Introduction: Fantasy and concept art by Ed Binkley

I've been making artwork my entire life, and I never seriously doubted in my youth that it would be my career.  Creating art is a constant joy and I've been fortunate to have made it my profession.
     Even now I feel that I've only begun to learn many things about craftsmanship and about the reasons for creating.  I've been drawing since I was a preschooler but in young-adulthood I forgot why I did it.  But recently I've begun to rediscover the original contentment I got from art-making. I'm having
more fun now with my artwork than ever before.
     My work is created on simple principles of solid drawing and composition. I generally follow a traditional progression from concept-sketches to compositional rough to finished illustration. I work entirely digitally today, but with techniques I
practiced for decades in traditional media -- pencil and paper.
     I will post new work and work-in-progress frequently.  I hope you enjoy
the art, and please feel free to comment and make suggestions.

Recent News:

Star Wars Visions poster at
Comic-Con International

My illustration of re-imagined Tusken Raiders debuted as a poster at Comic-Con International in San Diego and is featured on the official Star Wars website of Lucasfilm Ltd. 

New painting: "Red Riding Hood"
It seems to me that the story would have made more sense had the wolf been a werewolf.

Spectrum 16 published
Spectrum 16: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art is in the bookstores. This year's edition includes two of my "Scarecrow Dreams" illustrations, as well as illustrations by my former Madison College colleague Mark Nelson and concept work by Madison College graduate Tara Rueping.

"Lord Evergestis"
Evergestis is a genus of moth, and the moth-icon at the center of the top border is an actual evergestis species.  I wanted to create a value structure that is the inverse of Desideratum, therefore a light-value figure against a dark background.  The Mouse's Return was meant to be this but changed halfway through resulting in the dark figure against light, similar to Desideratum.  Evergestis was more successful in this regard. 

"Spectrum" at The Museum of American Illustration
I'm very proud to have participated in the exhibit "Spectrum," sponsored by the Society of Illustrators.  The exhibit was held at the Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators in New York.  150 works of fantasy art were chosen for the exhibit from the 2000 images published in "Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art" from 2004 to the present.  At the opening I met many of the great contemporary illustrators who have been artistic heroes of mine for many years, and I saw their work first-hand.  The illustrations are astounding, each one executed with intensity and obvious love for what the artist does.

Invitational exhibit at The American Girl Company
My wife and I have been invited to put together a two-person exhibit of our work in the corporate gallery at the American Girl Company in Middleton, Wisconsin.  The exhibit, titled "Narrative Threads," will open in Summer of 2010.

"The Mouse's Return"
Recently finished, with step-by-step progression viewable here.  I began working on it after looking again at Bruegel and his fascination with the contrast between an event's significance to one person and its insignificance to others.

Madison College information site
The information site for the Animation & Concept Development Program at Madison College is now online.  The site is open to the public except for course-specific lecture notes.  www.matc3d.info.

Online interview with Irene Gallo
I had the honor of being interviewed recently by Irene Gallo of Tor/Forge Books, and the interview is now posted at their website.  Comments are welcomed,
and the interview includes links to master works that were mentioned.

Tor.com
My art is now included among many artists whose work I admire and study at
the Tor.com online gallery.  Tor/Forge is the world's largest fantasy/
science-fiction book publisher, and the gallery features the work of some of the world's best known illustrators.  The invitation came from Executive Art Director Irene Gallo and artist Gregory Manchess after they visited my website.

Spectrum 15
I'm happy to announce that two of my illustrations, Desideratum and The Hunter, were selected to be included in the 15th edition of Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art.  Spectrum is a juried fantasy-illustration annual published by Underwood Books.

Desideratum began as a ripoff of the well known J.A.D. Ingres Portrait of Louis Bertin, and grew into a treatise on unattainable desires, hence the title.

The Hunter is less complex, simply a creature from my sketchbooks who needed a context.  The Hunter simply grew from the main character out.

Comments

[XineAnn]

So many nice things, especially The Mouse Returns. You made my afternoon.

[bobbykro]

fantastic illustrations & congrats on the inclusion to Spectrum.. going to have to get me a copy now :)

[Mike]

I love this art! It has an "old" style that is just fascinating.

[Tatiana Astacio]

I really enjoyed 'Thistle'... Lovely Ed. Just lovely.