Magnificent animated video of the new "Sorcery" series dedicated to the Arthurian Legends. My knight Perceval is there too!

 Arthurian Legends: Sorcery Contested Realm Trailer

Magnificent animated video on YouTube of the new "Sorcery" series dedicated to the Arthurian Legends. 

My knight Perceval is there too!

The Video is simply wonderful: the music, the narrative voice, the atmosphere! I can't wait to see all the illustrated cards.

LOTS of new illustrations are coming!

On the occasion of the publication of the new expansion dedicated to Arthurian Legends here is an interview on the "Sorcery: Contested Realm" website: 

https://sorcerytcg.com/art/andrea-modesti

I sincerely thank Chase for the interview, his great kindness and attention. And ALWAYS a big thank you to Erik and the entire Sorcery Team. 

I also thank the Magic Maze Team who will organize an event for the launch of the new Arthurian Legends; Francesca Baerald will also be there!!

https://sorcerytcg.com/news/landmark-sorcery-event-for-italy-at-magic-maze-october-27th-2024

While waiting for the publication of the new illustrations, a small reminder of some of those already published ;-)

The Knight in progress: first the background, then the figures (initially protected by the liquid maskig fluid for watercolor)

New Interviews and Video Presentation for Collector Arthouse and "Sorcery: Contested Realm"!

 I apologize for the long absence from the blog, but it has been an "intense" period, so to speak, in many aspects.

Among the beautiful, or rather, really WONDERFUL  things, which I am infinitely happy about, is being able to be part of the group of Artists and the Sorcery: Contested Realm project.

Working on these illustrations is a privilege for me, and I put all my soul and effort into it.

Speaking of Sorcery, I would like to point out here the beautiful presentation of the Beta Edition, made by Mike Servati.

It's absolutely not to be missed and with very special moments and Artists with their Artworks : as always thanks to Mike!

And I seem to have glimpsed something familiar in the background ;-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8nm2Hf23wE

Odin in the guise of Wanderer

The god Odin, in one of his disguises as a wanderer; with him the trusted crows Huginn and Muninn, the infallible spear Gungnir and the Draupnir magic ring.

Welcome autumn!

A centenary oak in an autumn forest. The small fauna that lives around the old tree ... For Campus Natur - Landverlag

Have a good journey, my friend. Save me the seat next to you once again, as you always have. CIAO DANILO.

"I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?"

("Stand by Me" by Rob Reiner, based on the novel "The Body" by Stephen King)

A book entirely dedicated to the discovery of the nature of the Alps, the woods, their inhabitants and environments. An always valid gift: "BILDUNG BEGINNT IN DER NATUR" - Ein kleiner Tipp für ein schönes Geschenk? Das Buch "Bildung beginnt in der Natur" von Verena Zürcher!

"Bildung beginnt in der Natur" (auf dem Foto das Buch neben einigen meiner Originalillustrationen) kann in den besten physischen und Online-Buchhandlungen in der Schweiz und in Deutschland gefunden oder bestellt werden! Ausführliche Informationen auf der Verlagsseite des Landverlags

https://www.landverlag.ch/

"Bildung beginnt in der Natur - Education begins in nature"(the book in the photo next to some of my original illustrations) can be found or ordered in the best physical and online bookstores in Switzerland and Germany! Detailed information on the publisher's website of the Landverlag

Hier einige der zahlreichen im Buch veröffentlichten Illustrationen: Eine Fuchsfamilie, ein Waldiltis auf einer Bergwiese und ein Detail einer Eule im Mischwald.

Here are some of the numerous illustrations published in the book: A fox family, a polecat in a mountain meadow and a detail of an owl in a mixed forest.

Autumn, red deer bellowing season (Hirschbrunftzeit bei Schloss Trachselwald). Ink sketch

                   It is autumn, a male deer bellows, in front of the beautiful Trachselwald castle.

Summer Fan Art (a little break for fun): Godzilla meets the city of Pavia

 As a child I was completely fascinated (just one step below the primacy of anime) by Japanese monster movies, especially Godzilla: naturally the costumes of the actors who played the kaiju(s) were already noticed as absolutely unlikely, absurd if not ridiculous. 

I think most children love dinosaurs and giant monsters, who knows why (and Godzilla was and is the quintessence of the category: unsurpassed. Thanks Toho). But the thing that actually stuck with me the most was the beauty and care, the verisimilitude of the scale models of Japanese cities that were trampled on by the kaiju on duty. They were of a unique beauty. 

I don't know why I found myself rethinking those scenes set in Pavia, my city.

