New member, 1st post

**rex** · February 9th, 2005, 11:24 PM

Hi, I'm adam. I'm new around here, and want to see if I've figured this thing out. The image, if it appears, is a cover I did for Wotc. The border elements were added by them, unfortunately. I'd love feedback.
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**strych9ine** · February 9th, 2005, 11:30 PM

As soon as the image loaded I was drawn to the figure clutching the archway in the bg, I love the face. The chick in the front has a sweet costume design as well... I'm digging this dude.

**foster** · February 9th, 2005, 11:30 PM

adam! hello!

i am so glad to come across this post. amazing work and i love your web site. so much of that amazing work!

please post more.

and... is ay post em bigger and give us detail shots as i know how luscious these paintings are.

Jon

**hurricane** · February 9th, 2005, 11:37 PM

im thinking what they said !

great stuff !

one thought, the girl on the right, i dont like that she is following the background wall edge (the diagonal one) makes the "snake-girl" blend too much with the background... just a minor thought..

post more !

cheers !

**Gilead** · February 9th, 2005, 11:52 PM

All the stuff on your website is just great! What mediums are you using? sizes? etc.
If I'd seen your site eirlier I'd have gone to your book signing in Scottsdale AZ since I'm in the neighborhood.

**H.Evans** · February 10th, 2005, 12:11 AM

awesome work- i checked out your site... got a new favorite.
My favorite part of this piece is the pseudo-roman elements in the background- It reminds me of my semester in Rome with Temple U./Tyler. I can't wait to see more!

**Bomba** · February 10th, 2005, 12:13 AM

Adam!

Welcome to the forum! Been a long time since I have last chatted with you, but it's great to see you here. I always enjoy your work and eager to see you post more often here.

Hope that you are doing well and great first post! Nothing to add other than 'Fantastic!"
-Jason Felix-

**fukifino** · February 10th, 2005, 12:23 AM

*fan boy mode on*

OMG Adam Rex...sweet! You're one of my favorite artists in the current WotC stable. Awesome to see you posting here.

**daarken** · February 10th, 2005, 12:25 AM

hey adam, i have been a big fan of yours for a long time. its great to finally see you posting here. i love your colors and values, everything just pops so much. great work. what size are your oils that you usually do for magic cards? and yes, detail shots if you have any please!

**GriNGo** · February 10th, 2005, 12:52 AM

great stuff man! what's Wotc by the way? Wheel of TimeC? dont know what the C stands for then... great stuff again! Was this painting made with traditional stuff or digital? if traditional, what did you use? what size is it in "real life"' thanks Mr. Rex! for posting this!

later,
GriNGoLOCo

**KarbonCopy** · February 10th, 2005, 02:15 AM

whats up with the one chick's tilt? am i on crack?

**Zaknafain** · February 10th, 2005, 05:49 AM

I saw this piece before and was totaly fascinated.
The only crit is that the snake girl looks of balance.

For those who don't know: Wotc is Wizards of the Coast.

**Loga4** · February 10th, 2005, 06:52 AM

Very nice piece!Characters looking cool!

**duddlebug** · February 10th, 2005, 07:05 AM

Lovely painting... but i was blown away by your website... there's some really beautiful work on there.

I love your kids' stuff!!

**Matt Dixon** · February 10th, 2005, 07:06 AM

Many times welcome, Adam. This is a great image and the work on your website is stunning. Inspirational stuff - thankyou!

**Aly Fell** · February 10th, 2005, 07:29 AM

Great work! Lovely character stuff!

**I.was.ink** · February 10th, 2005, 10:11 AM

Just wanted to chime in with everyone else and say Welcome as well. Beautiful work! I really like the originality of the characters costumes and that color pallette is awkward....in a good way of course.

-ink

**RAMÓN** · February 10th, 2005, 11:43 AM

Ah man, I like everything about this. The colors are supersweet. Impressive.

JEZZARTS · February 10th, 2005, 12:05 PM

hey adam, very nice, love the work on your site as well... great style. Welcome! I'd love to see some larger images as well.

**JoshuaTheJames** · February 10th, 2005, 12:12 PM

NICe piece and really fun work on your site!

Though I wish the pieces weren't so teeny. ::sniff sniff::

Thanks for the post!

-Joshua James

**P E N Ricklund** · February 10th, 2005, 12:12 PM

I've been visiting your website earlier and its great. It's nice to see you post here to

**rex** · February 10th, 2005, 12:58 PM

Thanks, everyone, for the warm welcome. I was afraid I'd post and there would be only silence. A lonely coyote would howl in the distance. A tumbleweed would drift by.

