The Art of David Fedan

Scratchboard Leaf

2011-09-18T19:28:00.003-04:00

I rescued this leaf from the snows of last winter, thinking it might make a fun subject for a value study in scratchboard. This piece was given to my Great Grandfather for his 90th birthday – Happy Birthday, Great-Grandpa!

Maryoku Yummy

2011-01-16T14:46:00.013-05:00

American Greetings has a charming show now playing on The Hub called Maryoku Yummy , about wishes being cared for until they are granted and come true. I created the images above to depict the magical land of Nozomu, where Maryoku and her fellow Wish sitters live. It was a lot of fun breaking out the brushes and watercolors, not to mention developing new visuals for this unique world. Check out the terrific contributions of the the mighty Jeff Harter and the unstoppable James Groman, both über-talented artists.

Perception of Beauty

2010-06-13T17:31:00.009-04:00

Where does beauty come from? Why does it exist? Why isn't everything beautiful (or is it)? Why doesn't beauty always equal goodness?

These are the questions I was pondering when this image, done in pencil, came to mind. I still don't have any answers but at least this piece gave me a chance to respond to my thoughts in a tangible way.

2010 ArtOrder Calendar

2010-02-06T14:25:00.008-05:00

Well, what do y'all know? Jon Schindehette (Wizards of the Coast Senior Art Director) has picked my little old dragon logo to grace the cover of the first ArtOrder calendar. It's an honor to be part of the project. Get yours here as soon as you can- I hear they're going fast!

2010 Madballs Wall Calendar

2009-11-07T12:44:00.009-05:00

When I heard that artwork was needed for the 2010 Madballs calendar, I jumped at the chance to be a part of it! This here is my contribution- an acrylic ink painting of Bash Brain (July page of calendar), suspended in a lab jar à la 1950's movies like Donovan's Brain. If you ever wanted the likes of Horn Head, Skull Face and Blech Beard the Pirate staring at you for 16 months, click here to find the calendar!

'Wrinkles 1' at The Bonfoey

2009-07-22T18:24:00.013-04:00

The image above, titled 'Wrinkles 1,' was recently accepted into The 30th Annual American Greetings Fine Arts Show at The Bonfoey Gallery in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. To do this piece, I crumpled up a fabric sheet until it looked pleasing, drew a tight sketch on paper, and rendered the final result in scratchboard. It was done over a long period and was satisfying to see completed. Here's a close-up view:

The show runs from July 24th to August 9th, 2009, so swing by The Bonfoey if you're in the area!

ArtOrder: B&W Vampires

2009-06-28T15:07:00.008-04:00

This is for the latest ArtOrder challenge and is drawn with a Micron 005 pen. I've wanted to try using one for a long time! Black and white art has always appealed to me, probably because I grew up looking at great D&D artists from way back like D. A. Trampier (He was the bomb!) and Erol Otus. Ahh, the joys of stippling and cross-hatching...

ArtOrder: Logo Design Challenge Part 2

2009-06-14T23:22:00.004-04:00

I had a lot of ideas for ArtOrder's Logo Design Challenge that excited me, but not enough time to do all of them. Thankfully, that changed when the deadline was extended and I had a chance to finish one more image.

ArtOrder: Logo Design Challenge Part 1

2009-05-29T23:11:00.002-04:00

Jon Schindehette (Senior Art Director, Dungeons & Dragons®/Wizards of the Coast) has an excellent blog called 'ArtOrder' in which artists are given weekly sketch challenges that allow them to hone their skills, get seen by the wider world, and maybe even learn a bit about self-promotion. One of the recent challenges is for an 'ArtOrder' logo, and this is my take on it. You can head on over Jon's blog by clicking here.

Sight

2009-05-26T21:28:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog! It's taken me forever to do this but better late than never, I reckon. The piece above, called 'Sight', was done for American Greetings' 'Freak Show' in one of my favorite techniques, scratchboard. My aim for this image was to illustrate a strange little fuzzball with the eyes of twenty different critters, to an unsettling effect.