Chris Rahn

Hey everyone!

First of all, I want to thank Craig for putting this whole thing together and for the chance to be involved. It's really great to be counted amongst such a talented group.

Where to begin...I grew up in a little tiny farming town in Washington state. From there I shipped to off to study illustration at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Since graduating in '07 I've been lucky enough to work with a lot of different clients, both in and out of the sci-fi-fantasy realm, including Wizards of the Coast, Blizzard, Fantasy Flight Games, Random House, The Village Voice and LA Weekly. 

Nowadays I'm living back in my little hometown with my wife and fellow illustrator, Betty.


My out of date website: www.rahnart.com
Much more up to date blog: http://www.chrisrahnart.blogspot.com

Here are a few samples of my work, all of which are painted in oils:

 

Eric Braddock

So how does one follow the amazing introductions to this killer art group so far? I really don't know, but this is my attempt.

A huge thanks to Craig for organizing this and creating this blog for all of us. Craig–you are my hero. I truly feel honored to be among you all and humbled to be included, I respect and admire all of you and I am looking forward to sharing our work and experiences together here.

I graduated from University of the Arts in Philadelphia in 2008 and have been grinding ever since. Between freelance, private commissions and gallery work, my life is pretty hectic as most of you can completely relate. Over the past few years I've been lucky enough to have worked with clients like Fantasy Flight Games, Paizo, DreamWorks Animation Fine Art and others along the way thus far. In the past year I've worked on Lord of the Rings TCG, A Game of Thrones TCG, and Talisman: The Adventure Board Game, just to name a few.

Originally trained in oils, I've made the jump into digital media and have really been expanding my skill sets to get myself into a game studio. Those who know me well know just how much I love Blizzard Entertainment, specifically Warcraft. Some things you can expect to see from me on this blog are not only my publishing work such as card illos, but also some concept and 3D work.

I currently live in southern NJ and spend my off time usually at Starbucks with my sketchbook, playing games, keeping healthy and trying to get to art museums and shows as much as possible.

My website: www.ericbraddock.com

My blog: ericbraddock.blogspot.com

Eowyn and the Nazgul

Magnar the Lavalchemist

Death Knight

Worgen Mage

The Scourge Gate

Coldsnap Magi Dagger

Samwise in the Pass of Cirith Ungol sketch

Scourge Box - concept 3D model

Tyler Jacobson

Greetings everyone!!

I want to start with a huge thanks to Craig for putting this all together. I am very excited to start contributing and sharing with everyone.

I am going to keep it short and sweet here because...well...I'm not so good with the words.

I graduated from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco in 2009 and jumped into being a freelancer as fast as I could. Over the past few years I have been doing most of my fantasy gaming work with Wizards of the Coast. I have representation in New York were I do editorial and advertising work, but we are discussing Fantasy Gaming here and I will stick to that.

I still claim to be from the Bay Area but my wife and I currently live in Renton, WA. The northwest will most likely be our permanent home. I think the consensus is that we illustrators don't have free time and I concur. But on the off chance that I do, well, I am still trying to find things up in the Seattle area for recreation. I am fairly new to the area so if anyone has any suggestions, I am all ears.

My website needs a bit of an update which I am working on now. http://www.tylerjacobsonart.com

My blog is more current: http://tylerjacobson.blogspot.com/

Here is are a few samples as a visual introduction.

Anna Christenson

I have to say I'm really excited about this blog. So a big thanks to Craig for putting it together, and also a thank you to all the contributors for taking the time out of busy illustration schedules to post!

My name is Anna Christenson. I live in Rochester, NY with my boyfriend Reed Smith, and our cat, Orc. I went to Fredonia State University in NY, and graduated with a degree in Illustration and Animation in 2009. Prior attending college I had always worked with gouache or oils, but while there I began to work more frequently in Photoshop, and that is now how I complete the majority of my work.

I broke into the industry in 2008 doing card art for The Game of Thrones card game that Fantasy Flight Games produces. Shortly after I graduated in 2009, I attended my first GenCon, where I met Jim Pinto, who got me started doing work for Legend of Five Rings. Since then I've been doggedly pursuing my career as an illustrator, having worked for clients like WB Games, Wizards of the Coast, and Paizo, in addition to working on a number of other games for FFG. I don't think I'd be where I am at now without all of the wonderful artists and art directors I've met over the last few years.

When I have a bit of free time (not often!), I usually can be found reading, playing some video game or another, hiking, or working on personal projects.

My personal portfolio can be found here: www.annaeatspaint.com

Thanks for stopping by!

Adam Danger Cook

I'm really excited to be posting with you all. I join everyone who's posted before me in saying "thanks!" to Craig for putting the blog together. I'm also with Kieran, in that I'm no good with writing bios, but here goes:

I went to school at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, but I didn't get much out of it in terms of a future in illustration. (The people were great - the structure, at the time, was less than ideal.) So in 2003, after graduation, I tagged along with more experienced illustrators than myself, learning as I went. With the help of my mentor, Lee Moyer, I was able to get up to speed on painting - at least enough to get a couple gigs here and there and get things going.

I live in Portland, Oregon, out in the Northwest United States, with my wife, Traci Cook (also an illustrator). I freelance for companies like Wizards of the Coast, Lucas Arts, Hasbro, Sony Online Entertainment and Sideshow Collectibles. A lot of my current work, however, involves concept design for local studios Liquid Development and Supergenius Studio.

