Sweet Nectar

Greek mythology has tons of characters with amazingly descriptive literary reference to pull inspiration from and translate visually.  Medusa, especially, being one of those characters.   Using a line image taken from the one of the pages of APOCRYPHA I wanted Medusa to be more playful than some of the other interpretations that I've come across in books and films.  I like the idea of her being so skilled at turning warriors into stone that she takes great pleasure in it, which is why she has an awesome smile on her face!

Within Reach

I've been in a very demonic mood lately with the recent crop of images I've been posting. I was never really into demonic imagery but now that I have a taste for it I absolutely love it! Taken from the pages of APOCRYPHA, is a line illustration entitled "Within Reach". It's my interpretation of "Death" but instead of harvesting souls with a scythe he instead has multiple hands all within reaching distance of those ready to cross over.  I also changed the hooded "Death" image found in the line illustration to the horned skull image found in the new colour version to create a more dynamic gesture and design.

Lamin

From pencil to colour!

Over the next couple of months I'm going to be sifting through the pencil illustrations found in my line of artbooks, selecting some of my favourite images and bringing them to life in full colour.   I've always had an idea how every image would look like in colour so instead of putting it off any longer I finally decided to dive in and see how each image fills itself out.  So to get started the first image below is from a pencil illustration found in APOCRYPHA entitled "A Bountiful Harvest".  It's my interpretation of Famine, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who feeds on angels wings.
The second image below is from a pencil illustration found in LEATHER WINGS entitled "Verse 1, Chapter 1".  This is my interpretation of a demon who is so dedicated to seeking redemption that he pins pages of scripture to his wings. There will be plenty more colour illustrations to come so check back soon.

Lamin

 

 

 

Toronto Fan Expo 2010!

This post is a little late but I just wanted to do a little recap on The Toronto Fan Expo and the debut of SOLSTICE.  From the attendees perspective to say that the show had it’s ups and downs would be an understatement.  This years show was again plagued with the overselling of tickets coupled with angry fans who had to wait in line for hours just to be able to walk through the front doors or not even being able to walk through the front doors at all.  It was a great disaster.  Great in the sense that Fan Expo is becoming so huge that the Metro Toronto Convention Centres North Building space of 193,000 sf, wasn’t enough to accommodate the amount of people who showed up.  Next years show will be in the South Building which has a floor space of 260,000 sf.  That is why The Toronto Fan Expo is the third largest convention in North America next to San Diego and New York.  So to say that the release of Solstice went well would be an understatement when being debuted in venue like that.  Thank you to all of the fans, new and old, who came out looking forward to picking up a copy of the new title and a very special thanks goes out to Kurt Sasso from TGT Webcomics for doing an interview with me and spreading the word that Lamin Illustration & Design is out there. 
Take a look at his site and the interview HERE.

You can also take a look at some of the photos from Toronto Fan Expo HERE.

SOLSTICE Now Available!!

Hey guys!! I'm very pleased to announce that Solstice is now available! Feel free to visit www.laminmartin.com to order a copy now where you'll find the newest fantasy artwork being produced by Lamin Illustration & Design.

Hope you enjoy!!

Solstice Image - The Thrill of the Hunt

This image is another found in Solstice. I really love the look and feel of a misty English countryside. Combine that with the love for a strong British dragon woman who believes that bearing arms is not only a right but a necessity in the face of any all opposition and you've got a winner as far as I'm concerned!

Solstice Image - Treasure Trove

Here is another image that will be going into Solstice.  There is something magical and mysterious about mermaid folklore that has inspired many artists such as Munch, Waterhouse, Beardsley, Pyle, Rubens, and Bosch.  So in keeping with the tradition of the folklore I came up with my version of a mermaid, but with a slight twist.  She is unique in the sense that she has horns that are derived from her being born with dragon blood.