sextonking

[sextonking]

Have never tried the classic Conan the Barbarian. Somehow felt right to try a weary, wounded and slowly recovering, battle-tired barbarian king of Cimmeria. #conanthebarbarian #cimmeria #illustration #ronhorsley https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwi5VZ3gsus/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1d2kirl66f6zp

[sextonking]

Every so often, gotta take a break and just go back to some fundamentals exercises to keep strengthening those core mental muscles. A little three point perspective on organic forms to keep forcing out the weak spots... https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwi3IM5A79L/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1wmres3eoc3vb

[sextonking]

Refining another pose thumbnail for The Whisper Witch for “The Ghost Army of Oz.” #lfrankbaum #landofoz #thewhisperwitch #johnrneill #johnrneillfanart #ronhorsley #theghostarmyofoz https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwix4zWgLwJ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=13p5pll1gdp5b

[sextonking]

A bit of a harder tack I want to take when I get to “The Windup War of Oz.” This is the Cruelly Lovely Lady Dweena, who left her throne in self-exile from her own fairyland to come & hide in a small cave castle in a dim & little-known corner of the Land of Oz. .... .... Dweena ran afoul of an awful witch in her own land, who resented the Lady’s kindness to any who came to her for help. So she cursed Dweena: for any act of kindness, Dweena would suffer some pain & gradually greater disfigurement. If she persisted, the curse would not only cause her more agony, it would eventually make her so hideous her own people wouldn’t be able to look at her. Dweena, despite the pain, continued in her kindness yet her own subjects insisted she stop for her own sake. The Witch declared that the only way the curse could be broken was for someone completely aware of the risk & pain still sincerely & needfully ask for Dweena’s help, & for her to give it. But none in the kingdom had the heart to knowingly ask her to injure herself. The kingdom began to tear itself apart in a civil war of escalating petty cruelties as the people sought to save their ruler by giving her no opportunity to show kindness. To save her people, Dweena fled. Eventually finding herself in Oz, she made her home where she hoped no one would ever find her and so there’d be no risk of her either being kind or evoking disgust in others again. ... Dweena is a different figure I want to introduce in Oz in the next book. She is not simply some fairy-tale beautiful person, inside or out. Some of her years of loneliness have embittered her. The wounds she has do not heal, yet despite all that she still had a good heart. I want a character that challenges the notion of physical & spiritual beauty while still being inherently lovely & kind. Someone whose curse is not merely an evil person punishing a good one, but punishing by twisting their own virtue. #landofoz #johnrneill #johnrneillfanart #lfrankbaum #ronhorsley #windupwarofoz https://www.instagram.com/p/BwhPXsyge4I/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=88g41kxys0km

[sextonking]

One of the Esteemed Excellent Eggheads of the Northern Mountain Fiefdom of Eggzellia in the Gillikin Country of Oz (kind of quiet knowitalls who are xenophobes for fear of discovering anything they don’t already know). Another creature concept doodled as a backburner possibility in my growing file for “The Windup War of Oz,” which I drafted notes and a plot line for this weekend and will probably be a fall project after I wrap up “The Ghost Army of Oz.” #landofoz #lfrankbaum #johnrneill #johnrneillfanart #ronhorsley https://www.instagram.com/p/BwgjzhtA37w/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=10t69enebev4h

[sextonking]

Happy Easter (this was gonna be a photo piece but...short notice). #happyeaster #happyeasterkids https://www.instagram.com/p/BwgYVxjAImx/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=xmw1lznjjcen

[sextonking]

Actually managed to find a shot of my old friend I painted back in 2005. He weathered the years pretty well, it’s a shame to think he finally fell with the great spire. #notredamecathedral #gargoyles #ronhorsley https://www.instagram.com/p/BwgUZ7mAnhU/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1arfyph47pg8x

[sextonking]

