Merry Christmas!

I am so lazy with posting new stuff, but at least I post this X-Mas variation of the panda I made for the band »Texas Local News« (see the post before this one). That was a quick and dirty thank you for the guys (and girl).

Right now I am working on a new Shadow’s Mignon album cover which is a blast. I might even show you the progress for this. So look forward to it!

Until then have nice holidays and a happy New Year!

Pandas and Boxes

Been quite busy the past few months, earning my bachelor degree in communication design and all (check out www.designduoell.de – German only, sorry :)) And I had the opportunity to make a new CD artwork for the great young band Texas Local News for their upcoming Debut EP »We Are Pandora«. Check them out!
That one was a real treat. Never done a panda before (it is their mascot btw) so this was a great and fun challenge!

If you need artwork for your Band or anything else, just contact me via Facebook

Can you guess what is written on the box?

The Blacksmith

Another picture of an animal in a frame doing non-animalistic things. This one is not based on a stupid word play—at least non that I am aware of. I just wanted to draw a rhino. That is the whole story for this one!

Hiking Bird

So, this one is based on a wordplay which kinda only works in German (Wandervogel = bird of passage / hiking bird)

Nothing more to say :)

Riding the sky whale

Belated merry christmas – that stuff goes by way to fast. Anyway here’s an illustration I made for my girl-friend as a present. It now hangs nicely framed on our wall. The pic is 50 cm by 40 cm in size and drawn with ink and watercolor.
I did not have a concept except that I wanted to do something with New York because we both love the city. Originally there should have been a giant hedgehog (which my girl-friend loves) but I did not want to make it look like a monster destroying the city so I went for a whale.

No, the small guy on the back is not a prisoner.

How far would you go?

So, after it is official I can finally post it here. We (my band ALL WILL KNOW) also have a digital single being released prior to our forthcoming album »contact.« It is a nice ballade which is quite different from the rest of the music. So it had to have a cover of course. Time frame: One day. So that’s what I made of it.

I had a sentence from the band Threshold in mind while creating this:
»Energy falls from my hands«
Don’t ask me why.

Have you seen this Dragon?

The Rodlum Bellypuff is actually a pretty harmless specimen of the dragon kind, probably because it is only about one and a half foot tall (the tallest that is!). The Bellypuff is known to be a very nice familiar for wizards and those in desperate need of a mobile lighter. Have you seen one?

The drawing of a fully grown male Rodlum Bellypuff

WAIT! In the water...

Hey, yes I am still alive and have been drawing all the time, but was too busy too scan all that stuff unfortunately. Maybe I can be a little more up to the task in the future, we'll see.
For now, here's a painting that has been coming a long way. (I think I started the first version in June 2008! But no, it didn't get delayed because of me…) Anyway it is finally done, so I can show it to you. (Actually it is only the right half of the complete picture, the rest will come soon).
This is a CD cover for ProgRockRecords Boss Shawn Gordon’s Band Psychic for Radio. The CD will be called – as you can see – »Standing Wave«. Release date is sometime in the next 3 months, when nothing comes in between. Originally with Michael Sadler (Ex-Saga) on vocals there is also my good friend Henning Pauly playing on it as is Mark Zonders (Fates Warning).

»Psychic for Radio« cover art

With a grain of salt

Inspired by a book I read as a child (couldn't remember the name but I found it out in the meantime. It's called 'The BFG' or with its German Sophiechen und der Riese written by the Brittish author Roald Dahl. Should find the book and read it again. I remember really liking it.

"That gigantic salt really hurts..."

Ready, steady...

A crocodile, an evil penguin and an otter: 3 great swimmers, all very different. Who would win a race in water?

Veggies of Wrath

Inspired by John Steinbeck's Nobel Price winning book "Grape's of Wrath" and a comment of my art teacher gave me the idea for this pic. My fave is the mad potatoe. No further comment needed.

You gotta lick it...

Is it a tongue or ist it a worm? You decide.  Ink drawing with very basic photoshop coloring. Done in about 50 Minutes.

Snail Fail

Last drawing for today. I did this actually also during the sketchgroup meeting, but finished it up during my train ride back home. It's some kind of a snail man thingy. He might be a friend of the insane turtle man. I'm afraid to ask.

This flower is mine ... MINE.

Another Challenge, but I missed the deadline by 10 seconds. Pity, but no reason for whining. This weird turtle guy took about 60 Minutes with coloring. (Actually it is a tortoise man, because turtles live in water :))

Fancy fencing

Always trying something new. This time, initiated by a course at the university, I played around with classical inking technique (with a crow quill). No prepatory drawing, just directly on the paper. Scanning, some coloring in Photoshop, et voilá. I was going for a desaturated look, go give it an older feel.

Beyond the mist, there it lied: The city on the water

Somehow contest are really cool to get me do stuff (and not get lost too much in details). I drew this city with pencil, scanned it and then did the rest in Photoshop. Had to start two times because I actually got lost in details the first time, when I painted it in color and I'd have never finished it in time. So I restarted with a black/white version and colored it afterwards. Much better. Here are the three steps for you to see:

Dancing with the Devil

This one was just for fun. Once again no real idea, just started drawing with a black ballpoint pen. The color is done with watercolor. Time was about 2 hours.

Sitting, Waiting.

As promised, something new. This was another contest (yeah those get me doing stuff :)) 2000 year old creature. Time 1 hour, although this version has been painted further for about 45 minutes. I had no real vision, it just came out of doodling around. later I wanted it to have some stony skin an grass on the back to show, that it sat there already for a long time, waiting for whatever. I like the bird.

Not yet a butterfly, Alice

So, finally something new. Was very busy, but there'll be some new stuff in the next days.
This is another Chiustream Contest. Not my fault they wanted a caterpillar from Alice in wonderland, again. (well previously the choice was ours, this time it had to be the caterpillar.) 
But they gave us more time, nevertheless this is what I came up in a little more than two hours. I'm far from satisfied, but it turned out quite good for the time I invested. For me a real speed painting!

From the mists of the past

Another little scene I drew yesterday. Tried to only work with shadows, negative space and not so many outlines. And to try even something else I went for a little coloring.