorials and other fantasy stuff, here are all five monster drawing videos, so tell me what you think!











I hope you enjoyed these videos and I will be working on my planning and presentation of these videos because they provide a great practical visual tutorial for drawing fantasy art in general, so stay tuned for more!

Drawing A Castle In A Fantasy World

Castle Photo Copyright Draconian.com 2009

Castles are great to draw, the older the better, even today there are lots of castles still standing and you can find some clear reference pictures online for castles all around the world just do a search.

The classic image of a castle in a fantasy world always sees an impossibly balanced castle built on top of an unstable mountain or hill with multiple towers and walls, often the castle looks like it will fall down if a giant blew on it!

The castle drawing below is one of many classic castle drawings I prefer, the image of a castle near the sea on top of a cliff or some mountainous caverns are the best ones to draw.



With a castle that you are going to draw, you can draw it however you want it. You can add as many towers and castle walls to it as you want, so long as the construction of it holds up against it's surroundings, take the photo below, itis quite a large castle, but it shows just what is possible in a castle drawing.



Dover Casle Photo Taken From The Forum Thread Which is copyright the respected photographer 2009

Believable castles that are sketched out are the ones that you can base on existing ones which you found in your research, as reference material is always a good idea to have handy for looking up and checking whether you are on the right path with your fantasy castle drawings.

Here is a drawing tutorial that gives you some ideas on how to draw a fantasy castle.

Fantasy Castle Drawing: Step By Step Guide

New Skull Art Drawing Available As A Poster Print

I did this drawing years ago, but then only recently inverted the colour to create what you see below, I like the effect of the shaded drawing being turned inside out, so the dark areas become white and the white background becomes black.

The skull art is something that I am specializing in more as time goes on what with tattoo designs that I am concentrating on together with graphic novel ideas that I have.

Skulls have that simplistic design and you can place them into other drawings as great central design elements.

Flaming Skull Inverted Colour Image Poster Print by waynetully
View more Inverted Posters

How To Draw A Robot Hubpage Article

Robots are those science fiction fantasy creations that are in the movies and many books and comics, I find robots easy to draw and create and over on Hubpages I did an article with some quick step by steps how to draw a robot that you can check out!

How to draw a robot

Fairy Oil Painting Speed Painting Video

Here is a fairy oil painting video that seems a little overworked but it still ends up looking good with a fairy sat on a mushroom in the mushroom forest.

Writing Your Ideas Down On Paper The Budget Concept Creating Methods

Written notes are nothing new, but they are best when they are concise and clear as to your ideas and objectives, they lay bare everything in word format for your ideas to be described and planned in a way you know yourself that it will turn out right.

Writing ideas down on paper is something that every artist should do to accompany their sketch notes to give a clear emphasis of their work and record it for future reference. A good folder can be used for the storage of these notes, and it is best to label each plastic sleeve within for ease of finding the right ideas for a given project.

You'll find that every time you write down your notes and ideas about certain things that you'll always have a full library archive of ideas to use as you go along with your art.

Breaking down your ideas archive down into categories, you want all of your clear ideas at the forefront and all of your vague ones at the back of the file as this helps to make your folder more organized and more inspiring to read through.

I like to add one full A4 size sheet of written ideas and then place a sketch filled A4 size piece of paper on the back so that I will be reminded by a visual reference for my ideas. This would be something that I could flick through and just see the sketches or the written notes depending on how much time I wish to spend being inspired and engaged with some current ideas.

When the boredom of doing other tasks sets in, I suggest writing a few random ideas down on a small pocket size notepad and you keep one of these in every room and every drawer so that when the moment hits you, you can jot down ideas before they slip away.

I buy my pocket sized notepads from Asda which is a uk supermarket owned by Wal Mart and they are around 10p each, which is just great as I now have loads all about the house.

If writing the traditional way isn't for you then create notepad files on your computer and save the notes on your hard drive, just remember to back these up on disk (because losing your ideas electronically is just not fun!!)

I cannot stress how important it is to organize your written notes and you could go as far as keeping them in alphabetical order if this suits your way of thinking and makes it easier to find specific ideas.

The very fact that you write your thoughts and ideas down, means that you are cataloguing and making sense of these ideas and creating value for them at some point, much like a blog, the whole point of thinking of new ideas is so that they will be used later on and provide value to someone other than yourself.

Monster Art Drawing Poster Print

This monster drawing, I drew which was largely inspired by something or a lot of things with the games that I play and the horror films that I watch. Often I have my sketchbook at the ready to draw something whilst watching some great horror on the box, the very fact that there is something to inspire and good to watch, then the better for my art.

It's so encouraging to know that there are other creative people out there that you can rely on to help you draw some unique stuff.

Monster Art Drawing Poster by waynetully
Many other Postcard designs on Zazzle
View other Creatures Races Postcards

Or, see the Digital coloured version of that poster print....

