From the Sketchbook - A Dürer Master Study

Monday and another week with Fantasytree. Soon time to leave a grey November behind and welcome December with Christmas in all it's fantastic glory. Don't forget that Santa Claus is probably one of the most famous fantasy character ever! (Albeit some minorities of the population actually believe that he exists).

Anyway, what better way to start a week than with a study of a true master? By many considered to be one of the most skilled draughtsmen ever, Albrecht Dürer's (1471-1528) works never cease to impress.

This sketch is merely the beginning of a study in pencil from a painting he did of his father. Drawn with a 0.7 mechanical HB pencil on regular sketchbook paper.

Wish you all a great week.

Finshed Drawing - Elvis Presley Portrait

Yesterday I mentioned that I had finished a drawing project. Today I can reveal that it was an Elvis drawing for my mother. Drawn with a Derwent Graphic, a 0.7 and a 0.5 mechanical pencil (HB) from a photo by Bettman/Corbis this is what it looked like. Scanned it before handing it over to my mum yesterday:

Elvis Presley (2009)

[21x29 cm]

Finished Work Coming Soon...

Today I finally finished a piece I've been working on for quite some time now. Hopefully I'll be able to post it here tomorrow.

Hope you all have a great Saturday with much candy.

From the Sketchbook - Another Lee Master Study

Here's the start of another master study from a Lee drawing. This time of Goldberry from the house of Tom Bombadil. (Used a mechanical 0.7 HB pencil on regular office paper):

(Nudity) From the Sketchbook - Frazetta Female Study

(Nudity alert!)

Another Frazetta master study I have begun drawing. Drawn with HB pencil on regular office paper.

Since "Sketch of the day" has been a slightly misleading title I will use "From the Sketchbook" when posting sketches from now on.

Untangle - Try This Great Free Game!

A great game finally available directly here at Fantasytree: Untangle 1.2 by Chris Benjaminsen. I just love this game and almost find it as some sort of stress relief or meditative practice to play it. The idea, atmospheric music and visual appearence is just brilliant.

Hope you will enjoy it as much as I do. Happy playing!

Blog Update: "Never End" Now Playable at Fantasytree as Well!

Now I have updated the post for the brilliant little adventure/puzzle game "Never End" as well. This means that it's now playable directly in the blog. Enjoy!

Never End (Puzzle/Adventure)

Blog Update: "Prince of Persia" and "Black Sails" now Playable at Fantasytree!

Good news: Since I recently changed template, I now have the possibility to embed games directly on the blog. This time without that annoying scroll frame that made the game virtually unplayable.

So far I have had time to fix the following two games, but I hope to soon have more games fixed and also to keep adding games to the "high quality online games" library I'm building.

Enjoy your playing!

PRINCE OF PERSIA (Classic Adventure)

BLACK SAILS (Strategy/RPG)

The Master of Alien Painting?

Well, at least he is one of the most influential. I'm talking about H R Giger's dark imagery of course. Known for his award-winning work on the very first Alien movie, he has kept conjuring dark biomechanical visions that have become immensely popular. Be warned though: You enter his website at your own risk...

Sketch Of The Day - Alan Lee Study

Monday and a new week here at Fantasytree. I do hope you will enjoy your visit.

Last week I posted a link to the famous Tolkien artist John Howe. Today's sketch is a master study of another of the most popular Lord of The Rings illustrators, Alan Lee.

It's a sketch of one of Lee's drawings of the great hall of Edoras for the Lord of The Rings movies. Drawn with HB pencil on regular office paper:

My Sketchbook at ImagineFX Received Highest Rating!

I was both utterly surprised and very happy when I yesterday discovered that the Sketchbook I have at ImagineFX had received 5 stars (out of 5). Since it has now reached it's 19th page, it shows the entire process of learning and struggling with drawing since November last year. Hopefully it can inspire others to practice and explore this enriching hobby.

Just to give an idea of the journey so far, here is the very first and the very latest post in the thread. The first one was drawn with a mousepad (didn't have either a tablet or a scanner at the time) in Windows Paint and the second one with ink pen on paper.

Bear in mind though, that the first one was done entirely without reference, while the Iguazú waterfalls were drawn fram a photo.

I still think it's interesting to see that I have come so far during this year and yet... I haven't moved an inch. It's still trees, water and bold black lines.

Heartree (Digital sketch November 2008)

Iguazú Waterfalls (Ink pen sketch November 2009)

Sketch Of The Day - A Drum

Another Sketchstorm ink pen drawing. This time a little hand drum drawn from life:

The best Tolkien artist?

