Category Archives: Fantasy

Oh, hello.

Its been a busy couple of weeks, which is a good thing as I am now painting (and doing a bit of design) full time.  Promotion is of course the first thing to fall by the wayside during times of change and uncertainty.  Lucky for me I’ve had the privilege to work with some really great folks on some really great projects over the past couple of months, and I’ll finally be able to show off some of the art I’ve created in the coming weeks.

I’ve also taken on a couple of private commissions which have been a lot of fun.  Below is a drawing of a throne room I created for a fellow DeviantArtist.  If you would like me to paint something for you, please drop me a line (chrisreach@ymail.com) and I’d be happy to discuss subject and pricing with you.

Throne Room Commission

Faunus

“Hello old friend, what news from beyond the woods?”

‘caw!’

“How fascinating…”

I was hoping to have another alien piece I was working on done today, in time for NASAs Astrobiology announcement but instead here is something completely different.  Its based on any number of the ram or stag-horned wood gods prevalent throughout various mythologies (Celtic, Norse, German, French, North American…).

The name Faunus refers to the Roman god, or one of the many fauni that were thought to exist as place spirits.  They were thought to commune with and protect the fauna and flora in their domain.  That said, they could also present a mortal danger to any human stupid or loud enough to disrupt and disturb them or their charges.

SundaySundaySunday

In case that didn’t register, it is Sunday.  Whoever called Sunday a day of rest must have encountered a very different sort of day than I did.  But that is not for the interwebs. This sketch, however, is .

This is a sketch of a wooden mermaid that I believe is from Germany. I started out drawing the head but realized I liked the curve of the body so I threw that in.  I suppose you’ll have to take me at my word that she has a fish tail.  Any way, I think I’ll give this one another try at some point.  Until then there are plenty of interesting oddities laying around that are begging to be sketched.

Leftovers

Leftovers

I have a lot of weird stuff around my studio. A lot.  Some of it serves to inspire, some of it serves as reference.  This shrunken head (no its not real, its made out of goat skin) has been itching to grace the shoulders of a troll or some such monster in a painting ever since I acquired it, but as of yet this has not come to pass.

Happy Halloween!

With less than 15 minutes left of this glorious holiday and indeed of October itself I wanted to swing by after a very busy weekend to say: Happy Halloween!

Now its off to slap some neosporin on that fresh zombie bite and then back to the drawing board tommorow.

Happy Halloween

Happy October from The Dead Marshes

The Dead Marshes

The Dead Marshes (Detail)

Preparation for New York Comic Con has been a bit more hectic than I had planned (Hope for the best, prepare for the worst?).  Things with my day job have calmed down, I’ve taken on a couple of commisions, and things have been going smoothly enough for me to get this finished.

This is a picture of Frodo, Sam, and Gollum traveling through the Dead Marshes in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

Gollum explains that a great battle had taken place here, and that the corpse candles are the ghosts of fallen heroes and will lead an unsuspecting traveler to a similar fate.  Frodo, captivated by one of the lights begins to make for it, but Sam calls him back to reality. (In the movie, Gollum saves him after he falls into the water).

This one has “Empire Strikes Back” syndrome (of course it was written way before the second real Star Wars movie was penned).  Although it is a turning point of sorts, life becomes crappy for most of the characters involved for the better part of the book. This one is not exactly uplifting, but at least Legolas doesn’t shield-surf down the stairs of the Hornburg.

For all your uplifting adventure needs try The Hobbit. I detoured to that recently (3rd? 4th time?) while waiting for an Amazon shipment.  I know it might seem blasphemous, but I think I prefer it to JRRT’s opus. It is more folksy and endearing. Less serious. We need more of that these days.

Nosferatu and the Atomic Age

Very quick post as I need to get ready for work. Here are some of this paintings I finished up this week.

The Uranium Club will be a series based on people and events at the dawn of the atomic age. Unfortunately it will have to go on hiatus as I need to get a portfolio book together for October. I’ll try to document the progress on this blog.  I’m currently accepting commissions and contract work, if you’d like email me at reachc1@yahoo.com

Nosferatu

The Uranium Club: Specimen

Tough Day

Mars Attacks…Again!

Fleet Commander (c) Chris Reach

I added a bit of polish to my Fleet Commander drawing. Much better now, I think.

Perhaps it was the Roswell anniversery last week, or my near obsessive listening to Escape Pod since learning of it’s existence, but I’ve had sci-fi on the brain recently. Still, it didn’t stop me from cleaning up an older semi-historical drawing of a Hospitaller Knight.

Defender of Acre (c) Chris Reach

Check back tomorrow for some gallery revamps.