The Mysteries of the Moonsea

William O'Connor

 

Recently I was asked in an interview which of my hundreds of D&D illustrations I was the most proud of.  In my reflection, I contemplated that I began working for D&D in 1994 and have made art for  Editions 2, 3, 3.5, 4 and 5.  Hundreds of illustrations, book covers, mini designs, concept designs, card art, and board games. To try to narrow it down to just one piece is difficult.  

I could've chosen my first or the one that earned me the most awards, or has the most likes on social media, but I decided my favorite was the cover for the 3rd Edition  Forgotten Realms adventure  The Mysteries of the Moonsea (2005).  This painting stands out in my memory for several reasons.  The design of these Forgotten Realms covers were unique in that they were long narrow horizontal compositions that needed to wrap around the book spine.  I had seen a couple already done by other illustrators and was eager to try my hand at it.  Working in such an unusual format was a huge challenge, and I love challenges.   I had designed and drawn and had approved the sketch by the art director in late 2004 with every intention of painting it traditionally in oil.  I calculated that the painting would need to be  about 48" wide to accommodate the detail I had planned, and I was trying to plan my attack and set up my studio and easel to handle a canvas that large.  

In January 2005 I purchased a new iMac upgrade to a powerful flatscreen model and it changed my life.  Within a couple of weeks I had a stylus and was quickly learning to paint in Photoshop and soon was delivering digital paintings to my clients.  I had never done a painting this big however, and I had never delivered a digital bookcover to D&D before.  I remember I talked with Todd Lockwood and my Art Director asking for some advice, and I settled that I would paint Moonsea as a digital painting.  

The results for a first attempt at a large digital painting were better than I hoped, but of course I look back and I see all the things I would have done differently today.  This was a learning painting and I think that's what I love about it.  All my favorite painting are the ones where I learn from them.  I think that is the challenge of all art, to learn and grow as artists.  Being an artist is a process that evolves one painting at a time.  

Enjoy

WOC

Fantasy Character Workshop #010 Halfling Wizard

William O'Connor

Working as a fantasy illustrator for over twenty years I have created hundreds (maybe thousands) of fantasy characters. When I was a student I would draw the characters of all the players in my gaming group. later working for various games I would be commissioned to illustrate and design characters from stories. As an artist many of these commissions became derivative to the point of becoming boring (Dwarf Fighter with an Axe, Elf Ranger with a Bow, etc.) so I strove to change things up and make sure that I was always coming up with new combinations. I created my Random Character Generator. (attached below). This was based upon the appendixes that were listed in the back of the D&D Dungeon Master's Guide when I was a kid. I started using this generator routinely, and still employ it when creating characters and when teaching character design to students.

This series is intended to use my generator to create characters on a regular basis to share the process with you. I will try to be as faithful as possible to the attributes that are created, as the series is meant to challenge my skills, and make the characters as difficult as possible.

Enjoy
WOC


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Fantasy CharacterWorkshop #010 Halfling Wizard

Race: Halfling

Gender: Male

Class: Wizard

Armor: none

Weapon: Club

Missile:  Slingshot

Motiff: Eagle
Familiar: Eagle

Equipment:tankard, canteen, bell, jar

When we think of Halflings usually images of Bilbo and Frodo come to mind, but Halflings are not Hobbits. Halflings are cunning and agile adventurers with sharp minds making them ideal quest wizards.  Innately attuned to the natural world a Halfling wizard would very likely have a wild animal familiar like a hawk and the use of a common wooden cudgel would be quite effective in experienced hands.  Never judge a character by his size.

Enjoy

WOC

Check out the time lapse video as well:

Random Character Generator

©William O'Connor Studios.  All rights reserved.

The Gandalf Triptych-Part 6: Finish

by

William O'Connor

Finally Finished!!

Those of you that have been following the journey that I have been making with this painting for the past 6 months have been wonderfully supportive.  The Gandalf Triptych was completed and debuted at the Illuxcon Exhibition in October, and the reception they received was wonderful!  The set was sold to a private collector, and I shipped them off a couple of weeks ago to their new owner.

Its been many months since my last blog about this painting, because as I said, it would probably take as much time to complete the details as all the steps up to that point combined, which turned out to be true.  Details, Gold Border and Frames were all decided within the last month of the work.

I'm very pleased with the result.  This was a challenge that I gave myself to try to challenge what I could do as an artist.  Three paintings that would would work individually and as a set.  There were points in the process where I considered quitting, but I slogged through it and finished what I started. Posting the process with no knowledge of the outcome was an added challenge.  I learned a lot along the way, I hope some of you did too about the work that artists put into their creations.  The painting is the work, and the final product is only the veneer of the process.

