© 2022 Wizards of the Coast
The assignment called for a surly fish performer all puffed up and living its best fishy life wearing a little hat. I got to work on thumbnails as I played around with the look and feel for the fish. The assignment called for the hat to be on a string around the fish's head, but fishy don't usually have necks, so I made the best of it. These are the thumbnails I turned in for the Blufferfish.
Production felt the string around the neck made it look like the fish was being strangled rather than wearing a fun little hat. Also, as mentioned, fish do not have a neck like other animals. The string was dropped, and I was asked to give option A another pass as I worked out the face, head, and body anatomy a little more. Here is the updated thumbnail that I submitted.
This time around, the thumbnail was approved, and I could get to work on the drawings. I produced a rendered drawing and a tonal study for this piece. If you notice the background between the two, you will notice I received a change while working on them. It was decided that the background observation pods needed to be rotated so that they were aligned to the viewer's point of view and that only the fish would be at an angle. I would much rather receive a change like this early in the project, so it was a relief it came while I was still working on drawings and could adjust it now, and not while painting. Here are the two drawings I produced for the Blufferfish.
© 2022 Wizards of the Coast
© 2022 Wizards of the Coast
The drawings were approved without comment, and it was time to paint. Save for the rotating background elements; this was a straightforward piece to work on. I did adjust the fish's overall body shape as I was working on it. While it seemed correct in the drawings, as I was painting, it became clear that the form was just off and needed some extra attention to get it looking right. I looked at so many fish reference while working on this. I love all the subtle forms that the spines on a pufferfish have and create across the fish's skin. I wanted to bring some of that to this piece. Here is a step-by-step look at the painting taking shape.
There was one single change asked of me after submitting it - please add some bubbles. It was so simple and yet so impactful. Again, this points out the importance of having an art director that can give you the little push to make the piece 100%. It was funny how it went from I think that is underwater to that is definitely underwater. Here again, is the final painting for the Blufferfish and the production card.
© 2022 Wizards of the Coast
That's all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog. See you back here on Friday! Until then...
