Advanced Individual D&D project, part 6 - The first finished illustrations

So two of my illustrations are finished, as finished as they can get right now at least. I might see some more flaws in them after a while or fix whatever might be wrong with them after getting some feedback from people. i have to say though that i am very pleased with certain elements, which I intend to describe further on.

Warden:
This one turned out a little different from the original sketch. I changed her hair because I felt that short and loose hair would be more fitting for this character than an ornate bun. I have changed the look of the shield quite a bit and the way the hand is holding the weapon. The belt is also a little different. Instead of a regular leather belt I opted for a braided multi colored looking belt.

The things I am particularly pleased with is the texture of her leather armor and the fur. I worked hard to make it look like thick leather or hide. The cloak also looks good I think, the added detail at the bottom really lifted the image. The shield turned out better than expected to be honest. What I did have some trouble with however was the skin. It ended up looking a bit too airbrushed, so if I get the time I'll read up on some tutorials and fix it.

I had some trouble with the "whooshing" sand in the background. I've never tried to paint sand like that ever, and I had no idea of how to do it. I basically just sat down and played around with some brushes, the eraser and the burn(dodge tool until it looked "whooshy" enough.

The elven sorcerer:
The sorcerer was a challenge I'll say that from the get go. He was difficult from the beginning of the sketching stage. It was fun to play around with the design of his robe and the accessories, but his pose and the flames raging around him were a nightmare to figure out for some reason. There are some extra details in this version too. There are embellishments on the gloves and belt that were not present in the sketch. The hair is also a bit different.

I am not a friend og light from several angles. I hate to consider light sources when working, but alas it is necessary isn't it. In this one it is a little tricky, since it is lighted from the back and from the front. I remembered reading in Imagine FX a little while ago that warm light will produce cold shadows and vice versa. That one trick really saved me, so thanks a bunch to Imagine FX for that one. The face was a bit tricky to get, but it turned up much better than the wardens did. It's more painterly looking instead of airbrushed. What I am proud of is the orb however. I think it looks awesome. I think I got the colors right, the texture looks about right, it just looks cool (at least I think so :p). 

The flames is a chapter all to it self. It's hard to paint flames, that all I can say. I think I managed to do some convincing flames. They don't really look realistic, but neither does my personal style either. I think my style is sort of "cartoonie" with a touch of realism, if that makes sense at all.

I haven't shown these to my teachers yet, so I don't know what they think about them. I at leat feel like I'm doing a good job. For every piece I do I see personal progress in at least one area, and at the end of the day I think that's the most important thing, to evolve and develop ones style and technique.  

Until next time

Anita Night

Advanced Individual D&D project, part 5 - Ever onwards

Sooo a bit of radio silence for a couple of weeks. We had visitors here in England from some good friends from Norway. They brought their 3 month old baby along with them. He was very cute but also very distracting at times :p

I did however get some work done. I have finished doing rough sketches, and made some nice clean ones that are easier to decipher. Because of time constraints I have also had to start coloring and finishing up my illustrations because they have to be handed in by the 17th of December. Am I stressed out or what...I don't even want to think about it.

I invested in a small light box at Argos,not the best quality, but it beats sticking my drawings on a window just to be able to trace them. What I intend to show you guys this time are the simple clean sketches that I've made and scanned, this does not include the goblin/hobgoblin/bugbear illustration I have showed you earlier.

Shadar - kai Warlock:

Mul slave attacking Drider:

Elven sorcerer:

Warden Class description

Elf assassin and dragonborn noble:

Shifter Class description:

note: The shifters look like crap in this sketch, but I intend to vamp them up quite a bit in the coloring stage.

Crumbled Tower:

Yeah, so those were my sketches following very soon will be some of the finished illustrations. I don't really have time to change a lot when it comes to composition, but I'll take any critique you have and fix or rework things if time allows it near the end.

Until next time
Anita K. Olsen (Anita Night)

Underdark shaman - finished version

So I finally got around to finishing my personal project. I haven't had any time to enjoy myself just doing personal stuff, but I couldn't leave this unfinished any longer, because I would simply forget that it existed. I tend to do that. I'm a workaholic and I rarely take btreaks from jobs with a deadline...I have problems switching of. (not a surprise to those who know me). 

My inability to take breaks is probably the reason why I smoke. It gives me an excuse to go outside, take ten minutes to breathe a little and clear my head. If I didn't smoke I'd probably work 24-7, but I digress.