Enjoy.

WOC

Gandalf Triptych Part1 Mines of Moria
©2015 William O'Connor

Gandalf Triptych Part2 Minis Tirith
©2015 William O'Connor

Gandalf Triptych Part3 The Grey Havens
©2015 William O'Connor

 all images and text are © Copyright William O'Connor and William O'Connor Studios

The Gandalf Triptych- Part 5

William O'Connor

Gandalf Triptych work in progress with rough layout of framing and display mock-up

It has been a bit over two months since my last update about the Gandalf Triptych that I've been working on in my free time.  Free time is something is hard to come by.  Currently proofing a new book due out in the fall and another due out in August has kept me busy and not painting, but as promised I have made progress.

I've moved into the Focussing Phase of the paintings.  This is where the design, lighting and underpainting is completed, and now its time to begin refining details and making smaller decisions.  This is one of the hardest parts of painting because what starts out as what appears to be a sloppy mess, begins to come into focus as a storytelling picture, and where I'm most likely to give up and put into my slush pile of unfinished work.

This is very much the adolescent phase of a painting, that every parent of a teenager knows all to well.  Conception was the easy part, the growing pains and sleepless nights of early childhood are over, but now its all clumsy, awkward,  emotionally distraught pangs of pimply shyness that argues with you at every turn.  You think it will never get its act together and turn out okay.  But, as every artist and parent will tell you, it all will be okay.  Every painting goes through that phase to become the mature, young adult you hoped it would be and you begin to see the adult painting it will become.

Here are a few pics of the triptych as they are now.  Click to enlarge and see details.

The next and final painting phase will be the Detail Phase where glazes and details are rendered to finish the pieces.  This will be the most time consuming, but least stressful, since all the creative decisions have all been made.

Enjoy


WOC

Grey Havens Pt.1

Grey Havens pt.2

The Gates of Minith Tirith

Cave of the Goblin King

Scroll Landscape: Part 4 (The Gandalf Triptych)

William O'Connor

The scroll trilogy paintings are starting to come into focus.  I think I can officially rename the piece from the ambiguous "Scroll Landscapes", to "The Gandalf Triptych."

In order to echo more of a Japanese aesthetic, I consider the concept of including a frame painted into the design.  I have never done this before, and I'm not sure on how it will be fulfilled, (whether a painted frame or applied graphic or even gold gilding.)  But I've masked off the appropriate surround with tape to include this into the design. If this concept does not work out I can always paint over it later.

Pressing onward I begin the "Pushing Paint" phase of my painting.  This is just what it sounds like and is just as fun.  Since all three pieces are to be interrelated, I'm painting them together, and once again being influenced by my Japanese source material, I'm picturing a very monochromatic gray tonal image for all three. 

Gray-Blue-Green.  This is a great undertone for covering the canvas.  It lends itself to tonal mood, and atmosphere, while can also be easily punctuated with colors leading into the purple-violet-red scale allowing popping orange-yellow highlights of fire and light to accent the design.  This will also stand out very nicely with the envisioned gold-gilt framing.

Here I'm pushing the design's value scale from mid tone washes into a misty cool background with deep rich foreground elements.  This "Pushing Paint" stage is still very abstract and loose.  My intent is to get the entire canvas covered with paint.  This is not one of those paint-by-number paintings, where you first paint the face, then paint the tree, then paint the cloak, then paint the hair, etc. and follow the steps until its done.  I'm designing as I go, carving and softening edges and shapes and forms out of paint until the positive and negative elements work individually and as a triptych.  This is both thumbnail and painting at the same time.  The lump of clay beginning to take shape.  I'm trying to create a mirror image in the left and right panels, with the Mines of Moria and the Ruins of the Gray Havens having similar shapes. The central panel is symmetrical.

Still early days.  Keep posted to see what happens next!

Enjoy 

WOC

Scroll Landscape: Part 3

William O'Connor

I have spent some time imagining the triptych landscape series. I've begun to approach the images from a purely thematic basis.  I have decided that the trilogy will have the theme of focusing on the character of  Gandalf.

Designing the three panels together allows me to compose three individual images that will work as a set or individually.  Working very loosely with oil paint washes allows a free-form sketching process open to a great deal of alteration and manipulation as I proceed.  This is the part of painting I enjoy the most.  It looks like a mess, but this is where I'm making the important decisions!