Digital Monster Art Print by waynetully
More Monster Posters

Also see other Monster Drawings:

Monster Art Drawing

Fantasy Art Illustrators Techniques Book Overview

The fantasy art drawing techniques is a vital one to know if you want to learn how to draw fantasy art and the following review I wrote over on hubpages is from the book the fantasy illustrators technique book.

The book in question is a good read and one that any beginner artist in fantasy art needs to learn how to draw this popular art form and there are 5 useful chapters in this book right from the beginning with art tools that any artist uses and all the other visualization techniques that come with drawing the stuff in fantasy worlds.

Go and read the review of the book - The Fantasy Illustrators Technique Book Review

Inspiration By Story Creation

Stories make the best inspiration and one that are so personal to the individual that you can create excellent results by letting your mind wander and describe things in exact detail. Reading other authors works can be similar and can often freely flow more ideas into your creative output than anything at times.

I regularly read extracts from the lord of the rings", as it is richly descriptive of scenes and characters, something that's a fine example of creating new ideas from something that're years old filled with classic fantasy creatures and literature that were written to help the imagination do. What is does best and that is imagining.

Writing stories should come from a place you are familiar with and have a strong interest in the subject matter for it to be inspirational to your own art and style of concept art. Being inspired from reading stories comes as no surprise as this is what makes reading a book a personal one, because each person imagines the story and characters in their own unique way.

Creating your own imagined stories helps to evaluate enough creative material to work from that will inspire greater ideas and drawing concepts. Typically, writers who write imagine their stories creations in their mind but may not be able to draw themselves, but still the useful way that writers build content and story narratives, serve as a valuable reference for any artist who cares to read up to get a creative booster.

Therefore, we have established that reading and writing help the artist and inspiration can be gained from the pursuit of exploring our own inner archive of visuals that we interpret from every available reference and resource.

A Creature Drawn With Biro Available As An Art Print On Zazzle

This is a new product in the zazzle gallery I have running over there, it has been drawn with a bic biro pen and this is fast becoming my top art pen of choice even though they are meant for writing, I like the way you can sketch and shade at the same time and finding an equal balance between the use of biro pens is something I would certainly like to look more into online aswell as any other artists offline.

monster creature Biro Art Print by waynetully
More Print From www.Zazzle.com
View other Creatures Races Posters

Fantasy Art Galleries For Visual Reference

This is a simple post with links to fantasy art galleries that is always a good place to look at for visual references and inspiration when you need it the most.

These galleries are from the best of professional and amateur fantasy artists out there online with the casual comic book gallery too along the way and if you really do need that visual boost of inspiration for your own work then it is a great thing to sit back with a cup of whatever and just click through the galleries which will give you ideas and also the motivation that you need to create some fantastic works of art yourself.

This is an ever growing fantasy gallery art list by the way so if you feel there is a top fantasy art gallery that isn't included then drop me a line in the comments.

Creation is 98 per cent inspiration!

Fantasy Art Galleries

Epilogue Fantasy Art Gallery
Fantasy Gallery
Elfwood Sci-Fi And Fantasy Gallery
Imagenetion Art Gallery

Comic Book Art Galleries

Comic Book Art Community

Fantasy Artist Professionals

Frank Frazetta Gallery
Selina Fenech Fantasy Art

I Draw Girls: Drawing A Dragon Video Quick Tutorial

Building a concept of a dragon drawing on an art software program and it is inspirational stuff, seeing the basic frame of the dragon coming through and the indications of light and shadow, this is a quick video from the IDrawGirls.com website featuring many more videos of creative inspiration fantasy work

Finding Your Inner Creative Mind

Being creative is something that anyone who draws anything wants to be and sometimes we lose sight of our creativity for whatever reason and this is a post all about finding your inner creativity which is somewhere you will want to go so that you will always draw some good sketch ideas and create whatever you want on demand.

To find your creative streak if you have lost it or have simply lost focus is something that can be easily brought back from the dead, a renewed and refreshed outlook on the creative tasks at hand that have to be accomplished are set out in the following ways:-

Inspiration - when we are inspired to create we do just that create, we can assign methods to gain inspiration.

Determination - This is linked to inspiration in some way and it is the energy of being determined that will drive you on.

Motivation - Following on from determination comes being motivated builds up reasons in your own mind why you must do your tasks.

Planning - Plans incorporate the other three points above and using this you build an excellent plan that will never fail.

Lets go into detail about inspiration and what could inspire you further.
For this part you will need to find out what really stimulates your creativity, and for each person it could be something different. For example I am inspired by multiple things like looking at my comic book collection, watching a few dvds or reading some books, inspiration is a wonderful thing once you appreciate that there are others artistic creations out there to help you visualize drawings and interpreted new ideas and concepts.

When the mind keeps active and is interested in the stuff that the person likes then good things happen for the processes of creativity to take effect, we tend to look at the visual concepts first and then see how we can incorporate them into our own works.

Being determined helps the process of inspiration to be carried through by wanting to be inspired and this follows through with the realistic goals that every creative person should adhere to, also a determined mind brings about action based on the desires that someone wants to have. Working out your end goals could make you more determined in the long run.

