Field notes & deep dives
One long-form genre guide per genre we paint, plus the studio notes — guides, walkthroughs, and process pieces. Start with a genre guide, explore the deep dives.
The genres we paint in
Cornerstone guides for every genre on the studio’s slate. Live where written; the rest are in the queue.
Commissioning Fantasy Character Art: A Complete Guide for Players, GMs, and Writers
Species cues, faction-warm palettes, magical effects without the sparkles, weapons that aren't generic, and what actually goes in the brief.
The D&D 5e Player's Guide to Commissioning Character Art
What a D&D 5e character art commission actually delivers, what to put in the brief, and how class and lineage shape the painting. From a studio that has painted hundreds.
Sci-fi Character Art: From Starfinder to Original Settings
What two years of painting sci-fi characters taught me about hardsuits, alien species, body mods, Starfinder, Mothership, and original-IP worldbuilding briefs.
Cyberpunk Character Art Commissions: The Neon-Lit Aesthetic Guide
A studio guide to commissioning cyberpunk character art — palette, chrome, archetype cues, lighting rigs, and what RED, Shadowrun, and 2077 each demand.
Horror Character Art: Painting What Should Not Be
A studio guide to commissioning horror character art — dread over shock, gothic vs cosmic vs body horror, 1920s investigators, and what to leave to the painter.
Modern Character Art: Urban Fantasy, Crime, Mundane Heroics
A working guide to commissioning modern character art: World of Darkness portraits, urban fantasy leads, modern crime PCs, and the person-in-jeans brief.
Historical Character Art Commissions: Getting the Period Right
Medieval, Viking, samurai, Edwardian. How I narrow a year range with the client, check references, and avoid the costume-drama mistakes that ruin a period portrait.
Souls & Anime Fan Art Commissions: Tribute Portraits Done Right
Souls-style and anime style commissions, palette by palette, plus the calm IP conversation about fan art that most studios won't have with you. A founder's field guide.
Western & Weird West Character Art: Frontier, Gunslinger, Outlaw
A studio guide to commissioning western character art — period-accurate fashion, firearms, dust-and-golden-hour light, and how the weird west really works.
Field notes & process
Guides on commissioning art, walkthroughs of recent pieces, and the occasional studio dispatch.
The Elf Spectrum in Paint: high, wood, drow, sea, eladrin
Sixty elves later, here is how we tell high from wood from drow from sea from eladrin in paint — and how to specify which kind you want in your brief.
Playing a Tiefling: lineage, paint hooks, and brief patterns that work
Forty tiefling commissions taught us where the line sits between infernal and costume. Horns, skin, eyes, tail, subtype — what to brief and what to leave open.
Drizzt Do'Urden in paint: the most-commissioned fantasy character of all time
Eleven Drizzt commissions in two years. The purple-eyes debate, the scimitar-pose problem, and how to brief a drow who is not a villain.
Storm King's Thunder NPC Portrait Roadmap (6 commissions worth making)
The six NPCs that earn their portrait slot, the giant-scale problem, and a suggested commission order for a Storm King's Thunder pack.
The 5e Warlock Player's Guide: patrons, builds, portrait energy
Eight patrons, the eyes problem, and the tired-warlock subgenre that paints best. A working guide for briefing a 5e warlock portrait.
The 5e Paladin Painted: oaths, gear, the long-campaign portrait
Nine sacred oaths, the armor design hierarchy, and why year-three paladins paint better than session-zero ones. A commission guide.
V from Cyberpunk 2077: painting the customizable protagonist
A V commission is a portrait of your V, not the publisher's. Lifepath, the male and female split, Johnny Silverhand, and the Phantom Liberty brief.
Netrunner Portraits: painting someone who lives in another world
The body is in a chair. The character is somewhere else entirely. How to brief a netrunner commission that honors both halves.
Cyberpunk RED at a Glance: roles, archetypes, and the brief
The ten RED roles and what each implies visually, plus the 2020 vs RED vs Edgerunners era question your brief needs to answer first.
VTT Tokens vs Full Portraits: which one to commission (and when)
A token is identification at speed. A portrait is the character. Here is how to decide which one to commission, when you need both, and what each is for.
Commercial licensing for commissioned art: when you need it, what it costs, how it works
When a commission stops being personal use and starts needing a commercial license. Book covers, merch, Patreon tiers, the fan-art line, and the surcharge math.
Commission print delivery: sizes, paper, and framing that's worth the wall
What you actually receive, when to print yourself, which paper suits your character, and the framing decisions that make a six-week painting earn its space.
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New work & new thinking, monthly
Every few weeks, a roundup of recent commissions, process notes, and slot openings. No spam, no marketing fluff — just the good stuff.