I agree with the comments regarding the right figure's pose. At the time I was obsessed with giving her an off-kiler pose to make her seem unearthly, but now I think it just looks wrong.

Here are some details:

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Thanks,
adam

**rex** · February 10th, 2005, 02:28 PM

Oh--and the medium is tradigital. Mostly I just paint in oils, but lately I've been doing color roughs in PS, like digital underpaintings, then printing them onto 12x18 paper, sealing it with medium, and putting in the textures and details with oils. It cuts out a day or two of painting for me.

**fukifino** · February 10th, 2005, 02:31 PM

Originally Posted by rex

Oh--and the medium is tradigital. Mostly I just paint in oils, but lately I've been doing color roughs in PS, like digital underpaintings, then printing them onto 12x18 paper, sealing it with medium, and putting in the textures and details with oils. It cuts out a day or two of painting for me.

Haha, tradigital. I love it. That's interesting..I think that's the opposite from the way a lot of other tradigital artists work (ie. starting traditional then tweaking in PS/Painter afterwards). Cool info!

**ploboyko** · February 10th, 2005, 04:42 PM

Great to see you posting here. I've really liked your work since I saw your first couple of magic cards several years ago, and always enjoy the pieces you have in the D&D books. I love the subtlety of your colors and the ruddy fleshyness (is that a word?) of all your characters. They always have a real, solid feel to them. Looking forward to seeing you post more stuff, especially WIP or details. I'm especially intrigued by the digital/traditional fusion you've recently started using. I've wanted to give oil paints a try again after several years of doing mostly digital stuff, and this sounds like a good way to ease back into it. A couple questions. What kind of paper do you think works best for this process? Also, do you mount the piece on masonite or anything, or do you just seal the paper with several layers of matte medium and go on from there. Sorry if any of these questions seem rudimetary, I just haven't worked with oil for quite awhile.
Anyway, thanks again for posting; it will be great to see more of your work and benefit from your insight on other works here.

**jackoilrain** · February 10th, 2005, 07:56 PM

Originally Posted by rex

Hi, I'm adam. I'm new around here, and want to see if I've figured this thing out. The image, if it appears, is a cover I did for Wotc. The border elements were added by them, unfortunately. I'd love feedback.
[IMG]

[/IMG]

Finally a mix about creativity, design, fantasy-soul, beautyful colors, good hand, and serious composition and, miracle!Someone that can live without an heavy photographic referements!!!

**Main Loop** · February 10th, 2005, 08:31 PM

i kinda like that she's off kilter, makes it more dynamic compositionally..

your name sounds vaguely familiar.. are you part of any artist groups or affiliations?

**Ostrander** · February 10th, 2005, 08:44 PM

Very sweet work, awesome stuff on your site too.

**the black frog** · February 10th, 2005, 08:54 PM

Warm welcome to you sir, very nice stuff!
The web site is great.
Keep posting.

B.F.

**rex** · February 11th, 2005, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by ploboyko

A couple questions. What kind of paper do you think works best for this process? Also, do you mount the piece on masonite or anything, or do you just seal the paper with several layers of matte medium and go on from there. Sorry if any of these questions seem rudimetary, I just haven't worked with oil for quite awhile.

No, good questions, I just don't know if I'll be able to give substantial answers. I don't usually print these files out myself--I've found an agency here in Philadelphia I like. I originally brought them my own stock--some Strathmore 500 Series Drawing paper, if I recall, but they made me an extra copy for free on their own stock, as a test. I liked it, and it took the paint fine, so now I just use theirs. I don't know much about it. And, while the print shop assures me the prints are archival, who knows, right?

Anyway, you've just about guessed the rest. I usually mount the paper down on illustration board or heavy watercolor paper with matte medium. After that dries, it's three or four layers of matte medium on top of the paper, lightly sanding between coats

Someone mentioned that my method was the reverse of what you usually see, and I suppose that's right. I got the idea from Donato Giancola's excellent tutorial at donatoart.com. He has his tight sketches copied on to paper on a large format copier. Anyway, there are certainly people out there making me think I'm a chump for still painting with actual pigment, (Foster, Lockwood, Sweet, etc.) but most of the all-digital painting I see has a slightly mushy, smeared sort of quality that I'm not fond of. All of the surfaces in these compositions tend to have the same texture. I think what I like about finishing paintings in oil is the irregularities. On the computer every brushstroke comes out the same, but in paint every one is unique, and I think it's those subtle variations that mimic life so well, in all
its subtle variations. I know I'm over-generalizing. Jon routinely makes images that make me scrarch my head--is it traditional, digital or both?