Tristan Elwell (UPDATE 5/11: NEW SITE)

[Elwell]

*EDIT*: My new website is up with tons of old and new work, check it out at tristanelwell.com!
Also, I've merged several other threads into this one, so it's not just book covers any more.

Greetings, all. It's been ages since I actually posted any work, rather than making snarky comments about other people's. To make up for that, here's some new stuff now, with more to follow soon.

First, Fire Horse. A publisher saw the piece I had done a few years back of the girl on horseback with the red background and thought something similar would be perfect for this book. The challenge was to do something that wasn't too similar . This is oil on illustration board, 12" x 24" (it's a wraparound, including the flaps).




These are the covers for the first two books in a series about a mystery solving witch. Sort of Bewitched meets Murder She Wrote. The original painting for the first one is in the book section of the Society of Illustrators annual show, which starts next week if anybody wants to check it out. Both are oil on board, 14.5" x 9".

Witch Way to Murder


Charmed to Death

[jrr]

good use of devil paint there.

[JKarwin54]

um, yeah, I'm speechless. I love the first one; great composition!!

[theincredibleandy]

oh but we LIKE the snarky comments! Anyway, glad to see the new work! The last two are pretty calm & quiet pieces, especially next to the exploding horsey, but that's kind of what they want, I'm guessing. That, and you have to accommodate type.

The horse piece definitely reminds me of an earlier one you did. I bet that's tough, being asked to do work that looks just like pieces in your portfolio. In school, Chris Payne was telling us how Gary Kelley had to do about a million cafe scenes, enough to get sick of it. Does that kind of thing happen often? Just wondering what to look forward to.

btw, your horsey rendering is my favorite rendering of anything you do. Very soothing. Keep inspiring us!

[Manchess]

Tristan! Excellent Firehorse....such a great piece. The fire is exquisite, as is the horse. I know Gary Kelley and I know he's done a ton of cafe scenes....but it's a mistake to think that he's 'sick' of them. He designs every one with love and effort. That's the challenge really: to stay as excited about each piece, like a child.

Just as you've done here! Nice. (no ass pats, just honesty.)

[brokk]

Wow...

that fire is breathtaking. These are wonderful. It would be great to see a zoom in on the book pile in Charmed to Death.

Really wondeful.

[Craig D]

nice to see you posting some stuff up,
I'm loving all of it but those flames really made me stare.
I believe my thoughts were along the lines of "how the hell did he do that?"

[Dutton]

Honestly, there aren't very many illustrators out there these days that can do a decent horse. Even some of the best fall short and the ones that could went on to make their money in western art (ie, Howard Terpning). You're definitely a fine exception, Tristan. And of course, everything else about these paintings are looking just as wonderful.
Although both of the cat paintings are in completely different settings, I love how you've tied the two together by placing the cat in the middle of geometric shapes; one on a crosspath and the other on a pentagram. The cat's also surrounded by things that contain writing. I'd be very interested to see an eventual third or fourth in this series just to see what you come up with next.

[Xpose]

God I love your work! Just so clean and realistic. All three of them just are outstanding.

[el coro]

badass tristan. you wield a brush with the best of em. keep keepin it.-c36

[Barts]

nice, yeah dawg

[Xuphia]

OH, what a beautiful horse! And I love the kitty's glowy eyes.

[VirusArtist]

I have a new wallpaper .. love that horse and the first kitten..

something bugs me about the third one though: there is no shadow... I think it would add to the eerie athmosphere if there would be more contrast between the center and the borders of the pic.

since the pentagram seems like its supposed to be glowing, it should be treated as a lightsource, so the areas of the books not facing the pentagram would be darker (they should also throw shadows) and the cat would have some lightborders around its belly.

apart from that: awesome work!

cheers,
Etienne

[Arctis]

the firehorse is fantastic !

[romance]

Tristan, these are fantastic. That horse is absolutely stunning. The fire as well.

One crit regarding the third painting. The angles of the books on the far left of the shelf seem off to me. Could it be and optical illusion with the diminishing sizes of the books? Maybe I'm just too tire to see straight. Overall, it doesn't harm the piece any

-Sleepy Head Rob

[Living Rope]

Man, wow you CAN paint that's for sure. the Fire Horse piece looks wonderful. The overall ambiance looks great though I think it lacks more reflective lights on the girl and the horse. That's my 2 cents but I wouldn't be able to do anything approching the quality of this piece...

[Marko Djurdjevic]

Bravo my friend, i appreciate you art to the same degree as i appreciate your bitchslap comments in the lounge.
All the best

M

[Art_Addict]

Love the first one !

[Mort]

nice mood and feel for these.
and the horse gives great warmt and heat. you captured the fire in a very great way. and the cat in the cemetary, very nice capture of the moon light.
gotto figure out how you do that some day.

poetry for the eyes.

[asoir]

Ahh, love the first one, very nice attention to detail in the fire and, well, all of it!

I have to agree with VirusArtist though, the lack of shadows makes this image look a little bit wierd.

[lyon]

Nice work Tristan. The fire is fantastic and I love the books in the the third painting. Good to see some work from you. I am going to be back in NY for Art Out Loud. Are you going to attend? I look foward to meeting you. The Dashesh show! I can't wait.

[Fisch]

Tristan great to see another horse piece from you. Your black horse one is a piece literally seared in my brain forever in the lobe for coolness.

The cat/tombstone piece is groovy, especially digging your grass texture.

The cat library piece is great but could be way more dramatic with shadows.

Scott

[Bruce Pluto]

Great work Elwell!!!

I love the girl on the horse, BEAUTIFUL!! Nice touch with the little sparks flying about,good detail. Plenty of momentum.


Bruce

[Victor B]

amazing pieces all of them but the firehorse is astounding and I can't belive the size you work at!

[DSillustration]

Your black horse one is a piece literally seared in my brain forever in the lobe for coolness.

ditto.
when ever i start making things too difficult,
i think back to that piece,
and say: "hmmm...simple is good!"

this one has the same appeal.
nicely done.

[bcarman]

Great stuff. I really love the first cat piece. The night light is hypnotizing. Wish I could see the Illustrators show.

http://www.boisestate.edu/art/carman

[strych9ine]

Beautiful man, I love the firehorse so much.

[foster]

Ah ha! you finally share! lovely work i must say you have a wonderful way with the girl on the horse. That piece is just beautiful. The other paintings are quite nice as well but seem to be flatter than your normal painting approaches. It is so subjective but there seems to be less life in them. But still they are wonderful and only show this aspect when in comparison with other pieces of your work I have seen.

thanks for sharing Elwell.

jon

[dusty imp]

love those kitties, awesome color
for crits though, i think the cat in the graveyard piece (i assume its moonlit) could use some darker and more clear shadows on the grass and tombstones, right now it has this look of cloudy winter day.
more please!

[mwillustration]

i love the fire horse one!
haven't seen the earlier piece it's similar to, but i'll try to check that one out.

i'm with DSillustration,
i like simple more alot of times.
i think it makes the art more iconic, seems to have more impact and can sometimes really leave more of a lasting impression on the viewer.
(ok, no more art theory from me)