The Art of Harsh

Hey Steemit!
I'm still new here and still finding my way. I'm guessing most of you have no clue who I am or what I do. So I thought I'd create some posts to shed more light on that.

Generally speaking, I'm a pretty busy guy. I have always loved to create stories, which is what first drew me into comic books and movies as a kid. As a teen, I desperately wanted to make comic books for a living, but once I got into the adult world and learned how hard that life would likely be for me (and had been more fully introduced to tabletop roleplaying games), I switched gears slightly. From that point on I knew I wanted to make games so that I could share my imagination with the world. I have to say, now that I've been freelancing as an illustrator in the game industry for 16+ years and am starting to get my books put together, my desires are shifting slightly once again. This shift, however, is based more on getting my projects in front of as many pairs of eyes as possible. I still love tabletop gaming, and probably always will, but it's a niche market at best. I love it, don't get me wrong, but I can easily see my properties being even larger and more interactive! More on that later though.

You might know the Harsh Realities logo, but if you do not be prepared to see a lot of it in the future. :)

What I think I'll do is start a series of posts wherein I will discuss a piece of art created by me. I'll talk about how it was made, why, for whom, and what product it ended up on or within.
This image was created for EN Publishing in October of 2015. The client asked for an image of a merchant busy behind a cluttered counter, and pretty much gave me freedom to do whatever I wanted beyond that. I was thrilled to get to do this image, and to be honest it represents a bit of a turning point or level up for me as well. The items on and behind the counter are all D&D magic or mundane items that a PC might find in a general store like this. I had a lot of fun putting some of my favorite magic items in there!
This image was used in EN World's TRAILseeker #53, Expanded Skills: Appraise & Craft, but is still available as stock art through Misfit Studios (http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/101/Misfit-Studios/subcategory/299_21937/ScottHarshbarger) if anyone is interested.

Thanks for stopping by! If you liked this, or have suggestions on how to make these posts better or more entertaining, please be sure to comment and/or up-vote, and make sure to #followme to see more!