Motivation is almost the same as determination but there has to be some special focus or reason that all this creativity matters to you or you wouldn't be doing it at all, the very fact that you are determined makes you motivated and this is a good thing for a creative mind to prosper.

Together with good planning of your creative ways you will find a daily routine and way of working that suits you better than it would if you had not planned your creative endeavours beforehand and going through a to do task list is an easier thing to handle as you have all the jobs you need to get done all laid out in an agenda that is customized for you by you.

Finding your inner creative mind can be as much an exploration of you, than it is just simply finding a way of visualizing ideas on paper, by the very realization of what you like and what you enjoy and strive to get accomplished should be anyones main life goal, so make time for your inner mind to be free and creative by soaking up what suits the artist that you are.

Music can help your mind become free to flow the energy of creativity....

Forging Dragons By John Howe

John Howe is a fantasy art legend in my mind and one that has created several paintings and art pieces for such iconic imagery of The lord of the rings aswell as several other fantasy worlds and realms.

And forging dragons is his book which delves deep into the dragon design, more like a process of the way he works giving notes and advice on certain techniques and thoughts of each project within his book. With detailed illustrations and sketches throughout he attempts to evoke the atmosphere of diverse dragons and provide a history of sorts to the dragons mythology with extracts from some other sources which serve as examples for which John can illustrate how he tackles a certain dragon in a different way.

One of the most fascinating things about Johns art is that it is easy to get caught up in seeing his artwork being processed and feeling the desire to draw along with him as you are reading. I find this true a lot with some of the other top fantasy artists, that I just want to get started straight away and almost skip past reading the book, but then I realize I have to read on.

Watch this short video with John giving a little personal introduction to the book Forging Dragons



The exploration of dragons as myth is the fantasy stuff of dreams and it is the imagination of drawing dragons that appeals to many especially from an artist who seems to do it almost effortlessly.

John Howe is an artist to study if you are interested in the intricacies of watercolour painting as he is a master of watercolour, as I once read a book about the process he used for a Lord Of The Rings Gandalf painting for which he built up lots of glaze layers or washes and created a misty fog effect before creating more detailed shades of paintwork at the foreground with Gandalf being the off centre focal point and here is that painting.

See some more of John Howes Work on Lord Of The Rings Concept Paintings

Popular John Howe LOTR Paintings
More John Howe Lord Of The Rings Paintings





Waterstones John Howe - Forging Dragons Synopsis and Review

Epilogue Fantasy Art Gallery

I often am a browser at times and can just spend hours on end looking at the many galleries on Epilogue - The Fantasy And Sci-Fi Art Gallery To look at other fantasy art is the most inspirational thing any artist can do. Of course just like Elfwood there are a mix of professional artists and just fans of the genre but as an artists I believe we can learn from the art of anyone, professional or not.

As you'll find new ideas in the strangest of places, take Youtube for example there are various videos which are from excellent artists and then from people whose drawing may not be perceived as good, but I say rubbish, the very fact that any artist is having a go means they are celebrating the fact that they love the art form of fantasy art and that is good enough for me and inspiring to watch no matter what the result turns out like.

The good and well intentioned forum users in the Epilogue forum entitled The Common Room is a fabulous place to see others work unfinished or not and to discuss each others work.

In addition to the fantasy art forums there is a tutorial section that goes through many things any artist might need to know about certain things like selling your fantasy art on Ebay or commissioning art and many more helpful resource articles.

So if you are into the mechanics of fantasy art and want an extra outlet for your work then Epilogue is a friendly place to get to know other artists and highly recommend getting to know people there.

The Fantasy Art Of Amy Brown

Amy Brown is a fantasy artist and she sketches, paints and creates fantastical images of fantastic fantasy fairy creations. Amy Draws Faeries with a beautiful eye for detail and the fantasy wonder of these delicate creatures and she has many books and ornaments designed by her, but perhaps my daughters favourite is the Amy Brown Fairies Coloring Book.

Amy's fairy artwork has been published in a book entitled The Art of Amy Brown and also a volume 2 featuring more wonderful artwork and Amy has become something of a specialist in drawing and painting fairies and this is a good example to specialize in an area and then build on that success, although quite largely Faery Art has remained her top priority she has been known to dabble in a few other fantasy genres of the art form, but again she is a fairy artist first and foremost.

I suppose one of my favourite pieces of hers(and there are many!) has to be Rose Spell it just has so much to say and the atmosphere of the piece is just really soothing with two fairies stood releasing rose petals into the wind and the stony pillars contrasting against the skies background and the red dresses of the fairies become the focal point with their wings spreading out at the back of them.

Amy has been painting and drawing faeries for years and professionally for nearly twenty years and was inspired by many other artists like many artists should be as well as films of fantasy and creative inspiration. Whenever I think of fairies I simply think Amy Brown.



Other Fantasy Fairy Art Websites

Fairyworld
Fairie Amber
Flower Fairies

Also, check out Kirstens Fairy Art Blog