Arte Zolla

Here’s the second illustration I created for ’s Wise’s Historical Fencing series—this one inspired by Francesco Fernando Alfieri’s 1640 manuscript, La Scherma (The Art of Fencing), gaudy costuming and all.

I had a lot of fun leaning into the theatricality of this one and pulling from the historical source material. I included some of that reference in the image so you can see a bit of what inspired the final piece.

What’s your favorite detail?

I had the pleasure of working with Derek Wise to illustrate a few diagrams of plays from his new book, Wise's Historical Fencing. This one shows a longsword play (thrust through extended sword with the find) done in the style of Fiore de Liberi's "Fior di Battaglia (The Flower of Battle)." The second image is an example of the source material. It was a fun little piece to do, and on the original I used actual gold foil for the crown, as was done with the actual manuscripts (although it doesn't show well in a scan).

A Sphinx I was inspired to paint by a random photo of a Shearwater from . Sometimes inspiration comes where you least expect it!

I don't always do fantasy art. I've had a few commissions over the past month for sentimental pet- and family-themed pieces (though they were all intended for use as art on custom Magic: the Gathering cards). Here's one of a recently departed pet and its favorite stuffed pickle toy. Done on Arches Cold Press paper with watercolor/watercolor pencil, and ink.