donatoarts

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Had a wonderful day at Hex and Co. signing during the Sacred Torch Showdown Premodern Tournament. It was my first Magic:The Gathering event in three years and the players did not disappoint. They kept me in my chair for four hours straight before the first real break opened up! I have got to get out more often to release some of that signing demand pressure. Thank you to Simon and Andy and the Sacred Torch crew, as well to as Jenn and Jon, the hosts Hex & Company, for making us all feel welcomed. Lastly thank you to all the players, fans, and fellow art appreciators who stopped by to say hello. Hope to see you all again soon! . #hexandcompany #donatoarts #sacredtorchshowdown #magicthegathering #mtg #cardsigning #fantasyartist #fantasyart #magic

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Hand of the Enemy. A deviation from my series depicting the Fellowship of the Ring as my great friend Mike Mrak was here a month ago and posed for this image of the Lord of the Nazgûl. Thank you Mike, I still think you're a nice guy deep inside :) Morgul Knife The Witch-king of Angmar 12" x 21" Oil on Panel Private Collection

#thelordoftherings #lordoftherings #donatoarts #handpaintings #traditionalart #fantasyart #oilpainting #handsbyhands #handpainting #weathertop #thefellowshipofthering

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Join us live July 14th, Monday evening/late afternoon at 4pm PT/ 7pm ET for in depth discussions on business choices and marketing as freelance artists. I will be speaking candidly with artist Patrick Jones on details which have directed our careers as artists and painters.

Join in the dialog as we will be fielding inquiries from the audience.

Link to the live podcast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2m01Mh3RXXFfDMDhpEreoQ

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Acquiring scans of very old Magic:The Gathering art in preparation for an in depth presentation on Monday for Igniting the Spark patrons. Here is the set of my first four commissions from Wizards of the Coast, back in 1996. Part of the parameters of the commission was no art larger than 400% of printed size, which meant for oil paintings of ~ 7" x 9"! All of these are oil on panel. Amber Prison Moss Diamond Village Elder Grinning Totem

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The Argonath

36" x 36" Oil on Panel

collection of Luca Schroeder

Detailed progress development of the oil painting and sketches is now shared on the MuddyColors.com blog post, linked to below.

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Just placed a new varnish on this painting as I maintain my diminishing selection of works from early in my career. This was created for the novels related to the scifi miniatures game Vor: The Maelstrom from FASA games. I produced six covers in this series, and this was a nice challenge with the lighting and color palette.

Vor: The Maelstrom - Island of Power

17" x 26" oil on panel

1999

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Peril in the Night.

A new addition to the project to illustrated the entire Fellowship of the Ring (and more) from J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings' through my passion for painting hands. I love the way hands are so expressive, capturing the portrait of the person.

It has been five years since the last Fellowship hand work, but I promise to be more timely with these additions as I LOVE to create them!

Used some artistic licensed liberties to radiate Sauron's influence into the shadows of the image-reaching out beyond the mountains of Mordor...

Peril in the Night - Pippin and the Palantír

16" x 12" Oil on Panel

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A favorite from my shoreline series, the meeting space of Earth and Sea. These works derive from my interest in an emotional moment bounded by an implied, but unresolved narrative - a counter reaction to the highly guided narratives I tend to undertake as a commercial book illustrator.

Shaman's Loss

36" x 48" Oil on Panel

2010

private collection

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Just handed this drawing off to Mike Mrak today. He was one of my housemates at our first apartment here in New York City back in 1992-3, during the times we were breaking into the illustration and commercial arts industries.

This was for the cover to '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' by Jules Verne, illustrated during my first summer as a successful book cover illustrator back in 1993.

Mike posed as 'Ned Land' fighting the giant squid. He now has both the original oil painting AND the preliminary drawing!

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Connecting the dots reaching back into the past.

My good friend Mike Mrak, Creative Director at Scientific American, is staying with us a few days and we were talking about the links and bonds created through the years in our art industries. We were housemates and fellow Comix Plus club members while at Syracuse University. Mike made a guest appearance in my sketchbook (below) as a rapidograph pen drawing, and modeled for a few paintings back then.

Here is my first run at St. George and the Dragon in 1991 while in my second year at Syracuse University, plus a couple hobbits...

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St. George and the Dragon 30" x 20" Oil on Panel 2010 collection of Cat Conrad Program cover art from DragonCon 2010 and begun as a demonstration on oil painting for the Illustration Master Class that year. Had the honor of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art trying to purchase this from the collectors a few years ago when it appeared in the 'Enchanted' exhibition at the Norman Rockwell Museum.

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Traveling down the Anduin River this past month and spotted this view from my drafting table today. The Argonath 36" x 36" Oil on Panel, detail in progress private commission

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Full image of the latest addition to my Empathetic Robots series of oil paintings. 'Data Mining' 24" x 20" Oil on Panel 2025 original art available This will appear as the front cover of Grim Oak Press' latest Grimoire Anthology to be published and available at WorldCon in Seattle this August and will also appear as the artwork for the program catalog for the convention.

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Support a magazine who's sincere, critical, and dedicated coverage has sponsored thousands of creators throughout the decades. Locus Magazine is running their annual fundraiser right now.

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Going live in a few minutes with Patrick Jones on his The Art Agents podcast! Wednesday May 14, 7pm ET.

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Nearly finished with this new work for the World Science Fiction Convention! Here is a detail.

Data Mining

20" x 24" Oil on Panel

2025

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Excited to finally share this completed Middle-earth painting, 'Morgai Thorns', created as a commission for an artist friend Graig Kreindler.

An in depth post sharing details and process during its creation is now live on the MuddyColors blog site, linked to below.

Honored that I was able to create this work, and that it came out so well in the finish.

Morgai Thorns

32" x 24" Oil on Panel 2025

private collection