Abiadan, Paladin

Abiadan is a paladin with the unusual heritage erudite-darkelf. I was asked to put a lot of emotion into
the portrait, and that, I have tried to accommodate. Here is the sketch of the poor, battered fighter, at
the end of one very close encounter:



Here I have started blocking in the main colors. I'm aiming for a really dark and dramatic mood:



I really, really hate painting clouds. I guess it's just because I need more practice, so there's nothing
more to it than trying and trying again. References is always a good thing before you feel secure enough
with a subject, and I used some good photos as ref's for this sky. If I hadn't, you would notice a remarkable
difference - for the worse!

The DragonSnail

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Here I seriously started working out shadows and highlights and also added plenty of little details on the
image, like the blood rivulets. Faces are important - if I don't manage to work out the face to my own
satisfaction, it's hard for me to continue on the rest of the image. It simply feels impersonal and lifeless
then. Not so here - I'm quite happy with his face so far. It radiates emotion; exhaustion, defiance, anger
and despair, all at once.

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My mother is a painter (canvas & some ceramic type stuff) and she says the same thing about creating faces: just can't get into the rest if she doesn't like the face!

I'm loving this one so far! And aside from the face, the clouds are my favorite part. So there!

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When was the last time you were inspired?

Thanks Kally, the encouragement really helps!

Worked some more on this, added a few details, worked out shadows and highlights. I'm not really
happy with the banner. Can't put my finger on what it is though, but somehow it feels... wrong. Too
showy, too flowy. For some reason the curvy shape looks feminine. Cause women are more curvy, you
know. I'll have to change it eventually, I guess.



There's no less than six little dragons in this image! I counted. There's the dragon ornament on the
helmet, the dragon on the shield, the one on top of the banner pole and the one on the banner itself,
the dragon crossbar on the sword and the dragon head on the hilt. Though I haven't coloured the one
on the shield yet, sorry about that. But it WILL be there, I promise!

Here's a close-up of the helmet ornament:

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Awesome work. His countenance is simply chilling...not a guy I'd like to meet right now, lol.

My take on the banner is that the bottom half of it puts me more in mind of long, flowing hair & not so much of fabric. Does that help? I'm no kind of artist

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When was the last time you were inspired?

Post last edited by Kallysti on 24.08.2010, 16:49.

I agree about the bottom of the banner looking like hair rather than fabric. The rest is pretty awesome to me but I'm not a painter either. My art is mostly crocheted or knitted lol.

Absolutely astounding! I agree that the clouds look wonderful - dark and forboding. I think you skills are continuing to improve and I can't wait to see the finished work! Not sure what to suggest about the banner, but I agree that something feels a little off with it. Maybe it's how little movement there is at the top compared to the bottom streamer...just my 2cp.

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Thanks on the tips for the banner, everyone! Yeah, the bottom part of it put me more in mind of hair,
too. I had intended to make it worn and ripped, but it didn't work out like I envisioned it. I'll have to
work with it and see if I can come up with a better solution. For now, let's add some background (and
foreground)!




Looks like the shield is floating on air. Oh well, can't do everything at once. I'm getting there!

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