It's Been a While

cover for march 2012 discover magazine.  my first nationally circulated magazine cover.  Albert Einstein's rules of space, time, and gravity my be overturned.







private commission.  Maifun, a Spanish Harlem born Shar Pei.



utne magazine about using old diapers to grow food like mushrooms.  kind of gross right?



Emory alumni magazine about embracing the great unknown.



spot for gold magazine's rules guy column about removing debris from the ball.



motortrend classic magazine about pebble beach judges choosing this one car as the winner.  can't remember what it was but the hood ornament was an art deco eagle.



motortrend classic magazine about the current ferrari head and the old original Ferrari head.  whose name of course is something Ferrari.



full page for westchester magazine about Westchester being diverse.  this was my attempt at a black and white leave it to beaver style multi-ethnic family.  it's supposed to be an african american mom, indian son, asian dad, and hispanic son.  

Outdoor Life: A Tough Guide - Chris Whetzel

I was THRILLED to get an illustration request from Out door Life magazine! This publication has tons of street cred in my hometown, and I look forward to sharing it with my family and friends.

The article is a bit of a bio about Val, a Canada-based Bulgarian black bear hunting guide. It explores his "tough-as nails" demeanor and the trials and tribulations of escaping Eastern Europe to establish his own business on this side of the pond. Jim, the AD, thought a propaganda poster approach would be suitable imagery to reflect Val's triumphs, and I was happy to collaborate on such an image (and I got to draw bears!).

Here are the opening full-page sketches; Jim the AD wanted to definitely work "large bear with figure in front/bottom" so that is the way I developed two of the sketches. In the third, I tried to push the figure more and the bear a bit less. The reference of Val consisted of two small photos so we decided to work shadow and glasses to obscure the face. It also made sense since no one would recognize someone they had never seen/met,  anyway. So I guess these "portraits" are more Val's essence instead of his literal self? If so, I suppose I should move them from my Portrait portfolio into Editorial :)

And here are sketches for an accompanying spot/quarter-page image. I really liked the idea of the bear being Val's origin i.e. his job being his personality/livelihood so I focused on having him "come from" inside the bear or vice versa:

Jim selected suitable sketches, and the final art was pretty straightforward. I worked in a bit of textures to roughen up the art and hopefully reflect Val's toughness. Sadly, it doesn't really show online (especially the textures in the dark values), but I think it works well in print :)

(click to enlarge texture)

Thanks for reading, and thanks to Jim for a great assignment! If anyone else is interested, I am always happy to draw animals!

Enjoy the Day,
Chris

Lords of Chaos and other news!!

Apologies for the lengthy gap in posts.  I recently moved down to Olympia, WA but I am back in action now.  Here are a couple recent pieces I did for Dungeon Magazine.  These two are the Lords of Chaos: Olhydra, Evil Prince of Elemental Water and Yan-C-Bin, Evil Prince of Elemental Air.  I certainly had a lot of fun with these, especially the water scene.  

Also here is this fun market scene I completely for this months Dragon Magazine. 

 I got to work again with Kate Irwin on both these projects which is always a pleasure.

In related news, two more pieces I completed for Kate have been nominated for a Spectrum Medal!  I am certainly very honored to be considered among such amazing artists.  Fingers crossed.  It sure would be great to get a medal.  I plan to make it out to Kansas City for Spectrum Live in May.  Here are those two pieces again you missed them.

Cheers everyone!