I decide that the two panels to the left and the right should be compositionally similar, echoing one another.  The left hand panel being Gandalf leading the Fellowship of the Ring into the Mines of Moria.  The right side panel should be Gandalf and the Heroes of the Ring departing Middle Earth from the Gray Havens.  In the Middle, the fulcrum of the story arc, being Gandalf standing at the Gates of Minis Tirith fending off The Lich King.

Compositionally the two bookends should echo one another in design, with angular forms, while the center panel will represent Gandalf the White in his full splendor and moment of greatest power!

This is still being sketched and conceived as I proceed, so may very well change dramatically.  I'm of a mind that the center panel should be larger in the tradition of catholic alter pieces, but that would mean starting that panel over again.  Something that an artist must consider, not to be limited by your medium...

Stay tuned.

Enjoy

WOC

Scroll Landscape: Part 2

William O'Connor

"Well begun is half done."- Aristotle

Moving onto the next stage of my scroll landscape project, I made the decision to not execute one large painting from my sketches, but three smaller pieces.  Three panels make for a series called a triptych.  This has a long artistic tradition in both western and eastern art, so helps inform my choice of doing a trilogy of related paintings.

This choice dictates how large the paintings should be. Mentally designing what the paintings will look like framed and hung together as a set on a wall.  Basing my format on Japanese scroll paintings, I commit to three 12"x32" paintings.  Large enough to individually have presence, but small enough that when combined into a triptych do not become overwhelming.

Once the choice is made, I have to begin with the preparing of the support and ground of these paintings.  This can be very personal to each artist, and really depends on what medium you want to use.  I know that these will be oil paintings so stretched canvas, wood or masonite are my most realistic options.  

I choose to work on 1/8 inch masonite.  This is a medium that I'm familiar with and have worked with extensively.  I like this support because it is readily available, and is easy to customize in size and surface.  I start with two 24"x48" sheets of masonite and begin with soaking the board with a spray bottle and then washing on a first coat of gesso. 

 This coat is put on very wet with a sponge brush.  Continuous, gentle, soft brush strokes in cross hatching directions continues until the paint becomes tacky.  This in then left to dry overnight.  Its important to allow this drying time. The masonite will warp into a disturbing arc, but the overnight drying allows it to dry taught and flatten.  If you try to rush the drying time by putting it in the sun or in front of a heater, it will dry unevenly and the warp will not come out.

Day two the sheets are measured and cut into their desired dimensions for the triptych panels.  I actually get four 12"x32" panels and two 16"x24" out of the two sheets.  Another bonus of the 1/8" masonite is that it can be cut with a utility knife. ( with some elbow grease)  As a student or working in a small studio this is a big advantage because with wood or 1/4" panel you will need a circular or table saw.  The sized panels are sanded.

 A second coat of un-watered-down gesso is put on with the same technique using a sponge brush.  For a fine smooth finish the brush needs to be undamaged.  Any flaws in the brush's edge with create streaks and ruts in the surface.  This thick liberal coat painted on using ever lighter and lighter cross hatching brushstrokes until the paint is tacky.  Allow this coat to likewise dry overnight for even drying.

On day three I like to use a large block sander with a fine grit in a circular motion to sand the gesso into a smooth egg-shell surface.  Sanding sponges of varying grit are also available for this application.  You can vary the texture of the surface at this stage.  In some images I've done where I know the details of the composition before I begin I can apply gesso paste or gel to create texture for rocks or grass etc, but also sand the areas where the faces and details will be perfectly smooth.  It will take at least another day or two (depending on humidity) for the panels to completely dry.

With the gesso dust washed off and the triptych panels placed on my easel with all my inspiration reference and sketches I'm ready to start painting.

I still have not decided on which three compositions I will render, but since these are personal paintings I will give it some time to consider the triptych both as a set and as individual images.  The next  oil sketch stage will be done with the panels together.  With the panels prepared and waiting I can begin any time that inspiration strikes, until I find a break in my schedule, or procrastinate until the eleventh hour.

Thanks for following, and keep checking back to see the next stage.  I'm interested to see what happens.

WOC

Welcome

Welcome to the William O'Connor Studios Blog.

I hope to be able to use this site to better interact and discuss art with friends and fans, and to share my work in a more timely way. I'm looking forward to sharing ideas and suggestions on what you would like to see in the site.
My interests hopefully will span from sharing ideas and sketches, to subjects more tutorial and educational.

My personal website is still available at: www.wocstudios.com

Thanks.

WOC