Way back in
September of last year I brought you a piece I did for Dragon Magazine illustrating a boy and his dog... actually, it is a Neogi and his Umber Hulk. Two great things that go better together! RAWR! Today, at long last, I have the process and steps that went into this piece. So that we are all on the same page, here is how the final piece turned out...
Ecology of the Neogi - Dragon Magazine Issue 427
© 2013 Wizards of the Coast
As per the original description for this piece I was asked to depict a Neogi riding on the shoulders of a Umber Hulk in the pursuit of an escaped human slave. I thought this would be another great opportunity to include my wife in a piece and went about shooting some reference and working up some thumbnails of the slave, backed into a corner in a cavern, cowering in fear of the two monsters. Seemed straight forward enough...
Ecology of the Neogi - Thumbnails version 1
© 2013 Wizards of the Coast
The always clear and objective eyes of the art director jumped in at this point. There has always been some issues with the depictions of slaves and slavery and it is always a fine line to walk. Apparently I strayed from that line without realizing it. There was a lot of concern that the intent of the monsters could be misinterpreted and that the slave has begun to distract from the monsters... which after all, are the focus of this piece. I was asked to revise the thumbnails and to minimize or even remove the slave from the composition. Which is what I did...
Ecology of the Neogi - Thumbnails version 2
© 2013 Wizards of the Coast
Option "B" was starting to move in the right direction finally. When in doubt, remove all those pesky humans! They only get in the way of the more important monsters. There was still some confusion about the Umber Hulk's right arm being up behind the figures. It was not longer clear that they were climbing through the caverns so I was asked to lower the arm. Which is what I did...
Ecology of the Neogi - Thumbnails version 3
© 2013 Wizards of the Coast
Third times the charm! I now had an approved thumbnail and I could get started on the final drawing. With so many edits, variations, and revisions with the thumbnails it resulted in a very loose and sketch final thumbnail to work with. This can sometimes be very good or very bad. If I am not careful a really loose thumbnail can allow me to introduce unintended errors into the drawing. In these situations I need to be sure to spend the time needed on the drawing to work everything out and make sure all my ducks are in a row and all the elements get the attention they need. Here is how the final drawing turned out...
Ecology of the Neogi - Drawing
© 2013 Wizards of the Coast
I spent the time needed and I had an approved drawing. Time to get started on final! In just 12 easy steps you too can have a painting of a Neogi riding an Umber Hulk... or not...
Ecology of the Neogi - Process steps
© 2013 Wizards of the Coast
The meat of the painting takes place in the middle set of images. The first four cover the drawing prep and value control and the final four are all the little tweaks and edits and adjustments to make the image look and read well. The biggest issue with this piece was to create a dramatic lighting for the monsters and still hopefully have it believable in a very unbelievable situation. Where is all that pale light coming from inside a deep dark cavern? That is a LOT of glowing mushrooms to produce that much light! ...or could it be... MAGIC?!?! Either way, these monsters really needed some underneath dramatic up lighting to make them appear nice and scary. RAWR! Hopefully it works, reads, and looks good.
As always, this piece turned out as well as it did because of the ever present and helpful art directors at WotC, thanks Kate! Again, here is how the final piece turned out...
Ecology of the Neogi - Dragon Magazine Issue 427
© 2013 Wizards of the Coast
That is all for another exciting Wednesday on the blog, see you back here on Friday! Until then...
