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"Here, in the effervescent morning sun that poured like champagne through the skylight above them and onto her hair and shoulders, she practically glowed. [...] Somehow, she looked like a total stranger he’d known his whole life."

Just close your eyes The sun is going down You'll be alright No one can hurt you now Come morning light You and I'll be safe and sound

ast year I was contacted by Jacob Covey, an Art Director with Wizards of the Coast, to work on a special Magic:The Gathering card project to honor Sheldon Menery, a player and judge credited as the 'Godfather of Commander” format for the game.

Sheldon was in a fight against throat cancer and Wizards' wanted to get this commission (a portrait of Sheldon casting one of his favorite instants Inkshield) out as quickly as possible. It was an honor to be considered by Sheldon for this project, as unknowingly he had chosen another person affected by cancer.

I was a cancer survivor myself (testicular cancer, 33 years ago as a young man) and embraced this portrayal of Sheldon as a way to pour my love of painting and appreciation of the game into this image, and to celebrate our mutual fight against cancer.

Unfortunately Sheldon lost his battle back in September, 2023 as I was working on this card.

I was saddened to now be creating a memorial portrait, a tribute to someone who has helped give great pleasure to millions through his dedication to Magic.

In Sheldon's honor and in his spirit of helping others, I will be auctioning off this portrait with all proceeds going to benefit the American Cancer Society (Sheldon's preferred charity) and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (my preferred choice).

May we see the day when cancer is defeated.

Details on the auction will follow in approximately another week.

Sheldon Menery - Inkshield

dyanna dayne & jena dondarrion the first time maekar & baelor met them respectively

Realized I had not shared this awesome commission executed and released last year for the special edition of Adrian Tchaikovsky's acclaimed 'Children of Time' from Orbit Books! I had kept the news under wraps as Orbit did their PR thing, and then it slipped past me in the waves of other art commissions I've undertaken since.

The book is an excellent read, taking a novel run with evolutionary genetics and a bit of cryo-time dilations to skip-jump years for the narrative. Highly recommend this book.

The art was a great challenge - melding a close up foreground scene of intelligent spiders (how DO you show that?), working in the organics of the world landscape, zooming off to low orbit for a starship, and lastly off into intergalactic space. All within one visually organized 'landscape'. Damn! Not sure how it all came together, but some how it worked!!

Thank you art director Lauren Panepinto for the chance to play within Adrian's worlds!

Children of Time

Every time I draw Bëor, I get a bit more attached to him