Roadmap 2024

Happy New Year everyone!  2023 didn't go *exactly* as planned, (it never does...) but overall, I'd still say it was an amazing year! Apart from getting to work with a few dream clients this year and getting to paint some really rewarding images, I also feel like I made several personal breakthroughs in terms of new tricks and techniques. I am going into 2024 with a pretty clear slate and a lot of big plans. This year, the goals for 2024 revolve around 4 major projects, (3 you already know about, and one a mystery that will be revealed later in the year). These 4 projects will form the basis of what I will be sharing with you, in the form of hi-res images, process guides, tutorials, and brush sets, here on Patreon.

Patreon Projects for 2024:

• Monster of the Month: We have been making slow and steady progress on this one over the past few years, and 2024 will be much of the same. My main goal for this project in 2024 is to first, finish the poster series! And then after that work on the books related to the project.

• The Dungeon Master Series : I plan to finally finish Series One of this project in 2024, with a December GOAL of releasing a 13-image calendar (and hopefully a sketchbook too) for 2025.

There is really only 3 or 4 more that I really need for this, so hopefully this will be an easier goal to tackle. You can expect to see a hi-res for our most recent image "The Dungeons of Death" in the coming days, and then after that, we have another commissioned one, this time featuring a Beholder....

After that, Annie and I will finally dive into a mystery project that we have been talking about for years! (More on that later this year after we've wrapped up the Dungeon Master Series...)

• The Martian of the Month Series: For this series we will be going in some new directions to start the year out. Two new additions I will be delving into this year are first, Martian Trader Portraits featuring characters you would encounter in-game who will sell you items you need 'for the right price,' and second, Hi-Res, Interactive Backgrounds:

Game backgrounds is new territory for me, and something I've been wanting to experiment with for quite some time. These backgrounds have animated atmospheric effects, parallax backgrounds and interactive triggers, making them an interesting and complex challenge to make, particularly when they are detailed and hand-painted. I hope to share several of these with you this year, and hopefully in video form. I will also be doing some tutorials on these discussing how I make them, and sharing my brush sets from them as well!

And of course, there will be monsters...

And for these, I plan to continue doing monthly Polls for choosing which to paint, because I love the feedback. The above layout of space pests will be the first of these polls, and will be dropping soon.

A long shot this year will be bringing back community events like #Letsdrawmonsters. These didn't happen in 2023 as much as I'd hoped, largely because of some NDA projects (which made me some offers I couldn't refuse...) My goal in 2024 is still to take less client jobs, (NDA included) and focus more heavily on work for those of you here on Patreon. I still find this work to be the most rewarding, fun, and ultimately the stuff I learn the most from.

The other rewards will remain largely the same here. Brush sets, Tutorials, and VODs, will be released as they are finished and you can expect a lot of hi-res work, behind-the-scenes posts and Process Guides each month.

Mentorships will continue as long as there is demand for them!

For January, Mentorships will be on January 9, 11, & 12 at 9AM, 11 AM, & 8PM EST each day.  Message me on Discord or here if you have signed up and let me know which time slot you would like! If no spaces are available when you go to sign up, just message me and we will get you in.

And that's all folks! Thank you for all the support in 2023. I look forward to making a ton of new monsters and battling the forces of darkness with you in 2024!

-jg