Princess Evinda of Ev, a neighbor fairyland to the Land of Oz. I don’t feel very steady-handed tonight even with my digital tools to help, but still wanted to sketch to keep my rhythm going. #landofoz #landofev #lfrankbaum #johnrneill #johnrneillfanart #theghostarmyofoz #ronhorsley #illustration https://www.instagram.com/p/BwgTtyxA-wz/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1arby69g1rjpr

[sextonking]

A toying sketch, of a matured “Luna Moth Queen” from a neighboring land to Oz (near Ev but east of Pingaree). One thing I have to give Baum credit for as a bit of progressive thinking being hidden in plain sight: under the guide of ‘princesses’ or ‘Sorceresses,’ he nevertheless made everyone of power or authority in the Land of Oz all women. Ozma, Glinda, Dorothy...every woman in Oz is someone who commands respect and authority. #lfrankbaum #landofoz #johnrneill #ronhorsley https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwf8c6NgDF1/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=coyzhyai1kxl

[sextonking]

This was one of my “first” adult attempts at formal painting. A washed-acrylic rendering of one of the gargoyles of Notre Dame (I’d had some Saturday morning art classes as a kid at CCAD and junior/high school art classes but those were mostly introductory multi-media courses, it wasn’t until I returned to school as an adult in Las Vegas that I started to have dedicated full-curriculum formal training in color theory, media techniques, composition, etc.). This was also the first piece I felt was successful. It took subtle additions of greens and reds to bring out the sandstone golds and pop the blue sky of the piece, and for once I hadn’t made a total muddled mess of an attempt (thanks in particular to Amanda Farrar and Kevin Anderson as the two instructors I was most closely following to render this at the time). I dug it out today for obvious reasons...this is one of the few pieces I have never sold or given away and now I know for certain I never will. #notredamecathedral https://www.instagram.com/p/BwS0EOIAHIy/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1w1zabep86j6a

[sextonking]

Indeed. #fortunecookiewisdom (at Tai's Asian Bistro) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwP9h0lgwDQ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=tj5hqathbbto

[sextonking]

“This means something. This is important.” https://www.instagram.com/p/BwFcctlg-DJ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=zvnooq4qxhck

[sextonking]

A side doodle, an idea I have for a second book later, “The Windup War of Oz.” This is Prince Petro, the sacred Keeper of the Midnight Oil in the underground Empire of Petrolea, the source of all heating and lamp and lubricant oils in the Land of Oz (and in my thinking a crucial character in that forming story). I guess maybe after “The Ghost Army of Oz” is done, I’ll take a shot at this other story... #norestforthewicked #landofoz #lfrankbaum #thewindupwarofoz #ronhorsley https://www.instagram.com/p/BwELSpQALmY/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=edibdpkew4xb

[sextonking]

Almost done with this one. Finally getting closer to happy with the digital brushes I’ve made for this project. #lfrankbaum #johnrneill #landofoz #theghostarmyofoz #ronhorsley https://www.instagram.com/p/BwBg2MQA42I/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=vk88wa7nbx4n

[sextonking]

Feeling a bit frustrated with one of my bigger pieces. I’m not finding a happy medium with my brush tips yet. Just have to keep working it until I break through. As for he subject matter for an Oz story....Well...the title of the book *is* “The Ghost Army of Oz.” #landofoz #lfrankbaum #johnrneill #theghostarmyofoz #ronhorsley https://www.instagram.com/p/BwAyDxJAu2z/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=16b2gey2ox2r6

[sextonking]

A quick finger-limbering exercise to try and work the kinks out of my hand today. But really any excuse to draw Jack. #lfrankbaum #landofoz #jackpumpkinhead #johnrneill #theghostarmyofoz #ronhorsley https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv8M0FSA-Cn/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=143mw814j2kc3

[sextonking]

It’s not the absolute best reference model...but late at night, when I don’t have a particular photo set in my reference morgue to tweak, these little $7 wonders come in handy. #ronhorsley #theghostarmyofoz #landofoz #lfrankbaum #johnrneill #illustration https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv5qoqdg7fx/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=clp8pg1qr3jb