Svjatogor, a detail

A detail from a painting still in progress. My favorite giant, Svjatogor – The Protector of the Mountains! This is a large painting (70X100cm) and the composition is in many ways complex, it takes much time and energy to do it right. However, once it’s finished, I hope the audience (especially those who will be able to see it in person) will think that the painting was done quickly and without a fight (which is of course not true). Beside the fact that, when working on a painting, I always try to please myself first; in this particular case, pleasing the client who commissioned it is every bit as important.

The Art of Petar Meseldzija - video

I am really glad to finally be able to announce that my book The Art of Petar Meseldzija is also available for purchase in the U.S.. 

As I mentioned about a week ago, Stuart NG Books is now selling the book.  At the moment, they are the sole source in North America for this Dutch import! Please visit them at
http://stuartngbooks.com/art-books/artists-a-z/last-name-m/meseldzija-the-art-of-petar-meseldzija.html

Here is a short video of me flipping through the book.

Thank you and Enjoy!

 

 

For a  slightly better quality video please go to  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2MRsa7Pv_k
 

Diablo III: Book of Tyrael, Part 2

About two weeks ago, I posted a few drawings which I did for the book Diablo III: Book of Tyrael. Here is now the second part of that post with the remaining drawings. The last drawing I was commissioned to do was quite large and depicted the Leoric family tree. It included the portraits of all the members of the family. The portraits were drawn on a separate paper and then pasted onto the drawing of the tree in Photoshop. This drawing was published as a large two-sided fold out poster at the back of the book. One side of the poster shows the portraits of the Leoric family members as they were before they met their doom; while the images on the backside indicate the way their life ended.

Because I still did not get my copies of the  book from the publisher,  I searched the web and found this image of the poster (see the last image).

 

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you dear people!! Thank you for visiting this tiny spot in the vast virtual universe, called Petar Meseldzija Art!

Cheers!!
 

Squirrel Christmas, Oil on paper, 1991.

 

The Art of Petar Meseldzija selling now through Stuart NG Books

I would like to share this exciting news with all of you at the other side of the Atlantic ocean who wish to buy my book The Art of Petar Meseldzija.
 
Stuart NG Books from the US is now selling the book.  They are the sole source in North America for this Dutch import! Please visit them at  http://stuartngbooks.com/new-arrivals/meseldzija-the-art-of-petar-meseldzija.html

Thank you and Enjoy!

 

 

Diablo III: Book of Tyrael, Part 1

At the beginning of this year, I did a number of drawings for the book Diablo III: Book of Tyrael. A few years ago, I did 3 drawings for the previous Diablo book. The deadline was tight back then, I remember I had only one week to finish three detailed drawings. Fortunately the art directors from Blizzard were helpful and not too demanding. The work went smoothly and at the end everybody was pleased with the results, including myself. After the job was finished and the fee reached my bank account, I forgot about the stress I had to go through due to the deadline. However one thing I did not forget - a thought I was having during this hectic week: “I hate to work under the pressure of deadlines”.

This time, however, the deadline was all but tight, but the project was much more demanding. I was offered to do 5 full page detailed drawings; at the end I ended up doing 2 one page drawings and one big drawing that included a tree, 16 heads (characters) and 2 frames. All in all, it took me about 2 months to finish the work. Much of the time was spent on the communication with the art director . This intense communication was very important because almost every detail of the drawings had to be discussed and approved. The editors made sure to get from me exactly what they needed in order to achieve their objectives. Fortunately the art director I was working with was excellent and our collaboration very pleasant. He supplied me with all sorts of reference material and gave me thorough and clear explanation of his ideas and the basic concept of each illustration. (Thank you, Doug!)

My biggest challenge this time was not a tight deadline, as I already mentioned, but the fact that the Diablo universe is not very appealing to me. It’s just not my cup of tea, it's too dark for me. Never the less, being a professional commercial artist, I put aside my own taste and preferences and did my best to deliver the work I was hired to do. But while working on this commission, I noticed how the absence of the emotional involvement with the subject matter greatly decreased the amount of pleasure I was having, and caused me to lose too much energy. Therefore I felt quite exhausted at the end of the process. It became obvious to me (not for the first time though) that being emotionally involved with the subject matter of the piece I am working on is not only an imperative for creating a great piece, but also important for maintaining the level of energy and excitement throughout the commission, as well as having a feeling of fulfillment and purpose after the job is done.

 

Young Cain Deckard, a preliminary study.

A process shot. I wish I could stop working on this drawing at this stage.

I like the contrast between the finished foreground and the unfinished background.

Finished piece.

One of several preliminary studies for the drawing of Tyrael as a mortal man.

The finished drawing of Tyrael being judged by the demons.

The same drawing with the acrylic wash applied onto the

high quality print of the original drawing.

 

Announcing the publisher of The Book of Giants

I have a great news to share. John Fleskes from Flesk Publications has agreed to publish my new book, The Book of Giants!! Needless to say,  I am very happy and excited about this news  which, by the way, has accelerated my work on this project. There are still some drawings and paintings to be finished, and some stories to be written, but the digital book dummy is almost finished.  In 2010 Flesk published my first book The Legend of Steel Bashaw in English and by doing so made my breakthrough on the international Fantasy Art market possible. The Book of Giants will be the second book of mine published by them.

Giants and smoking

"...In the world of Giants smoking is a popular thing. Most of them make their own pipes. To have a nice, original pipe is a matter of prestige..."

 

Nice Photo

This photo was made by John Flesk during the comic convention in Breda a few weeks ago. As far as I am concerned, this is the best process photo of me working on a piece…  If you want to see  more of John’s brilliant photos from Breda, please visit Flesk Publications blog.

http://fleskpublications.com/blog/

Apart from being one of the leading publishers of artbooks in the world, John possesses a variety of other talents, one of them being photography and even filming.  
I suppose many of you already know that John Flesk is the new editor and publisher of already legendary Spectrum annuals.
 

Not all Giants have two horns!