I feel grateful to be included in such fantastic company. I will do my best to post and stay up to speed with everyone. :)

Runecast Tracker

© 2010 Sony Online Entertainment

Evasive Action

© 2009 Sony Online Entertainment

Ravenous Dragon

© 2011 Sony Online Entertainment

Servant of the Lord of Blades

© 2009 Wizards of the Coast

Gloomwrought Rooftop Chase

© 2011 Wizards of the Coast

Ogre Bully

© 2009 Sony Online Entertainment

Scarecrow Attack

© 2009 Wizards of the Coast

Kieran Yanner

First of all I'd like to say a big thanks to Craig Spearing for putting this all together!

I'm not good at writing bios so I'll be kinda brief or I'll never get it finished. My name is Kieran Yanner, I live in Seattle in the north-western United States, and I've been an illustrator since 1999 - though it feels like its been since 1902... the grey is definitely showing... I'm a self taught artist (I've been lucky enough to have had some tutelage and been slapped about by Mattias Snygg over the years) My first paying gig in illustration was with Eden Studios on All Flesh Must Be Eaten. From there I've worked for a lot of people on a lot of things, doing a lot of different things. I currently work with Microsoft on Kinect as a concept artist but also produce UI and Texture assets along with some logo work here and there.

These days, my illustration driven opportunities come through Paizo, Wizards of the Coast and Kobold Quarterly.

If you want to check out my portfolio you can head over to http://www.kieranyanner.com

I promise my future posts will be more coherent and informative!

Christopher Burdett

What am I doing here, grouped among so many other talented artists? Just look at that list of names to the right, WOW! Well, whatever the reason, I owe Craig Spearing a huge thanks for putting all this together and for choosing me to be a part of this really cool endeavor! Since this whole thing is just getting off the group I thought I best introduce myself...

My name is Christopher Burdett and I draw monsters, RAWR! No really, if anyone has seen me draw at some point I have to make the drawing say 'RAWR!'. I live in north Florida where I create online instructional content for state and local governmental organizations during the day and by night I design and illustrate monsters for the gaming industry.

I got my start as a professional artist in 1999 as a concept designer for a makeup effects house in LA working on TV and movie projects. The first movie I worked on will most likely never see the light of day, especially since it has been 12 years since it was filmed. The second movie, the Doorway is a marvelous little opus (not really) in which I got to be the demon! While in LA I worked on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly as well as numerous monster and horror movies. I had the chance to puppeteer on some of them and got to be a zombie in others. Fun times, but all good things end in their own time.

In 2005 I moved to Florida and transitioned from the entertainment to gaming industry. My first job was designing miniatures for Wizards of the Coast's game, Dreamblade. In the years since I have done work for Fantasy Flight Games, Paizo Publishing, Privateer Press and many others. I have been working very hard to make sure folks know I am the guy that just wants monsters and so far that has been working out well. Why monster, you ask? Well, the monsters are way cooler then the heroes and they often have tentacles!

If you are interested in seeing more of my work, keep coming back here, I will be posting it! You can also click my name of the right which will take you to my website or you can visit my blog.

Haggling
© 2011 Christopher Burdett

Hunter and Prey
© 2011 Christopher Burdett

Great Old One
© 2010 Christopher Burdett

Drogon
© 2011 Fantasy Flight Games

Eva Widermann

Okay, it's a Monday night and I just decided to put my pencil aside and call it a day. But some nasty Vodka-RedBull doesn't want me to snuggle up on the sofa with my significant other and significant other cats. So instead I'm finally writing up my share for the SHADOWCORE…. (mua ha ha ha)

But first of all: Thanks to Craig Spearing for putting this blog and the artists together! Great stuff!

My name is Eva Widermann, I studied Graphic and Design in Munich when I was just sweet 17 and started my career in advertising agencies after graduating three years later, which gave me a tremendous advantage in work experience. After a couple of years I decided to pursue my life time dream of becoming a freelance illustrator and concept artist and I have to say this was one of the best decisions I ever made. My main focus is on character art in both traditional and digital media. And I can't draw robots.

My debut within the gaming industry was in 2003 for a RPG called "Engel" and just a short time after I found myself painting and drawing for the likes of Wizards of the Coast, Paizo and other companies. I absolutely love the variety of my job, that's why I don't entirely focus on the gaming industry and continually challenge myself and my style by working on different commissions. One morning I can start on a children's book and finish the day with another brain sucking zombie. Win!! =D

Does a freelancer have any spare time at all? Well, not much, but I enjoy it even more! In 2009 I moved to the "Rebel County" of Cork in beautiful Ireland, where my husband is from. Living near the sea and in such a historical and cultural environment had a huge impact on my art. I joined a reenactment group and I love putting my costume together and diving into long lost centuries (which is also a great source of inspiration of course).

If you like to see more of my work, have a look at my website (listed on the right side) or join me on Facebook. Thanks for your time and Slán abhaile!

Welcome to Shadowcore

There are numerous online art forums, but I wanted one specifically geared towards fantasy gaming illustration by fantasy gaming illustrators (as opposed to art directors, editors, or publishers). So I begged, cajoled, and bribed an amazingly talented group of artists to join this collective (click on the names under Contributor website links to view their individual websites).

On to introductions...

I graduated from the Rhode Island School of design with a BFA in illustration (though most of my time there was spent in the printmaking department). I illustrated children's material from '95 to '08, then traded my brushes for a stylus and jumped head first into gaming illustration. The knock on my head rattled loose something sinister trapped inside, and I've been happily painting evil things for Wizards of the Coast, Paizo, and Sony Online Entertainment ever since.