Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Kobold Sorcerer - Dungeons & Dragons - Process

Today, I am happy to share the process and steps for one of my contributions to the Dungeons & Dragons supplement, Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse. This fourth (and final) contribution is a Kobold. Not just any Kobold, but a Kobold Sorcerer wielding fire magic with the glint of dragon power still coursing through them. Here is the final painting for the Kobold.

Kobold Sorcerer
Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse
11 x 14 - Digital
Art Director - Emi Tanji
© 2022 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Kobolds are a ton of fun to design and paint. There is the chance to bring as much or as little personality to them as you want or what the assignment calls for. This particular Kobold was described as:

"This is a kobold sorcerer of indeterminate gender, standing with one arm outstretched, palm up. Confidence and grandeur of a great dragon suffuses the figure despite their diminutive size (2.5 feet tall). Scattered among the kobold’s shoulder and face scales are gold ones. The kobold’s eyes glow with golden fire. Similar golden fire springs from the
palm of their hand, creating a sinuous shape reminiscent of a dragon with wings unfurled.
 
The kobold is wearing a light, toga-like tunic over one shoulder, and belted around their waist. The belt is festooned with pouches"

It felt like there was a lot of room to bring some fun personality to this one, and I was eager to get started. I gathered up props and clothing and did a photoshoot to figure out the poses and characters I wanted to bring to this piece. I am always a fan of being able to tell a story through not only the face and hands but with the props, equipment, and weapons of a character. Here are the thumbnails that I submitted.  

Kobold Sorcerer - Thumbnails
 © 2022 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Thinking back, I think I was happy with all of these and would have been so glad to paint them all. Looking at them now, there is still something about 'B' I really like. As you likely can see already, 'A' was the winner among the thumbnails. There were a few notes from production that I needed to address. One is that they wanted the Kobold looking a bit more towards the viewer and it giving some side-eye. The other note was to make the fire dragon more like the one in 'B' and wrap the fire around the Kobold's forearm. I made the requested modifications and submitted a revised thumbnail.

Kobold Sorcerer - Revised thumbnail
 © 2022 Wizards of the Coast LLC

The revised thumbnail checked all the boxes, and it was approved for the final painting. I always do a final traditional drawing for every project to work out the details and to give myself a tangible product from the assignment. Here are the two stages of the Kobold Sorcerer drawing, the mid-stage line art, and the final rendered drawing.

Kobold Sorcerer - Line art
Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse
11 x 14 - Pencil on paper
© 2022 Wizards of the Coast LLC

Kobold Sorcerer
Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse
11 x 14 - Pencil on paper
Original - SOLD
Art Director - Emi Tanji
© 2022 Wizards of the Coast LLC

With an approved drawing, it was time to start painting. Kobolds have a set color palette, but for the rest of this piece, I could have fun with lighting, magic, and gear. Here is the painting of the Kobold Sorcerer taking shape.

Kobold Sorcerer - Process
 © 2022 Wizards of the Coast LLC

I needed to be more mindful of this one than the three others I produced for this book. The reason for this is the in-camera light source of the magic fire dragon. This light source is doing a lot of heavy lifting with focus, light, color, and contrast. The color of the firelight is affecting everything in this piece, and I need to stay on top of that and make sure nothing ends up 'wrong.' Everything in this piece is pushing warm from the fire. This is not a monumental challenge but something that needs to be considered at every step. In the end, I feel I did a good enough job of it, and this ended up being a favorite of the project. Here again, is the final painting for the Kobold Sorcerer.

Kobold Sorcerer
Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse
 © 2022 Wizards of the Coast LLC

That's all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog. See you back here on 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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