Well, according to most he is at least one of the masters. John Howe, the renown illustrator is currently working on making The Hobbit look as good as it possibly can. Do yourself a favour and visit his inspiring website.

Have a nice weekend.

Work In Progress - Frazetta Warrior Study

One of the projects I'm drawing is a study of a Frazetta sketch for a warrior painting. Here is the beginning of the study, drawn with a HB pencil:

Finished drawing - Pilgrimage: 2nd Step

Just finished drawing the 3rd step in my Pilgrimage series. Realized though, that I have only posted The 1st step so far. Here is the 2nd one, with the 3rd one soon to follow. This one was drawn with colored ink pens:

Pilgrimage: 2nd Step (2009)

Sketch Of The Day - Best Album Ever?

The next sketch for the Sketchstorm thread was drawn from an album cover. According to one of my favorite sites, rateyourmusic.com this is the best recorded album ever. Indeed, The Beatles Revolver does include many gems.This is just a rough, simplified version of the remarkable original artwork.

Drawn with a HB pencil on ordinary sketchbook paper. No eraser has been used as you can tell:

Frazetta Painting Sold For 1 Million Dollars!

Speaking of Frazetta and Twitter, I just heard that one of Frank Frazetta's paintings has been sold for one million dollars!

Find out which painting it was and more information about this sale here: Spectrum

Proves once again that Frazetta is the undisputable master of Fantasy art! Of course many Frazetta products can be found in the Fantasytree store.

Which Is The Most Popular Drawing?

Welcome to another week with Fantasytree. Hope that you'll have a great one and that you'll enjoy the content that I'll post here during the week. Don't forget to comment and give me feedback so I can make this site even more enjoyable. Also remember that you can subscribe to Fantasytree feeds and also follow Fantasytree on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Fantasyleaf.
 
Now to the question in the title of this post: The most popular of my art posts has previously been some Frazetta studies. But now the post with a pencil drawing of an August Tree has reached the first position. Feels appropriate that a drawing of a tree is the most popular drawing at a blog named Fantasytree. Glad this rather quick drawing has become so popular.

/Magnus

Sketch Of The Day - Emma Andersson

Todays sketch was drawn from a photo reference as well. It's a sketch of the Swedish celebrity Emma Andersson. The pencil used is a mechanical 0,7 HB.

(Nudity!) Sketch Of The Day - Laocoon Study

Nudity alert!

Next sketch is a study of a classic sculpture, the Laocoon group. Truly challenging but fun to sketch. Used an ink pen for this one. Drawn from photo reference:

Who Is The Best Concept Artist?

Well, not an easy question to answer. However, one of the names mentioned in such a discussion, would no doubt be Craig Mullins. Known for his work on The Matrix Revolutions and Halo 1 and 2, he has a wonderful gallery at his website. Do take a peek.

Sketch Of The Day - Tom Cruise

Another sketch for the Sketchstorm, this time a pencil drawing of Tom Cruise from "Mission: Impossible II". Drawn with a HB pencil

Heard the Latest News About The Hobbit?

Would you like to read an update on how the work with the film version of "The Hobbit" is proceeding?Then I recommend a visit at this page on the great Tolkien site The One Ring.net. There you'll find answers to almost anything you want to know about the production.

Sketch of The Day - A Mighty Tree

Another pencil study for the Sketchstorm thread. Drawn with a HB pencil it is another study from a painting by Mossberg.:

Just can't get enough of Star Wars and Lord of The Rings?

I was recommended these "Character interaction" charts from xkcd.com. I think they are just brilliant! I wonder how long it took to draw these. What do you think?

Link to large chart: http://xkcd.com/657/large/

One of the Grandmasters of Comics

Just added a link to one of the most sought-after and influential comic artists the last decades. Moebius is the man behind the famous comic Blueberry and many other celebrated works.

Sketch of The Day - Wagon

Welcome to a new week here at Fantasytree. Yesterday it was Father's Day and my sons gave me the latest Dan Brown book, The lost symbol. Although not fantasy per se, his plots are usually imaginative and intricate. Really look forward to reading it.

Anyway, let's start this week the way most paintings are started, shall we? Today's sketch is another one for the Sketchstorm thread (do join in if you want to!) I'm running over at ImagineFX. This time the subject was a wagon. Here's an ink pen sketch from a painting by the illustrator Colbus.

Hope you'll all have a great week.

(Nudity!) WiP of The Day - Another Figure Drawing Update

Another update on the Carracci master study. Still only using HB pencil to create the darkest areas. These are made by drawing many layers in the same area with added pressure. The pencil used is from the Derwent graphic series.