Now times have changed, cinema has changed, special effects have improved, but I still have a passion for Godzilla, and luckily two films in particular, 

the first "Godzilla" by Gareth Edwards and the second "Godzilla: King of the Monsters” by Michael Dougherty, from Legendary Pictures have updated - wonderfully - the Godzilla myth with two films that are absolutely STUNNING for me. 

Which immediately became my favorite monster movies (“Godzilla King of the Monsters” is REALLY my favorite movie ever!). And so here it is, the drawing I've wanted to do since I was a child, with Legendary Pictures' revisited Godzilla (the DougheGoji, or Michael Dougherty's Godzilla, in Godzilla fan parlance )

https://wikizilla.org/wiki/DougheGoji

 with a touch of "Godzilla: Minus One" , another gem of a film, with its scene of the attack on Tokyo absolutely among the most beautiful ever seen.

This is just fan art, a tribute to the iconic character and his (for me) best representations.

It is summer, the moment to escape into space and time, into the historical / mythological fantasy: here is the -republished- Lindwurm!

The Lindwurm, or lindworm, was a serpentine dragon (and man-eater) of Norse and Central European mythology (Fafnir was also a lindworm). It is at the origin of the legendary foundation of the city of Klagenfurt (among others), of which it is the symbol. 

The preparatory sketch and the pencil drawing 

"Anastasias Geheimnis" (Anastasia's secret), illustrations for the story about Anastasia von Signau (by Verena Zuercher, Landverlag)

The cover of the book project "Anastasias Geheimnis. Eine mittelalterliche Raetselgeschichte", by the author Verena Zuercher, published by Landverlag. A short tale about the young Lady from Signau which leads schoolchildren hikers to the historical places of her story. Lots of black and white ink illustrations. 

On the "variant" cover, Anastasia in front of Burgdorf Castle

One of the color covers among the many black and white ink line drawings...

 One of the line drawings: a medieval gold digger along the river Emme (did you know that already for the Celts and then throughout the Middle Ages the river Emme was very coveted by gold diggers?)

Landverlag.ch

Spring in Bern (and its magnificent surroundings)

I would like to welcome spring with a couple of paintings dedicated to the season and to Bern and its region: a wonderful city and an infinitely beautiful landscape. A place of my heart, which I miss a lot.

A barn swallow (Hirundo rustica, Schwalbe) and a house martin (Delichon urbicum, Mehlschwalbe) sitting on the Nydegg bridge, near the church, in a spring view of Bern. From here you can see the gothic Nydeggkirche and its beautiful medieval quarter, with Nydeggstalden street going down, between seventeenth-century houses, towards the banks of the Aare river

(Hand)Drawing in progress, pencil on Arches watercolour paper, cold pressed, 100% cotton 

Illustration of a riparian wood in spring (with its inhabitants) painted for the Landverlag Publishing house of Langnau in the Emmental

New Christmas Illustration for Sonah Publisher: Frau Holle

 

Among the wonderful things I am grateful for is the new opportunity, which I had again this year, to create the Christmas card for Sonah Publisher.

Many thanks to Mrs. Anika Meyer for her trust. I love the subject :

Frau Holle, seen in the original mythological aspect of an ancient goddess, and I love painting winter landscapes, forests and ancient villages!

Sonah's cards are always beautifully edited and printed! The quality of the print, colors and paper are excellent!

You can find the wonderful Sonah Magazine and see the images and postcards (Christmas and floral) on the site: Sonah Verlag

  And here: 

Grusskarten - Greeting Cards

PLEASE NO USE OF MY ART FOR GENERATIVE AI TRAINING

In this blog I show my illustrations, my paintings, my art, if you can define it that way; whatever way you can define what I love to paint, it's my life: it's everything I have and what helps me in the hardest moments. 

For this and for all the other thousand ethical reasons explained by Artists much better than me, and whom I admire infinitely, such as Karla Ortiz, Mateusz Urbanowicz, Stanley Lau, I confirm my support for their battle against the looting of artists' copyrighted works to train Generative Artificial Intelligences.

So: The copyright and rights of my images on this blog always remain with the Author, the Publisher and/or the person indicated, therefore the artworks cannot be reproduced, used or modified without his written consent.

For no reason is the right of use granted to train artificial intelligence programs.

NO GENERATIVE AI TRAINING USE

New! Floral illustrations for the Publisher Sonah Verlag

   First illustration: wild mallow, cuckoo flower and elderflower (and butterflies)

Second illustration: lily of the valley, forget-me-not, a couple of field herbs (e.g. wild oats), common daisy (and a new couple of butterflies)

Third illustration: field poppy, tansy and marguerite (instead of butterflies, or butterfly and moth, this time a bumblebee). 

An original watercolour illustration alongside the three greeting cards

Here are the new floral-themed  illustrations for the publisher Sonah Verlag. Many thanks as always to Ms. Anika Meyer for her valuable advice and Art Direction!

