Welcome to my first post, not only of this blog, but of the year! This recaps my art roundup from the previous week. Take a look below! I’ve got some Pathfinder characters, devils, angels, and more!
Zakaria, Ghoran Druid
Zakaria is my new character for a Strength of Thousands Pathfinder 2E campaign. He’s a ghoran druid of the wild order, which means he’ll be able to shapeshift into a myriad of battle forms.
The ghoran people originate from the nation of Nex. The recent Lost Omens: Impossible Lands book describes people from Nex as wearing djellaba, which is a type of unisex robe worn in many North African countries. As a result, I wanted to draw Zakaria wearing one, but I also learned I don’t enjoy drawing them. While I think they look good on real people, they’re kind of shapeless and hard to draw in a way that I find appealing or interesting to look at. I am sure that, given enough practice, I will learn to make it look better. Right now I feel like it’s a rather bland sack.
Since I expect this campaign to go on for a while, I think I’ll have time to learn how to draw djellaba better.
Cal Kestis and Lover
This is a commission in progress featuring Cal Kestis as portrayed in the new Fallen Order game, along with a man seen helping Cal in the trailer. As far as I’m aware, this man’s name or connection to the story is currently unknown, but I’m not too familiar with the story.
I’d drawn this from a slightly different angle before (first pic above) but decided to adjust the camera angle a little bit to allow Cal’s face to show more. The client wanted a somewhat less sexual and more tender moment. Originally, this was intended to have pants, but the client decided to leave them nude after I showed the client the initial sketches.
This picture has been challenging because of the sharp head angles. I could stand to practice drawing the face in profile more, and drawing heads from low angles like Cal’s in both versions is very tough for me. I’ve been practicing more since I have some lower-angle scenes in my comic, the Sparrow, but it is hard to get that nose looking correct and not just plain weird!
Caleb and Micah
No, this Micah is not me! These are characters from author J. Ashburn’s gay romance series, the Warring Heart Trilogy. Caleb is the angel and Micah is his human lover.
I feel this one is coming together pretty easily. I don’t know if the anatomy is quite where it should be, but I feel like overall I’m in a good place. Since I’m not done yet, I think I will darken the wings some to contrast with the skin tones better.
I have some work to do on the wings, too, I think. I’m trying to make them defined without going into every single feather’s details, but I think I’ll need to do a little more detail work to make them recognizable as wings. I’m also learning how to better show light on skin. It’s pretty reflective but not usually shiny the way a lot of smoother objects are.
I like Micah’s expression here. I think I nailed it, and I’m also pretty happy with how I drew Caleb’s face. I will probably do a dark background behind the characters that helps the two men stand out even more.
Dispater, Lord of Dis
This is a pin-up I’m working on for Patreon of Dispater, the infernal lord of Dis, second layer of Hell in the Pathfinder campaign setting. He’s a tall, horned devil, as you can see.
This one is very much in progress, but I’m putting it here to take some mental notes. I will probably adjust his base skin tone to make it darker or less saturated. This is partly because I’m struggling to balance Dispater himself with the background. So I think I need to unify his brightness or saturation more so I can keep him as a distinct shape from the background.
I will be making the background a loose hellscape depicting the city of Dis that Dispater rules, but I’ll have more on that soon. When I finish this, I’ll share some process pieces with you all, too!
Max the Kobold
This is a commission for Max, kobold sorcerer, and a classmate of Zakaria’s (above). This was a lot of fun. The client wanted Max in a crop-top hoodie and converse shoes. I don’t draw short characters very often.
This one came together for me pretty easily, so I don’t have a lot to say. I am very happy with how this one came out. If I were to change anything, I would probably add a little more texture to the shorts, or do a slightly lighter text that doesn’t stand out so sharply. Otherwise, I’m pleased with Max!
Nurgal, Demon Lord of the Sun
The Pathfinder campaign setting features a wide range of demons, devils, angels, and more. Nurgal is a demon lord who presides over the sun, senseless war, and deserts. He’s described as a man with the head and lower half of a lion, a dragon’s tail, and bright light shining from his eyes and mouth.
I was inspired by a Pazuzu drawing I did as a commission and is available as stock art for Pathfinder Infinite creators. I liked how the Pazuzu one came out, so I decided I wanted to do similar pieces for other figures in Pathfinder mythology. I chose Nurgal using a random choice picker and ran with him! He was a fun design, though it was tough to make his mouth look like he wasn’t smiling. Bestial muzzles can be tough.
That wraps up this week. I have some food for thought with some of these pieces, and I am pretty happy with what I’ve put together so far. I’m looking forward to see what I can get done in the upcoming week.
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