Sketch Of The Day - Elephant

Another ink pen sketch drawn for the Sketchstorm thread. This time an elephant drawn from phot reference. Tried to make bolder and more confident strokes when drawing this sketch. Also aimed more for the "analyzing not copying" approach that Glenn Vilppu advocates.

Do You Like The New Look?

Once more I have decided to change template for the blog. I have realized that it is much more convenient to have the sidebar at the left side of the screen. I have tried to simplify the layout and make the blog clearer and easier to read and search. Please let me know what you think about the new look.

(Nudity!) WiP of The Day - Update on The Carracci Figure Drawing

Another update on my Carracci study (latest WiP found here). Drawn with HB pencil. No erasers or blending used and I have tried to make sure to use construction lines in order to establish proportions and relations between different parts of the body. This makes the study more instructive.

The Greatest Fantasy Artist Now and Forever?

The official Frank Frazetta site appears to be up and running again. So it's about time I add this legendary fantasy artist - one of my favorite artists overall - to the linklist. Such physical presence and power in the masterpieces he has painted. If you haven't really looked at his paintings do take your time and do this. You won't regret it.

Who Decided What Star Wars Should Look Like?

The answer is: Ralph McQuarrie. The concept art of this legendary artist was actually used by Lucas to promote the idea of the first film and capturing the interest of the movie companies. I apologize for not adding him to the "Other artists" link list. I hope to add quite a few inspiring names in the days to come, making the list grow considerably in the next few days.

(Nudity!) Sketch Of The Day - Raphael Master Study

This daily sketch is another one that I drew for the Sketchstorm thread at ImagineFX. This time a Raphael master study, drawn in ink pen as usual. A reproduction of the original along with 99 other master drawings can be found in Robert Beverly Hale's superb book on figure drawing, Drawing Lessons From The Great Masters.

(Updated!) Fantasytree Now on Twitter!

Ok, it's all running as it should. Updates to this blog can now be found on Twitter as well. Find my Tweets as user Fantasyleaf at http://twitter.com/Fantasyleaf

(Updated!) For Lovers of Dinosaurs and Anything Else Imaginable

Just made another great addition to my link collection. This time to the website and blog of James Gurney, author of the Dinotopia books and the inspiring Imaginative realism. At both these pages you will find loads of great art resources. Do take a look.

Sketch Of The Day - Gurney Master Study

Another sketch for the Sketchstorm thread. This time a master study of a detail from a painting by James Gurney. He is the great artist and teacher I mentioned recently. Drawn with an ink pen:

Fantasytree Updates Soon on Twitter!

Have just spent some time trying to make any blog updates show on Twitter as well. Using feedburner and twitterfeed, it will be interesting to see if everything works as it should when I post this...

Sketch Of The Day - Real Life Gestures

Today's sketch is some real life gestures drawn for the Spartan Camp at ConceptArt.org. These are drawn with an ink pen.

As I explain in part 2 of my free drawing lessons, it's very good practice to draw quick sketches with a pen, since there is no way to erase mistakes. You also improve the confidence of your lines since you have to draw quick strokes. If not, unwanted "blobs" will immediately appear. I used to draw with a ballpoint pen, but have found that a pen with more flowing ink is more challenging to use (and therefore even better practice).

Looking for a challenging drawing subject? Draw children and animals from life. You're lucky if they keep the same pose for even a few seconds.

(Nudity!) WiP Of The Day - Carracci Master Study Update

An update of the Carracci figure study I've been working on. A reproduction of the original can be found in Hale's wonderful Drawing Lessons of The Great Masters (HB pencil):

Dragon Portraits - Dragon and Fantasy Artwork

Would you like to see a drawing of yourself or your loved ones as dragons? Or being surrounded by dragons, riding on dragons, having afternoon tea with dragons... Then you should visit the site Dragon Portraits that my friend Lisa Gravelle-Ford runs (now added to the "Other artists" link list). Her specialty is dragon and pirate art, but she also takes comissions for other subjects. A truly unique and inspiring site.

WiP of The Day - Siren of The Woods

Last night I began another black and white digital drawing. This time moving away slightly from the realistic putting more emphasis on the symbolism. To me one of the things it expresses is a comment on how we people treat this planet. But of course it's all in the eye of the beholder - how do you interpret it?

(Drawn in ArtRage with pen tool and eraser, starting with a 100% pen - default setting - and decreasing size down to 10%)

Work in Progress - Siren of The Woods