Author: XT Illos

I'm a freelance illustrator of Fantasy Art working in digital and traditional media. I'm available for custom fantasy work. There are prints in my Etsy store and originals available for purchase. Please email me for details on the originals and comission work, Richard.Thaxton@xtillos.com. Due to Intellectual Property Rights, I cannot do Fan Art but I'm happy to do an original illustration for you.
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New Things for the New Year!

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I hope everyone’s New Year is off to a great start! If you’ve made resolutions, I hope you have a great plan and succeed by the end of the year!

XT Illos has some new things coming this year, too! Before we get to that, I wanted to remind everyone that Grotesque Moi! has exclusive content on the creatures being created over on our Patreon account! There’s also a couple of reference videos that are free to download over there, too!

Speaking of Grotesque Moi!, there’s a couple of new things on the horizon! I’m looking into possibly doing stickers and coloring books. This means there will be a new set of flat color pieces done for these projects.

For XT Illos there will be some new tutorials and processing for some of the projects I’m working on there. The instructional videos will be made available to purchase by download. There’s quite a few projects that I have to choose from!

As for everyone who has been with me from the beginning I have a surprise for you coming up soon over on Patreon! Also, for any who is fairly recent, there will be something for you in the works too on Patreon!

I hope everyone will have a great and prosperous 2020!🎊🎉🍾🥳😁

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Updates #1

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I thought that I would share some updates with you! I’ve been more quite lately and I can finally tell everyone what I’ve been up to. Most importantly for the last few weeks I’ve been designing and hand crafting anniversary cards for my wife and daughter. (Yes! Our daughter has participated in every anniversary since she was born!) photos and videos of the cards to follow in a different post.

Grotesque Moi!

  • Illustration number seven is still in process. I plan to continue it to completion. There are another six illustrations lined up to make the first set of thirteen.
    • I had to rework parts of the background and struggled a bit with the main figure.
    • It’s still on the schedule for completion.
  • Commissions are still open for Fantasy Creature/Monster Portraits!
  • Future Plans:
    • A calendar of the first thirteen creatures is to be designed and offered either in the XT Illos Store or through an on demand print site.
    • Three more waves of thirteen creatures to be created.
    • A new calendar is to be created at the end of each set of thirteen creatures.
    • Eventually there will be four calendar options.
    • Fifty two creatures to be combined in a card set to be offered on a crowd funding site.

XT Illos

  • Grotesque Moi! to continue production.
  • Ba’anta world building development to pick back up.
    • Some of the creatures developed in the Grotesque Moi! project will be representative of the races in Ba’anta.
  • Visual novel with Creative Idiot E to begin development.
  • Patreon promotions to be ramped up.
    • Exclusive content from Grotesque Moi! is already available.
    • Free original content reference videos are already available.
  • Art Markets/Cons Vending results year one.
    • Art markets have had very little flow of people attuned to my style of work and no revenue for my illustrations.
    • Cons have had a good flow of people interested in my work and the revenue was barely better than the art markets.
    • Increase con vending over the next year and try bigger cons.
  • Overall production to slow down.
    • Revenue is currently to low to support projects.
    • Part time schedule to resume to allow hours for non-art work.
    • look for more art revenue options for current XT Illos lines.
  • Test other optional lines.
    • Special occasion cards test market.
    • Offer special occasion cards in XT Illos Store.
    • Grotesque Moi! stickers test.
  • Video Production
    • Twenty minutes or less videos to start production on this site and Patreon.
      • Process Videos
      • DemoVideos
      • Promotional Videos
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Grotesque Moi! Update #21

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I’ve been working on the next creature illustration for Grotesque Moi!. As it usually happens, I’ve come to a point where I have to work out a design change.

My original sketch had the stinger and claws turned the wrong way.
First I inverted the stinger then adjusted the shapes.

Next are the claws. This is where I’m still playing with the design.
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Grotesque Moi! Update #20 Id

Id

I’m happy to finally present to you the inspiration that started this project. I present to you Id! The physical embodiment of the Freudian model of id, ego and super-ego. There is much to share about him that I will be posting in my Patreon. I can say that he has been around since before I understood who or what he is. It is truly thanks to Id that I’m here to share all of these things with you, today! Without further ado I give you Id!

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Site Update! #1

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Hi everyone!

I wanted to give you an update on things. First of all I have been busy putting things together to show my work in artist’s markets and planning to do some small (and possibly some large) conventions through this year and next! My daughter has joined me with her work this year and we’ve been showing together! I’m really enjoying having her share something that is so much a part of me! I’m looking forward to having her with me next year, as well! I’ve got my blog page back on my site and added Mailchimp for email signups and campaign notifications for everyone That’s signed up,

To set up for the artist’s markets and cons I’ve been making our:

  • Table runners
  • Banners
  • Signage
  • Adding mounts to table cloths/ banners/table runners/backdrop
  • Creating banner extensions for the back drop
  • Making the backdrop’s length adjustable for height restrictions
  • Making the backdrop banner’s length adjustable for width restrictions
  • Designs token coins to use at shows
  • Creating picture frames for the first three Grotesque Moi! illustrations (still working on this one, maybe 1/3 of the way there)
  • Designing a couple of table displays for prints
  • (Here’s some pix of our artist’s market setup!)

    • I will post more about the things I’ve been working on individually in future posts.

    I hope you’ve had a great summer and are ready for the holidays!

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    Grotesque Moi! Update #19

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    To catch everybody up, we’ve been getting things together to start doing indoor and outdoor events. We attended our first artist’s market a couple of weeks ago. This was at Argosy Market:

    Today we were able to show some of our work at The Bubble Hut. It’s on display until Friday afternoon! If you’re in the area please stop by and get a refreshing bubble tea, check out our display and maybe order som prints or your very own commission!

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    Grotesque Moi! #18 Update

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    Hi everyone! I stopping by to give you an update on Grotesque Moi!. I’ve been adjusting the first five illustrations (illos) so that they print more accurately. After having some standard prints and canvas prints ran I’ve had to make some adjustments to my computer and IPad so that the new creations should print right with minimal adjustments. Please enjoy the new and improved images!

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    Grotesque Moi!: #17 Update

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    I believe it’s time to give this guy the full illustration he deserves! June is the perfect month for him! More to come once I have a good line drawing…….

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    Grotesque Moi! #16 Project Update Sal-Broga, Anuran

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    Meet Sal-Broga! He is an acolyte of the Anuran race. they are a mix of green frog amphibians and humanoids. They live in close communities and have a strong familial bond in their culture. Anurans value societal structures, knowledge and nature. To show the importance of family and nature they use the symbol of the tadpole in their important buildings and equipment. Its to remind them of their simple start in life.