It is finally finished, at 01.35 in the morning. There are some issues I could work out, but I simply do not have the time, and I'm actually pretty pleased with it. I've subtracted a lot of details and changed the pose of the Drow a bit. It has made the image less cluttered and puts the Shaman more into focus. I like the colors, and for once I've actually been able to paint rocks. Yay for me!! Personal progress is always fun.

Fig.1 is the original sketch and image and of course Fig. 2 is the finished image.

Fig.1

Fig.2

Happy to have finished it. 

That's all for now,
Anita Night

Advanced Individual D&D Project, part 4- cover sketching

Ok, so it's taken a while to get to a point where there is actually possible to show relevant progress, but I'm getting there now. I have been sketching on one of the cover design briefs that Jon gave me Goblins, Hobgoblins and Bugbears oh my).

He did tell me that I should change the pov's in my compositions and I am currently doing just that, but not on this specific illustration. I decided to keep the point of view simple here, because there is so much that is going to happen all at once and I'd rather focus on getting the interaction between the heroes and the goblins looking convincing than fiddling around with perspective. I'm doing some more exciting stuff on the Shadar - Kai Warlock brief and some of the other pieces instead.

So I've done some environment sketches and some character sketches, separately to begin with, and then I have composited them together in photoshop. This way it is easier to change up the sketch in case I'm not happy with placement or scale. So far this is what I have:

fig 1: initial background sketch.

Fig.2: Reworked it a little bit, simplified it. 

Fig.3: Resized it a bit and started placing out characters. Right now this is the best composition I've come up with, but I think I'll change it up a bit when I add more Bugbears and Hobgoblins.

Fig.4: I started coloring the background, it's getting somewhere. it's still not finished by any means, but as an overall image I think I might be pleased with it in the end. 

As soon as I have more to show I will post it. I have been working on some sketches for some of the other illustrations and I am looking forward to working some more. It's hard work, and it takes a whole lot of time, but I'm honestly loving it. ^^

Until next time

Anita Night

Happy Halloween in advance :p

Since it is October, and Halloween is approaching I made a Halloween themed picture. I try to make one every year, even if I don't really have the time for it, like this year. I made the sjetch for this picture weeks ago in my sketch book, but didn't get around to doing it in Photoshop until today. Yes, I've been that busy. At least I finished it before Halloween. It took me 5-6 hours or so to finish it I think. I wasn't really keeping track of the time though so it's a rough guess. 

I'm posting it now since I'll probably  be busy working on all hallows eve. (Relax) I will have time to attend a Halloween party, but it will be on the 26th of October instead.

So Happy Halloween in advance to everyone.

from Anita Night

Tattoo sketches

I'm just posting some sketches. Good to keep the activity up on my blog, and let the world see what I'm up to besides university work.

These are tattoo sketches I'm doing for this guy I know. He wanted rogues looking kind of sneaky or hunched , so that's what I made

There are some flaws in the anatomy and poses, but I intend to fix it as soon as the design is ok

Advanced Individual D&D project, part 3 - composition

Over the past week I have been battling the flu, watching a whole lot of "The Big Bang Theory" episodes to prevent my head from exploding due to stress caused by the fact that I am sick and my head is slow like syrup. My throat was swollen to the extent where talking was painful and made me want to gag, so I've survived on throat relief tablets and tea. In spite of this I have gotten some work done (yay for me).

I've started making some compositional sketches for some of the art orders/briefs from WotC. Nothing too fancy, just quick, small thumbnails depicting what I want the illustrations to look like. Usually when working by myself I'll skip this step, because I usually end up using the first idea I came up with anyway (somehow the first idea is always the best one, go figure). This time around I decided to be as thorough as possible. No point in rushing such a big project as this and risk the possibility of ending up with mediocre work.

Here are some pictures of the composition sketches I made, as you'll see they aren't exactly what one would call beautiful or very detailed, but at least I have a basic idea of where I'm going next.

This one is for the crumbling tower brief. The top half is supposed to be missing, and the towers is supposed to be situated on a small bluff.

This one is for one of the cover design briefs. A male human fighter and a female halfling rogue are supposed to be battling goblins, hobgoblins and bugbears in a dungeon chamber.

This one is done for the Shadar-Kai warlock brief. She's supposed to be sitting or standing on a balcony overlooking the Shade Enclave, performing some sort of spell.

I've also done some character and artefact sketches, but I'm saving those for the next post.

Anita Night