Deadline Deluge, WIPs, and Some Little Ones

I'm going a little crazy right now. I have four deadlines coming up before the end of the month, and my schedule gets tighter and tighter as the days pass.

First, I sent off a couple entries to Spectrum 17 today. I've been entranced by their collections of fantasy art every year since I found out about it, and they've continually given me the inspiration or kick-in-the-pants I've needed. This is my first attempt at getting in, and as an upcoming artist I certainly don't expect any gold medals, but hopefully the work speaks for itself, and I at least show Spectrum's prestigious jurors what I'm capable of. Anyway, here are the pieces I decided to enter:




Now, I have to focus on finishing my submission to La Luz de Jesus's Kitschen Sync show, and send a photo of it in by Friday. In a situation like this, with such a tight deadline, I'll often switch my drawing process from traditional to digital practices. This means photo comping and paintovers and all those neatzo quick tricks that many digital artists make use of:



The following Sunday, I have a deadline with ArtOrder for a creature design contest. The idea is to re-imagine a creature from D&D's Monster Manual called the Assassin Devil; a being that can use shadows as a cloak or a weapon. It's a really fun project, and I'll be glad when I can get back to working on it after Friday:



Finally, I have been invited to provide a piece for Cannibal Flower, at the end of this month. Cannibal Flower is always fun, and The Color Turning, a band I like, will be playing there as well. I haven't started anything for it, however, so instead, here are some small pen drawings I did for The Hive show: