Monsters and Madness

So, here it is...my first freelance illustration. I hope it lives up to whatever hype it had. It appears in Issue 11 of Kobold Quarterly magazine: [link] .

I owe a debt of gratitude to my good friend Michael Jaecks [link] for getting this gig. He gave me tips on who to contact to get some freelance work, answered my questions, offered encouragement, and allayed my fears.

So, as far as first freelance commissions go, I totally lucked out on this one. Terror, madness, fleeing adventurers, Cthulhuoid tentacled monstrosities...what's not to love about a job like that? And I did indeed have a great time with this. The art director was an easygoing guy, and was a pleasure to work with.

There are, of course, some flaws in the piece; look how thin that wall is, for example, and the cast shadows of the monster's arms and hands should be more defined. These flaws are probably more obvious to me than to you, though, since I painted the darn thing. Plus, I've been staring at it as my desktop background for a few months, giving me plenty of time to see its imperfections. Ah well.

It's a thrill to see my art and name in print. I hope you guys like it.