Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Eye on the Realms: Forgotten in a Chest - Process

Today I have for you a look at a piece I shared with you back in July for a D&D article, Eye on the Realms: Forgotten in a Chest. ...JULY?! Yikes, I am either way behind schedule with my posts or I have just too much to share with you... Either way, here is how the final illustration turned out to refresh your memory...

Eye on the Realms: Forgotten in a Chest
© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

A hapless thief picked the wrong chest to break into... this is why you want to make sure to make EVERY saving throw. My wife is always interested in taking a more active roll in my illustrations as a model. I am sure she would like me to do something more with her then have her face eaten off by an ooze hiding in a box... but I could not have done this piece without her!

I had some general compositions in mind for this piece, so the first step was to get my wife suited up in my armor and shot a bunch of reference photos. Using this reference I fleshed out three thumbnails...

Eye on the Realms: Forgotten in a Chest - Thumbnails
© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

Option A was the winner, but option C was a strong contender. In the end, option C was dropped since there was a chance it could have come off a little silly if not handled just right. Option A got the job done and there was not any chance that things could take a detour to wackiness. Now that I had a thumbnail it was time to get to drawing...

Eye on the Realms: Forgotten in a Chest - Drawing
© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

The drawing was completed and approved without any issue or changes. That only means one thing... time to get to painting! In just eight easy steps you too can have a painting of your wife with her face eaten off by an ooze... or not...

Eye on the Realms: Forgotten in a Chest - Process steps
© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

Since I don't do a lot of human... let alone female humans in my work I was a little concerned about how this piece was going to play out. I had a lot of great reference and in the end this piece came together really quickly. Much quicker then ever imagined actually. I love those pieces that almost paint themselves. Thankfully, the more I work, the more I paint, the more I draw... the more that the pieces seem to take on a life of their own and help me create them. I am not putting in less work, but rather the piece is almost starting to carry some of its own weight. Well... not sure if that makes any sense, but after these years of work it is a rather nice feeling. I just need to sit down with the painting and it will be okay and it will get finished.

Here is the how the final turned out again for your viewing pleasure... (RAWR!)

Eye on the Realms: Forgotten in a Chest
© 2013 Wizards of the Coast

That is all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog, see you back here Friday! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com

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