Fantasy Art - Feren Warrior

Instead of spending the time to render this one in pencil, and then playing with it in Photoshop, I thought I'd stop at the line art on the physical version and then work on rendering in Photoshop instead.  As best as I can tell, learning to paint in Photoshop isn't any different from learning to paint with traditional media, just less messy.  I'm going to focus on rendering in grayscale for now -- one good value decision is worth ten good color choices.  One bad value decision can ruin ten good color choices, too.

Those who live on the edge of the wild lands must be on constant guard, for the Feren live by plunder.  However, the Feren have no interest in gold or silver coins.  They raid for food, for tools and weapons of metal, and for captives.  Yet no expedition against the Feren has ever secured the release of a single prisoner, nor is there evidence that the Feren eat those they take (although this is a popular theory among the ill-informed).  Those taken alive by the Feren are simply. . . gone.

Fantasy Art - Swordmistress

If nothing else, blogging my art has made me concentrate more on completion.  It's like an informal deadline -- time without a blog post is like dead air on the radio.  And since I can't really post without drawing something, the time I spend with pencil and pad is more results oriented than it used to be.  I'm certainly not giving up my sketchbook, though.  That's where finished work begins, and where a lot of learning gets done.

The Uldairi tribes of the eastern lands are unique in that women wield the political power.  Even on the battlefield, the women are the equal of the men in defending their camps from bandits, raiders, and the many strange creatures that roam the empty lands.  The only exception is the highly ritualized warfare that takes place between different tribes.  These conflicts are the province of the Uldairi men alone, when they don grotesque masks and engage in a deadly game subject to rules and taboos that no outsider can truly understand.

Fantasy Art - Luminary Priest

I may go back in Photoshop and add a touch of color to this drawing.  Layers and glazes with a limited palette, maybe a highlight if I think I can make it work.  And if I can't, well, CTRL-Z is as good as any eraser.

Over three centuries have passed since the Great Crusade against the Undying King, but the Hierarchy of the Radiant Alliance endures as a major political force in the west.  The Luminaries and their Acolytes are both the pinnacle and the foundation of the Hierarchy.  The pinnacle because their knowledge of the Sacred Speech gives them great power, and the foundation because without their power the unliving enemies of humanity could not be contained. 

At least, that's the sermon as the Hierarchy preaches it. . .

No pictures to post, but. . .

I'm polishing several drawings and should have one or more of them ready soon.  In the meantime, a parable:

A young man came to Sarnath where the Buddha was staying.  In the evening, he sought the Blessed One and asked this question:  "Master, what three things may I do to be a better figure artist?" 

The Buddha's reply:

Do not abuse, misplace, or otherwise violate the centerline.

Do not abuse, misplace, or otherwise violate the centerline.

Do not abuse, misplace, or otherwise violate the centerline.

The greatest source for dynamism and movement in a figure is that twisty, bendy spine that runs through us all.  But twist or bend it as you will, there is still a single line from the top of the head to the symphysis pubis (known among the unitiatied as a "crotch").  Hang a string of chakras on it if you like, but do not jerk it around in such a way that your figure's neck sprouts from the left shoulder or the lumbar vertebrae get jammed unceremoniously into one hip or the other.

I admit that the Buddha didn't actually say that last part.  He was pretty busy, and didn't have time to explain every little thing.  But we would all do well to consider his advice about the centerline.  He was the freaking Buddha, after all.

Fantasy Art - The Nomad

I spent quite a bit of time looking at pictures of the arm guards worn by Roman murmillos to try and come up with a solution for the one this fellow is wearing.

This was drawn on 9' x 12' paper, which always feels a touch cramped to me.  Drawing the figure at that scale is fine for a study or a doodle, but for something that I intend to polish, it usually makes me a touch claustrophobic.  Still, I'm relatively pleased with the outcome.

More Bones

What can I say?  They have the organic beauty of trees and flowers but, for most of us, aren't as familiar.  Robert Beverly Hale repeatedly exhorts art students to acquire a collection of bones.  I have opted for quality replicas from the good people at www.skullsunlimited.com.

Familiars

A long time ago all of the wizards and witches went away, leaving not a hint of where they had gone or why.  The familiars that had faithfully served them were left alone to find their way in a world where there was too little magic and too much despair.

Watch out for Myrl.  He will bite.