So I have been planning this piece for about 4 years… at least. I finally felt ready for it, finally felt like my talent had reached a point where I could attempt this and do it well. I have decided to document the development of this piece, and do a “daily digest,” where I take a photo at the end of a long day of working on the piece. This allows me to show its development to you, but it also allows me to get feedback from you, suggestions, critiques. I also think this is a really cool approach to sharing my art with people. Not just as a single piece, but as a growing and evolving work of art. This first post is all the sketches that I have done over the years, working up to this piece. I hope you enjoy.
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This image dates back almost 4 years ago. After drawing Modern Magic in 2001 and hearing about the ending of Ralph Bakshi’s Wizards for years, I had built up the ending to that movie in my mind. Every time people told me about it, the ending grew and evolved into this epic, world shattering event. After seeing the movie, it wasn’t what I expected. This work of art is to express what has been growing in my head since 2002.
I knew I wanted the wizard high atop a tower, one hand flaring with magic, the other holding a gun, pointed almost at the viewer, but not quite. If it were pointed right at you, then it would be too foreshortened, and difficult to discern. I always envisioned the gun drawn, and a flash of purple lightning streaking through the night sky behind him.