Hey everyone! It's time for a new post. As I mentioned in my last update there has been a whole lot of art going on lately. I wanted to share some of what I've been working on and explain a little about what it's all for.

I'm currently working on an image I plan on entering into a contest, the criteria are as follows: 

This epic competition challenges you to conceive of or update a classic tale, design believable and convincing sci-fi technology, and illustrate a key moment in the narrative. You can also depict characters, creatures, worlds, and civilizations at any point in time and anywhere in space. Your goal is to create a unique sci-fi illustration which showcases your design and rendering skills while conveying a rich underlying narrative that has universal appeal. Your final image will be evaluated on it's originality, design and rendering.

Kind of a tall order, right? I think it's a pretty cool idea though. I haven't really made a serious attempt at something like this before so now's the time to try.

Since the challenge is to make a sci-fi version of a fairy tale there's always one character that comes to my mind first, the evil queen! That's what I'll be showing off today.

The design inspiration for this character came from a random encounter with this neat little beetle I saw in my driveway one early evening.

I loved the color and the shape of the shell, along with its really interesting legs and antennae. This got me thinking, then sketching, and this is what I came up with.

There was quite a bit of hair on the beetle, which is pretty weird when you think about it, but apparently lots of bugs are pretty fuzzy. Or at least that's what I've found out from taking close up pictures of them. The hair inspired the look of the gown at her hips and the billowing fluffy back of the train. She's not quite complete at this point but this is where I started from.

There has been a lot more work done on this and more but I wanted to take you all through the process to see how something like this goes. I plan on updating at least one more time this week so look forward to more updates on her design and more next time!