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joe sparrow art blog

[joe-sparrow]

hi! long time no see, i've been busy at work on a buncha things. thank you for still following this blog!

Just an update to say that i'll be at MCM Comic Con in London at the Excel Center this whole weekend (Friday - Sunday), at table H-23 in the artist alley. If you're there and you fancy picking up any of my books, it's a great opportunity to do so!

@blancamz will be there with me selling her wares too. We're more than happy to sign/doodle in something if you want!

Anyway, hope you can make it.

[joe-sparrow]

meat chunk

hello! i haven’t been on here in a while, and despite my prior expectation that the whole musk twitter thing would blow over it seems like that whole platform is on its last legs and could seemingly go at any moment. i’ve mostly been using my instagram for the stuff i used to post here, but I figure that if i’m losing one of my social media legs i should try and bolster one that remains running.

i pretty much fell off posting on here after my account got hacked a few years ago (through no fault of my own, mind you). so my inbox is just full of people informing me about that. i need to go through there and delete them all or set them to “read” or something. anyway, hope you’re all well. let me know if you still use tumblr and/or if you read this!

[joe-sparrow]

The Sixty-Ninth spirit, who is called ＤＥＣＡＲＡＢＩＡ. He is a Great Marquis, appearing in the Form of a Star in a Pentacle, at first; but after, at the command of the Magician, he putteth on the image of a Man. He governeth 30 Legions of Spirits.

[joe-sparrow]

The Seventieth spirit, who is called ＳＥＥＲＥ. He is a Mighty Prince, and Powerful, appearing in the Form of a Beautiful Man, riding upon a Winged Horse. He governeth 26 Legions of Spirits.

[joe-sparrow]

The Seventy-First spirit, who is called ＤＡＮＴＡＬＩＯＮ. He is a Duke, Great and Mighty, appearing in the Form of a Man with many Countenances, all Men's and Women's Faces; and he hath a Book in his right hand. He governeth 36 Legions of Spirits.

[joe-sparrow]

The seventy-second spirit, who is called ＡＮＤＲＯＭＡＬＩＵＳ. He is an Earl, Great and Mighty, appearing in the Form of a Man holding a Great Serpent in his Hand. He ruleth over 36 Legions of Spirits.

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Long time no post! I’ve had this idea floating around for ages to do a series of illustrations of goetic demons (featured in the Lesser Key of Solomon and other medieval books), kind of a thematic mix between my tarot deck and Dungeons & Drawings. I’ve been posting them over on my twitter and instagram but I figured they’re such big lovely images I may as well actually return to tumblr and put them on here too!

There are 72 of these guys, so... we’ll see how long I go before I lose steam lol

[joe-sparrow]

[joe-sparrow]

Majora’s Wrath!

Hope you all are doing ok.

[joe-sparrow]

Hey, tumblr! Long time, no see. 

So the other day I got the news that a pilot I did character design & art direction for last year sadly got the ol’ red light (i.e. the company it was being pitched for passed on it), which is unfortunate - BUT it also means I can probably get away with posting some snippets of the work that I did for it without getting in too much trouble, so here’s a smattering of pages from the pitch bible as well as a bunch of assorted drawings I did during the development. 

I’m posting this stuff becuase all things considered I’m still pretty proud of it! I won’t go into detail about the particulars of the show premise or its name or anything, but in a nutshell it was going to be a show featuring a diverse bunch of different characters from different videogame worlds, kind of a Wreck-it Ralph meets Drawn Together or something. 

Design-wise I guess a lot of it falls into a sort of “I get that reference!” territory (Lorna is clearly Samus-inspired, Edge is a Final Fantasy protagonist, etc etc) but I tried really hard to give each character their own... well, character. Also we tried to go beyond the more low-hanging fruit in terms of videogame references (did Wreck-It Ralph have a Bubsy tribute?!??! I don’t think so!!). 

Also looking back I think the lineup bears a biiiig influence from OK KO - I hope it doesn’t come across as too derivative, haha. Anyhow, hope you enjoy. 

[joe-sparrow]

Hi! So me and @blancamz are publishing a book with @andrewsmcmeelbooks later this year based on our Dungeons & Drawings art blog! We got some proof copies through recently and I’m here to tell you: they look amazing. 

You might be familiar with our three self-published volumes we’ve put out over the last few years: this is a much fancier beast entirely!

It features:

277 pages (120+ monster illustrations, each with beginner-friendly stats)

Extensively researched folkloric background on each creature (we’ve basically completely rewritten and expanded the creature descriptions we did in the previous volumes - this was SO MUCH WORK haha)

over 20 either BRAND NEW or updated illustrations (because we drew some of these back in like 2011 y'all!!)

