Gandalf Final (casual Photo)

Hey everybody! Here is the final for the first LOTR portrait. I will have a final scanned in sometime soon and priced on the website (grantcooley.com). Prospective buyers can contact me in the meantime with inquiries. Be the first to own the first in an epic collection of inspired portraits! Or at the least just tell your friends and spread the word.

Legolas Prelim

Hello! Here is the prelim drawing for Legolas. Had my girls for the past few days so was busy running around playing hide-n-seek instead of painting. I'll gladly take any rebuke. I think I will knock a few of these portraits this weekend so check back soon for goodies!

Lord of the Rings niftiness

Hey there guys! For those of you who haven't switched over to the grantcooley.com blog, at a glance, here is the past two days. The first Gandalf painting is about 30 min and the second is about 80 min. in. Hope you enjoy!

Hey there! I decided to do a series of Lord of The Rings Portraits as a figure painting exercise. For each character I will do a sketched rough, a preliminary tonal drawing (seen here) and then a full painted portrait without an underdrawing. I won’t make any prints of these as that would be lame sauce, but the original studies will be for sale.

First Dawn Preliminary

Hey there Guys! Just thought I would pop in and post a pic of a sketch I completed for one of my new paintings "First dawn". I am trying to work out my dragon concept through a series of developed roughs and painted studies. By fully rendering out the concept even in "roughs" it is is much easier to realize stylistic strengths and weaknesses. I Think the next version will have larger more fully extended wings and a more puffed out chest. We'll all see soon!

Conooga Review

Hello everybody! This year I attended Conooga for the first time. A 3 day event in Chattanooga, TN, Conooga is a young convention that prides itself on its party battles and friendly atmosphere.

My overall take on Conooga is very positive. It had a wide open space, very friendly and accommodating staff, and a decent attempt at programming. Being a a young show, they didn't really have any heavy hitter stars there, but that isn't really a draw for me as much as an indicator of a show's reputation/success. I thought it was a very pleasant and casual show.

In Summary:

Conooga
February 18-20
Chattanooga, TN

Pros:
Very open atmosphere in a nice venue.
Friendly and helpful staff.
Great reputation for such a young show. This just means upward growth and improvements all around.
I was allowed to runa very interesting panel on the art of retrofuturism.
Very open to new guests and contributions.
Good traffic flow with a diversity of tastes.

Cons:
The majority of the attendees were young anime cosplay kids. Not there to spend money or do anything but be looked at.
It is still a young show and will take a few more years to be a serious draw.
No real guests or programming...yet.

Overall:

A fun show that is worth heading out to. My space was comped this year and that goes a long way in showing me their commitment to a diversity of contributors. For the majority of youth, there were still a solid number of art enthusiasts and gaming fans. Would I go back? Absolutely. There are few shows I can vote so confidently on, and I am pleased to give this one a thumbs up. If you have a weekend to kill and promote your work while making a few shekels, put Conooga on the books.

God as the Architect II WIP

Hey guys! I will be tossing up my review of Conooga in the next few days. In the meantime, here is a progress shot of God as the Architect. I don't know if I will have it done for this weekend's art show, but I will have it done soon. Just keeping you guys posted!