"Journeys", my new artbook!

Cover not final; I've got a typesetting friend who'll take care of the book design next month, and I'll very much value his input in the cover. :) 

I haven't been idle - my new artbook is well underway, and I'm almost done writing the accompanying texts. It will be much more personal than the last one, but that almost happened of necessity. It was impossible to write anything about stuff I drew/painted from 2016 to now without getting a wee bit personal. 

There will be roughly 50 images in the book, presented chronologically this time. The book will be around 100 pages, A4 size (21x30 cm, the same as the last so they'll look nice together on a bookshelf. =D)

And it can have you in it! 

How? Tomorrow, you'll see a new "Special Offer" in the Celebration tier. If you pledge there, you'll be listed on a Thank You page in the book! 

If you're already in that tier, you don't have to do anything; you'll be in the list automatically.

~ What if I want to keep supporting you in that tier, but I don't want to appear in the book?
That's fine! Just let me know that you don't want to appear when the Special Offer ends (June 12), and I'll make you anonymous. Or, if you prefer, you can give me a pseudonym under which you'll appear. I will use the names in the way you are given on Patreon. You can change yours anytime in your settings. 

Writing sample: 

40

The Light of Eärendil

Watercolour, 22x36 cm, 2018

“May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out.”

The last piece of art in 2018 was deeply symbolic, and fully meant to be. 2018 had been a dark place, and kindling a light was something very personal, and very important. It helped that I was fully aware that the things that had cast the year into darkness were not going to go away, but I had dealt with them, and would continue to deal with them, and had found a light to help me find the path ahead. 

It’s weird how much store we set by arbitrary notions of beginnings and endings. The world is no different on 1st January than on 31st December. But sometimes, they can be an artificial bridge that gives us the courage to cross a very real obstacle.

41

The Last Alliance

Watercolour, 29x40cm, 2019

Gil-galad was an Elven-king.
Of him the harpers sadly sing;
the last whose realm was fair and free
between the Mountains and the Sea.

His sword was long, his lance was keen.
His shining helm afar was seen;
the countless stars of heaven’s field
were mirrored in his silver shield.

But long ago he rode away,
and where he dwelleth none can say;
for into darkness fell his star
in Mordor where the shadows are.

J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

The winter holidays were in full swing, and I was throwing myself head first into art. This was the piece I still owed Gil-galad, after stranding him, looking mournful, in a sad and empty blue space two years previously. I approached it the same way I had the Éowyn and Faramir piece, by having the composition firmly in mind before I started to look for reference. I found that with photographs of quadrigae on monuments (a hot tip if you ever want to paint a horse from below). For Gil-galad, I took a photo of my daughter on a Welsh pony during her riding lesson. She takes great delight in tragic/heroic poses and gets them down to a T.