Last week a new Dungeons & Dragons supplement was released that I have been looking forward to for some time. Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft is a deep dive into the world of Ravenloft for D&D 5th Edition, and I was lucky enough to create a couple of paintings for the book. This is the first time working in Ravenloft, and it only left me wanting more. For both monsters, I was asked to design them and illustrate them, which, if you follow my blog at all this is my favorite type of project.
For the first of two posts, I bring you the Carrion Stalker. It was described as an alien horseshoe crab resting upon a mass of tentacles that pulled itself around with pincers. This sounded right up my alley, and I enjoyed working on this one from start to finish. When I share the process for this piece in the coming weeks, I will share how I deviated from my established workflow and how it caused me a bit of a headache. Here is the final painting for the Carrion Stalker.
Carrion Stalker
Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft
11 x 14 - Digital
Art Director - Kate Irwin
© 2021 Wizards of the Coast LLC
While the final painting is digital, the painting was not the only image created and used for this assignment. I was asked to also create a drawing of the underside of this monster to help illustrate its horrifying anatomy. In addition to the drawing used for the painting, there are two fully rendered drawings of the monster's underside. An original version required revisions due to the arrangement of the mouth and the final version that appears alongside the painting in the book. The mouth change came late after the thumbnails and designs were approved, which is why there are two versions. Because all of these drawings are related to the same monster and assignment, I am offering them as a set. Here are the drawings for the Carrion Stalker.
Carrion Stalker - Drawing
Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft
11 x 14 - Pencil on paper
Art Director - Kate Irwin
© 2021 Wizards of the Coast LLC
Carrion Stalker - Underside drawing original
Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft
11 x 14 - Pencil on paper
Art Director - Kate Irwin
© 2021 Wizards of the Coast LLC
Carrion Stalker - Underside drawing final
Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft
11 x 14 - Pencil on paper
Art Director - Kate Irwin
© 2021 Wizards of the Coast LLC
Lastly, here is a look at the Carrion Stalker in the book. It printed beautifully, and it is always nice to see my drawings in the book along with my paintings. I hope there will be a miniature of this one someday, though it will be a tiny mini.
Carrion Stalker in book form!
That is all of another exciting Monday on the blog. See you back here on Wednesday! Until then...
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