10" x 10" dimensions (almost twice as big as our other books but still fits nicely on a shelf or coffee table)

Hardcover (a first for either of us!)

✨Gold foil emboss on the cover illustration✨

In-depth reference section and some pages of rough sketchbook work

Basically, it's great and we're super proud of it.

You'll be able to pick it up at all good bookstores (Andrews McMeel have great distribution internationally) or from us directly at any conventions we're tabling at, but if you're feeling impatient you can preorder it at these links directly:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/…/1131424510;jsessionid=5D87…

https://www.waterstones.com/book/dungeons-and-drawings-an-illustrated-compendium-of-creatures/blanca-marta-nez-de-rituerto/joe-sparrow/9781524852016

I can't overstate how much work went into this book! We hope you enjoy it!

[joe-sparrow]

Harpy

this illustration was gonna turn up in something i’m releasing later this year but i was really pleased with it & im still annoyed about my blog being hacked so i figured i’d post it a bit early here to say thanks for sticking around.

If you wanna see more cool monster designs go check out @dungeonsanddrawings, an art blog I co-run with @blancamz!

[joe-sparrow]

Ganon Vs. Peach (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate)

by Joe Sparrow

[joe-sparrow]

im back bich

my blog is back and has been officially un-hacked. huge apologies for flooding everyone’s feeds last week, and thankyou to @support​ for recognising the issue and helping me getting it back under control. 

once whoever it was got access they pretty much instantly changed my login email & password so there was no way i could get back in to fix the account. this was apparently worryingly easy to do (it required NO confirmation email to my regular email account or anything like that which seems like sort of a security oversight) so... I guess be careful!

fwiw no idea how it happened - I don’t use any 3rd party apps at all and id like to think as someone who grew up with the internet i’m pretty good about not clicking on any obvious suspicious links or getting my login details phished. at a guess i think it was maybe some kind of vulnerability in the blog theme i was using so for now i’ve reset it to one of tumblr’s default ones. 

i dont even think i lost that many followers but if you’re reading this, thanks for sticking around. the blog being back is kind of weird because i sort of already mourned it. my online presence is so fucking fragile lol

[joe-sparrow]

kendo pratice /  剣道 稽古

[dungeonsanddrawings]

Sometimes, in the darker regions of the forest, you may catch sight of these creatures as they ponderously shamble among the trees. Famously shy, myconids stay far from the bustle of human civilisation, serving as stoic watchers over their hallowed groves. Whilst their bodies may seem weak and pallid, they are quite hardy; a clan of myconids will not hesitate to gang together to protect their young and their weak from outside attack, aided by the poisonous spores they continuously shed. I’m gonna cop to some influence here from the mushroom in Hollow Knight, but this also makes me think of the mushroom-people from the Dark Souls series, the way they travel in packs of children and adults. Also the design trope of a monster lumbering about with a bunch of weapons lodged in its hide is a real favourite of mine, the way it sort of tells a story, like - many have tried to kill this thing, but all have failed.

[joe-sparrow]

more dungeons & drawings from me!

[joe-sparrow]

Do you have an Insta / twitter?

yep! i’m @torpordust on both, although I post more art stuff on my twitter. 

for some reason none of my posts got flagged on tumblr so I’m probably not gonna stop posting stuff here, though. but I guess if you want the full social media experience you’re welcome to check out the other two!

[dungeonsanddrawings]

DUNGEONS & DRAWINGS VOL. 3 *NOW AVAILABLE TO ORDER!*

At long last! The third volume of Dungeons & Drawings can now be purchased online at our Etsy store:

>>> https://etsy.me/2rdBvUa <<<

Featuring a fresh batch of 40 new illustrations from the Dungeons & Drawings archive, this book combines imaginative and colourful monster designs with easy-to-understand stats and well-researched folkloric history. Ever wondered why a ghoul’s called a ghoul? Ever wondered where angels come from? With this book, you need wonder no more!

Whether you’re a tabletop dungeon master looking for monster ideas, or just a fan of cool illustration, Dungeons & Drawings: Volume 3 is a must-have. And for a limited time only you can pick up all 3 volumes (that’s 120 whole illustrations!) for just £24! Dang! What a hot deal!

Ships globally from the UK. Packages to UK addresses are sent 1st class and should be expected next working day. International packages sent by international standard - see https://www.royalmail.com/personal/international-delivery/international-standard/ for details regarding delivery times.

[joe-sparrow]

Dungeons & Drawings: Volume 3 is now available to order over at our Etsy store! 40 new illustrations by me & blanca plus a ton of writing and stuff! it’s good, go get it!