Today, I am happy to share the process and steps for one of my contributions to the Dungeons & Dragons supplement, The Book of Many Things. I have always loved the concept of the Deck of Many Things. An item or items in game that allow the players to access great rewards and great calamity. In my early days of gaming I created a magical item for my players, the legendary Stick of Nearly Limitless Possibilities. I thought it would be really fun as there were some very crazy effects if the was unlucky with rolls. It was met with mixed feelings and sadly the stick (which I actually made) and the many pages of posibilites are lost to time. That was an unexpcted deteor... back to The Book of Many Things and my contributions. We will start with the more ordinary of my two pieces in the book. Here is the final painting for Boss Augustus.
Boss Augustus
The Book of Many Things
11 x 14 - Digital
Art Director - Bree Heiss
© 2023 Wizards of the Coast LLC
I was asked to design and illustrate Boss Augustus. Even though this is an illustration of a human male, I still approached it as if he was a monster - for better or for worse. Boss Augustus was described as:
Intent: This monster illustration shows BOSS AUGUSTUS, a HUMAN WEREWOLF who co-leads a lycanthropic THIEVES’ GUILD called the Moonstalkers. Secretly, he wishes to cure his lycanthropy and leave the Moonstalkers forever.
Action: We see Boss Augustus in his humanoid form: he looks like a MALE HUMAN in his 50s with beige skin and close-cropped black hair. There are subtle hints of his lycanthropy: for instance, he has a thick, somewhat unkempt BEARD. He is TALL and BEEFY. He wears a stoic, somewhat TROUBLED expression. He is dressed like a D&DROGUE crossed with a CRIME BOSS.
Mood: A powerful and respected leader
Definitly some angles to approach this one and to make it interesting. Here are the thumbnails that I submitted.
Boss Augustus - Thumbnails
© 2023 Wizards of the Coast LLC
It is always interesting which thumbnail is selected. Sometimes I know which will be selected when I submit them - it just has to be THAT one that gets picked. Other times I am surprised by which is selected. For this piece I was hoping for option 'A' to get the nod, but this time aeound it was 'B." Not nessarily the one I would have chosen, but as I submitted it, I have to be prepared to take it to the end. 'B' was selected without any notes. Here is the Boss Augustus drawing.
Boss Augustus
The Book of Many Things
11 x 14 -Colored pencil on paper
Original - SOLD
Art Director - Bree Heiss
© 2023 Wizards of the Coast LLC
The drawing was approved without comment, and it was time to start on the final painting. Here is the painting of Boss Augustus taking shape.
Boss Augustus - Process
© 2023 Wizards of the Coast LLC
This is one of those painitng where you just need to sit with it and hold its hand until it is done. My natural tendancies with making art do not often lend themselves to depictions of humans, but I always do my best to make the human be the way the client needs it to be. One of my biggest issue with humans is that I never feel like I know when to stop - when is this painting going to be done?!?! With my monster work I just know when they are done - I get a feeling in my gut and I know that I need to do one last small detail pass and it will be done. With humans, humans that need to be normal and functional within society, it can be a lot more nebulous for me. Usually, my typical final small detail pass would make that human look like something not human, and that is not desired here. So I just need to sit with a painting like this and make sure that the face and hands are on point and then have some fun woth the atire and gear. But uinderstand that I gave this piece everyhign I would give any piece I was assigned. It being a human just makes it a little harder for me - which is good sometimes. To be challenged is to enbrace growth! Here, again, is the final painting of Boss Augustus.
Boss Augustus
The Book of Many Things
© 2023 Wizards of the Coast LLC
That's all for another exciting Wendesday on the blog. See you back here on Friday! Until then...
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