December - Week In Review


This week in the magazine we saw a change in the publishing model. We shifted from a 3 day a week release schedule to a 5 day a week release schedule. Check it out: Class Acts: Rogue. Artist: Sarah Stone. I've already mentioned Sarah, but I have to share a story. I'm a simple kind of a guy, and simple things make me smile. In this case, it was praise for this image from the Editor-in-chief, Chris Youngs. His prime direction for this piece was "I want to see a character that makes me say 'I want to be that character'". Apparently Sarah caught that vibe well enough that he said "damn, I want to play that character!" Nice... Chaos Scar: The Brothers Gray. Artist: Patrick McEvoy. Cartographer: Sean Macdonald. Patrick is another recent addition to the stable. He clinched his place on my go-to list when he delivered on a killer tiefling piece a few months ago. Now I look forward to finding something new and interesting to push his ability to find a dynamic point-of-view. This was tough, with foreground and background elements of interest. 

His decision to use the time of day to create the dramatic lighting worked out very well. Sean was a name that was handed to me when I took over magazines. I have enjoyed working with him since starting in this position. The hardest task I have is keeping him busy - he's so darn fast! Expeditionary Dispatches. Artist: Wayne England. I've worked with Wayne for a while. I always loved the items and environments he created for D&D. One day he asked me to let him do some figurative work for me, and I haven't regretted the decision once. When he talked to me last month and asked to start doing some magazine work - I hesitated. Obviously, not because of his skill or quality, but rather becuase of the crushing schedule we often have for magazines. Since Wayne works traditionally, it adds some stress and strain to the process. Wayne assured me he could get the paintings done, and shipped across the globe within my time frame. He's never steered me wrong before, and he didn't this time either. Till next week...