Art from Friends, Part 4

Recently I was able to attain some more concept paintings (digital) from +Maria Owens, a friend of mine who is far better at art than I...

This is the result of my describing an Ouhlktoo to her:

She originally did a sketch similar to this on paper as I described the creature's head to her . . . then she came back to me a couple of weeks later with this digital version xD

Then she moved into a full creature sketch :]

I think she captured the potentially sinister nature of the Ouhlktoo perfectly. And I can totally see a creature sixteen feet tall having a wingspan of that size (anyone who knows bird anatomy and stuff like that feel free to correct my ignorance ;) . . . also, I really like the way she got the antlers to fit on its head - I've tried to sketch this thing dozens of times and could never quite get it to look right, even with some references to work from :P :]

I am amazed, impressed, and inspired by her attention to anatomy even though it's just a made up critter :)

And then she surprised me with a really epic, full size, rendered version!!! xD

Epic

Great stuff, right? Much gratitude to +Maria Owens  for her generous contribution to my odd ideas ;P :]

Concept Art: Rim - Improved

So, I kept looking at the illustration I did of Rim (the main character of Warrior's Fury), and could not escape that infamous, 'artist' thought: "that doesn't look even close to what I wanted!" ;P ;)

Well, I finally gave in and did some 'improving' to the original illustration. Though it still isn't 'fantastic' by my reckoning, I do think it is far more better than the original :] . . . If nothing else, the color composition is a little better ;P

~ Rimmegoan Dayor

Oh, and in the process of going through the Photoshop layers to figure out how I was going to make the changes I wanted to - I found this and just thought it looked 'cool' :P xD

~ Rim in line drawing with some color ;P :]

Hope you like the improved illustration! :D

Grace Like Rain - a Painting

Original Oil Painting - Grace Like Rain

The idea for this painting came to me while listening to Todd Agnew’s song, Grace Like Rain.

I could see a man – his clothes worn, torn, and stained, and his skin covered in grime – standing in the light of the setting sun while a soft rain fell around him. And anywhere the clear water touched his outstretched arms and upturned face, the water glowed with pure white light and washed away the grime and stains, mending the tears in his clothing as it turned the cloth as white as freshly fallen snow.

God’s grace is poured out upon us completely outside of our control and is capable of perfect cleansing. (Exodus 33:19, Romans 9, Ezekiel 36:21-28, Ephesians 2:4-10, Romans 5:15-17). We can do insignificant things that attempt to block the rain of God’s grace from touching us, but He is able to defeat every single one of our pathetic shields. His grace is so awe inspiringly pure and terrifyingly powerful – and yet, at times can be so gentle – it can wash away the filth of our sin-soaked selves and give us the precious gift of Salvation by our LORD and King, Jesus Christ.

“. . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus . . .” ~ Romans 3:23-24

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I Once was lost but now I’m found
Was blind but now I see so clearly

Hallelujah, grace like rain falls down on me
Hallelujah, all my stains are washed away, washed away

(from “Grace Like Rain” by Todd Agnew)

This is a picture of the painting in different lighting conditions ;P :) . . . only because I thought the one above is a little more 'vibrant' than the painting looks in person :]