The illustrations are published on wonderful greeting cards and  represent local floral essences, accompanied by refined captions with their names in the dialect of the Saarland region, and a series of information - on the back of the cards - on each botanical species.

You can see and find them here, on the Sonah website Sonah Verlag and Magazine and Blumengrüße auf Saarländisch – Gruß-/Glückwunschkarte

If I can afford some advice and opinion to friends who live in Germany, I'd say run and buy the Magazine "Sonah Magazin", it's wonderful, don't miss it! ;-) 

"Sorcery: Contested Realm" artist proof cards have arrived!

Just arrived, still wrapped in protective packaging

Here is the binder: wonderful! And look at Francesca Baerald's cover art, it's absolutely beautiful!

Wow!

An example of some of my cards (the back of the artist's proofs is blank)

I apologize for not having updated the blog for a few months, but it's a problematic period, and health has played a part in making things even more difficult.

But fortunately there are wonderful things, like seeing the binder with "Sorcery: Contested Realm" artist proof cards arrive in your hands. Well, this is one of those "Wow, this is a real wonder" day. 

And it's really wonderful both to have the physical cards in your hands, the exquisitely crafted binder (what a magnificent cover art!), and to think of being part of this Project, together with all the other Extraordinary Artists. This is a dream. Thank you Erik.

New video from Collector Athouse with the presentation of my "Humble Village" card and the painting!

Here the video on Youtube:

Sorcery TCG - Avatar of Air Alpha Precon Opening!

Many thanks to Mike for doing in his new Collector Arthouse video this beautiful presentation of my "Humble Village" card -for "Sorcery: Contested Realm"- with the original painting it was taken from!

I'm honoured ! Mike is doing a really great and unique job presenting the cards and art!

I would also like to recommend this beautiful presentation video. Unmissable!

Sorcery TCG - Alpha Precon Deck Unboxing!!!

Here the Collector Arthouse page with all the images of the Cards, the illustrations of all the talented Artists who participate, and a lot of interesting information!

Collector Arthouse

Riedlingen on the Danube, art, nature and beautiful storks

This is a memory of a summer evening in Riedlingen, a small town along the course of a still young Danube, with splendid half-timbered houses in a truly remarkable natural landscape. Riedlingen is located on the German Framework Road and is one of the few towns where storks have never stopped nesting since time immemorial.

In the drawing, in addition to the storks, you can also see a sandpiper, a beautiful common tern (Sterna hirundo) and rare salmon from the Danube, or Huchen. 

 

New Christmas illustration: the old tradition of the Christmas log (Yule log). For Sonah Verlag

 

The ancient tradition of the yule log seems to date back as far as the 12th century. Spread from Scandinavia to the Alps, it involved the custom of burning a large log of wood in the fireplace of the house on Christmas Eve. And then to let it burn for the next 12 nights, until Epiphany.

This is the first of two illustrations for Christmas cards published by the publisher Sonah Verlag. Many thanks to Ms. Anika Meyer for entrusting me with these Christmas illustrations and for her precious Art Direction. 

Here you can see the Christmas cards (and find the wonderful magazine) Sonah Verlag

The Christmas cards have arrived!

"Sorcery: Contested Realm" new card revealed with my illustration of medieval monks!

 

Thanks as always to Erik for giving me the privilege to paint on this great project ( Sorcery TCG ) and to Mike at Collector Arthouse for the great job of presenting the cards, illustrations and artists on the site. Here you can look at my cards https://www.collectorarthouse.com/sorcery-andrea-modesti-cards

Schwäbisch Hall, drawn in ink and graphite

This view of the half-timbered houses overlooking the Kocher river was made (starting from a photo I took years ago on the spot ) to test some new "extra fine" and "super fine" brush pens just bought. With the addition of some graphite blended with the paper stumps.

Schwäbisch Hall is a truly wonderful medieval town, located deep in the Baden Wuerttemberg between Stuttgart and Wuerzburg, on the banks of the Kocher River. Marvelous half-timbered houses, towers and covered wooden bridges characterize the entire historic center.

Some illustrations among those published in various issues of the beautiful Swiss Magazine "Lebenslust Emmental Magazin"

           A  Bernese Mountain Dog and some illustrations of botanical essences and flowers

Illustration of wildflowers (poppy, dandelion, red clover, plantain, bromes ... among others)

Semolina pudding (Griessbrei), with recipe and ingredients (cinnamon!), for the short story by Sandra Rutschi

The original paintings for the illustrations (always painted in watercolor and gouache on Arches paper) next to the Magazine

Some photos taken in the field looking for the wildflowers for the illustration