Summer has definitely arrived here, and the heat is already making itself felt in mid-June. A couple of summer subjects, taken from "Sorcery: Contested Realm"

 

One of the landscapes I enjoyed painting the most: the English village in summer, surrounded by wheat fields.

Always for Sorcery, the workers in the fields. Thanks to Erik who had the idea to render the labor of the workers under the light of a summer sunset.

A small detail: a blue tit escaping from its shelter among the wheat stalks 

The two "Foot Soldier" (Token) illustrations made for "Sorcery Arthurian Legends"

 

Here the two paintings are placed side by side, so that the British Arthurian Foot Soldier (in a coastal landscape reminiscent of the English coast) and the Saracen Foot Soldier appear to confront each (even the ground line of the background almost seems to be one the counterpart of the other, in the two illustrations)

Here are the two small cards. 

I take advantage of this space to repost the Illustration "Plague", because, having recently seen the new -beautiful -  "Nosferatu" by Robert Eggers, this image came to mind. There are natural analogies, I think, with the part of the film where rats carry the plague and a street in the (fictional) German city of Wisborg is shown.

Even in this illustration, since I love German medieval and Renaissance architecture, I had fun inserting elements typical of half-timbered houses.

This is one of my favorite illustrations and I enjoyed painting it!

Here is a detail of the work in progress

Here is a second group of my illustrations for "Sorcery: Contested Realm" Arthurian Legends

 

In this group I show some of my favorites among the illustrated subjects: the small medieval village "Hamlet", with its half-timbered house in the foreground on the left, the spring plants in the background, the thatched roofs...

The "Hunter's Lodge" in the depths of a forest, with the light penetrating the old trees in the background, the sleeping dogs in the foreground, the details of the vegetation...

The burning castle: I loved this subject! The research on the effects of light in a nocturnal context, the reflection of the flames on the forest, the full moon in the background of a distant landscape, with a silver river flowing in the distance (and castles... I always love them).

I brought these subjects together because I loved working on different lighting effects and details than usual

The "Plague" illustration: I also loved trying my hand at this subject, so different from the usual ones. This illustration owes a lot to Erik's suggestions, his idea of ​​the unhealthy and pestilential atmosphere suggested by the greenish colors of the background was, as always, FUNDAMENTAL! Thanks Erik!

"Sir Ironside", this is a much more usual historical subject for me: two knights who met in a duel. The chaimail armor and weapons are typical of the 13th century, what was different and what I tried to depict as best as I could was the detailed face in the background. Erik's great tip was to think about old movie posters.

See you soon with a new selection of Arthurian illustrations!