Sorry for not updating for the past two days, but I have been busy working on some things. I'll do better in getting them posted in a timely manner in the future.

Anyway, I have two sketches. The first is a rough sketch of what I imagine Taran, the main character, to look like.

It was a quick sketch, and I've got a better idea since then as to what he should look like. Infact, there's a young man in the neighborhood who I think Taran would look like, I'll probably use him for reference.

The second sketch is a design for the Horned King's helm.

It's an animal skull in the book, and I've seen it as a deer skull, or a human skull, but I wanted to try something different. I like the cat like look, but I actually think I'm going to try another version made out of steel, but shaped with skull like elements. For the horns I'm thinking of something along the lines of a kudu or an impala.

Anyway, it was fun to draw. I'm already getting antsy if I don't draw each day, that's a good sign right?

Man, 30 minutes is just too fast. This was an attempt at a 30 minute speed painting of some dude, who apparently has suffered from some sort of horrific radiation-gone wrong experiment.

I really need to do this more often, and when I don't have time to sit and do some sketching on the book, I'll at least try to kick out a 30 minute sketch of some sort. But take heart, it can only get better from here.

Right?

No, that's not right, I'm going to try to get into Illustration, finally. I graduated from college with an art degree in Illustration, but somewhere along the line I've been transformed into a graphic designer. I've never really been an illustrator. I've done some small things here and there, but mainly I'm a graphic designer. Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against graphic designers, we're a nice group of people, but lately I've been really itching to be an illustrator. I think it comes down to this: I much prefer drawing and painting to updating CSS and HTML pages for clients.

So that's where the redesign comes into play. I'm going to illustrate a great story in "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander. I'll post all the character designs and sketches, all the preliminary work, and finally the finished pieces. I'll try to do this every day. No, I'll do more than try. I WILL post something everyday (that really means 3 times a week, but hey, look at the archives to see that even that much will be a drastic improvement from the past).

Anyway, so what's the end goal? I want to be under contract to illustrate a book, a short story, anything, by the end of the year. Next year, not like two weeks from now. So that's the journey. I hope you'll stick around to see what happens, but most of all I hope this works.