Hello there!
This month really passed me by. Incredible that it already was a month…
It started with my last belongings packed up and ready for movement. Then at the 6th, I had spent my first night at my new home and enjoyed the relatively much cleaner air. Now it’s almost a full month that I am in and it’s starting to feel natural, I’m getting lived-in. But I know that there’s a lot of things still open for management. As it progressed, the month was full of rearrangement; un- and repacking stuff, moving furniture, cleaning out the stash to make more space for my old stash, discarding the trash and getting some new equipment. Hence my first submission took a while to be worked on and finished. Despite the pretty busy first days, now I am more or less in free time to dedicate to my works but I decided to take a calm and relaxed approach in making them. I want to improve constantly – as you know – and taking some more time with my works is probably the way to go.
Artworks
Viktor Ironheart – Daemon Hunter [Comm]
As soon as i got some free time again, I wanted to dedicate it to a long overdue commission from my dear friend. It has been very fun to design his clothing and the overall theme of the artwork has been something new for me. For the rendering, I switched back to my casual method and gave this a realistic look to get the muscles on his left arm right. It has come to my and other’s attention that there’s some contrast missing in my rendering and I want to improve on that to achieve a striking, yet harmonic result. Which I think I have achieved better in the following projects.
Zavi – Blind and Distorted
To be honest, I shied away from drawing her again as her last depiction form me was far from accurate and likeable in my opinion. I love Zavi and she’s among my favourite characters, which is why she should get her respective reference sheet but more about that soon. I created this piece to not surprise you of her condition; yes she’s gotten blind and with this image, I wanted to somewhat portray her struggle and insecurity that is haunting the once so capable warrior.
The process of this work has been quite challenging with me struggling in the beginning the most. I underestimated the challenge it is to portray a blind character. But after many sketches regarding this challenge, I was continuously drawn to the very first of these sketches. I like her pose here, it is held back, insecure and does imply that she is in fact blind, from only showing her damaged eye in this posture and I find more liking in portraying characters from their backs.
A few words to the rendering: I went with a more smooth approach for the lighting which should be most prominent on her legs but I guess trying to put more empathise on fur textures next time is an idea I want to try out next time.
Varis in Faraam Armour [Gift]
And here is my last submission of the month. It is a present for VarisArt who’s birthday came rather quick and unknown for. I wanted to make a present for him but really struggled with what to portray at first. It was only thanks to Yacrical (who also assisted me throughout the process) that I found a nice theme to work with. And from all of my works this month, this had the smoothest and probably most fun process. From start to finish, it went very well, only the chainmail is something I still despise to do, simply because I haven’t found the right approach yet.
I might consider working on more ancient themes especially fighters more frequently with my new found confidence in working with metal and silk.
Upcoming stuff & preplanning
There is one more birthday present I am currently working on and once that is out of the way, I will continue to work on Zavi’s reference sheet, to which’s layout I had made a few changes that I am happy with. My plan is to split it in two: her usual appearance according to the layout and perhaps one more that is suited for every project that goes ‘underneath’ her clothes. It will undoubtedly be the most ambitious project since… uhm… a long time and I plan on taking my breaks in between, perhaps even working on other projects simultaneously depending on what comes to mind. Actually, there’s one art trade that is kind of in the unclear as to if it is still active or not. And a couple of smaller projects regarding my deviantart Page come to mind, like a request box or updating my commission sheet.
Shoutout
As usual, here, a selection of great artist I found this month is showcased.
Despite the rather unconventional name, this artist can convince with a very solid painting method, smooth textures and a nice sense for creative environmental lighting. Especially calm moods are conveyed but she doesn’t shy from showing something darker here and there.
Joined deviantArt only two weeks ago, I stumbled upon Tito on occasion and immediately knew, she has the potential to something greater. While being on the way to find her own style, I can only recommend to keep it up and continue to draw these dark but colour intensive artworks that don’t get around evoking a bright feeling every now and then.
This artist combines great vision, fantasy and a unique painting style. But most importantly, his absolutely stunning environmental studies convinced me to devote this shoutout to him. There has just been nothing comparable, nothing like his paintings that I’ve seen before. And that’s why he more than deserves to be checked out.
And this is how I lift off for now.
Enjoy this month, I’ll see you at the end of September.
Sincerely,
~Souvillaine