The Blog of the Empire

Since Amethyst Shards is (finally) out, I wanted to talk about Balon Zfnoctewoohi. Balon, Balon, Balon. Balon who is the only member of the Trinity and the One to debut mid-series (excluding Dien who is like an evolution of Hequera). Balon who has only been in five books (half of the series) thus far but has has dominated so throughly thematically and plot-wise since her debut.

As King was drawn by Erika Hollice, the same had to be done with Cyclone. The art drove what I wanted out of this commission was this piece of Cyclone looking awesome that I did many years ago. I wanted Cyclone with his Scythe, cape, and dark in a powerful pose. The whole package! And the whole package includes his helmet. His helmet…well, it’s been an internally contentious point for me since I moved on from LEGO as a primary...

This has been a long time coming but it’s finally here! The cover for Amethyst Shards. If you look closely, parts of it may seem familiar. That’s because it’s actually a blend of the other book covers. I wasn’t originally going to do this, but the idea came to me and it clicked. I originally had two other directions for Amethyst Shards’: Another fractal, like Emerald Haze. I even had fractal candidates set aside for this route. Physical art like...

The commissions of King in his action pose and Malcolm Zfnoc from Erika Hollice made into stickers from Sticker Mule. They look awesome. The photos really don’t do them justice. If you’re interested in trying Sticker Mule, you can use my referral link to get some credit:

Now that the Zfnoctewoohi family is done (for now), I was free to pursue other commission ideas. I wanted to have another core cast member done by Erika Hollice. This was narrowed down to either King or Cyclone and my Patrons voted for King! This was even though King already been done by another artist, Malgamma, late last year. It was a simple piece of him just chilling. And it was more of a cartoon-y style. This time, I was...

Behold, Malcolm Zfnoc! He was the reason I said Paewar Zfnoc was a ‘test’ of dark effects and Zfnoc looks. Because Malcolm Zfnoc is all that, effectively. He’s basically all black or close to it. It was definitely going to be a challenge to render into art form but, of course, Erika Hollice totally knocked it out of the park.

Honestly, this has been one funky year and I imagine for us all. Things were definitely accomplished last year, for sure, but at times it felt like spinning wheels in place while other things ran free. Progress was intense in some places and then hardly any in others. I am so glad for all of the things I’ve done media-wise like commissions and what not this past year, but… I wish Amethyst Shards had been done by now. That’s what...

Since Balon and Rayacha’s stickers turned out so great, I had to get Sticker Mule stickers of both Lana and Paewar when the opportunity arose. And it did and I seized it! As with Balon and Rayacha, Erika Hollice gave me transparent versions of their artwork. Their sticker forms look fantastic, super pleased as always! If you’re interested in trying Sticker Mule, you can use my referral link to get some credit:

Okay, this commission of Paewar Zfnoc by Erika Hollice might be a bit of a surprise, unlike the Lana Zfhi commission. I wasn’t actually sure if I was going to even commission Paewar Zfnoc at first, but he deserves artwork made of him and he is a ‘test’ of the dark effects/Zfnoc tone that will be used heavily with…someone else that will be done after this. But, anyway, here’s what I thought of Paewar Zfnoc going in and the general...

Since I commissioned Haasio for Dien, it was only apt I did so for Hequera as well. It was natural and expected. The end is known in the beginning…but in this case the beginning is known in the end. Hequera was an easier commission to rationalize in many ways since Dien had already been done and Hequera was going to be less complicated (mostly by nature). The general shape was constant between them with some adjustments. Hequera’s color was more...

If you’ve been on the Spine recently, you may have noticed that things are very different now in terms of design. The Spine has has a pretty major face lift. I received some advice from a designer friend of mine, Kelly Rauwerdink, on The Spine of the Empire’s website design, mostly focused on the home page. There was a lot to take in and a lot to improve. The Major Design Changes The home page, save some copy, was gutted...

As a member of the main cast, commissioning Dien was inevitable. But, Dien, by nature, was going to be trickier to get done. As a Dracite, she really has no commonality with a Human at all…as she is a Dracite. As in, a Dragon. Dragon artwork is a specialty of its own, so I knew I had to find someone who was specialized in it. But, thankfully, I knew someone who excelled in this type of work and that I...