A client reached out to me with a special request: to make a painting of a critical moment in their custom D&D campaign. This battle was the culmination of dozens of hours of character building and narrative. Five important characters had to be depicted (one a bird) and many had specific garb, weapons, and physical attributes to be depicted. I was excited to tackle a scene with so much complexity!
The Process
Step 1: Ideation and Data Gathering
I wanted to get as many details from the client as possible, to see what sparked my imagination and what could add drama to the scene.
The Setting:
- The scene takes place on a high desert mesa
- On this mesa is a crumbling castle with blast marks of dragonfire from an ancient siege
- The desert floor around the mesa has crystalline outcroppings where the dragonfire transformed the sand into massive glass shards
The Characters:
- The focal characters are the client’s snake-kith hero and his NPC nemesis
- Also in the scene is an army led by the enemy knight, engaging our heroes in battle
- Below the main battle, the other characters in the party are escaping by climbing down the face of the mesa
- One character is preparing a healing spell in the event our hero is wounded
- Four ravens are escaping the castle, having been freed by our heroes — one raven has a white tail feather
The Equipment:
- The hero wears light armor in red, yellow, and white acquired traveling in this desert land. His sword is an elven rapier and his shield is large and gold, with a knight sculpted onto the front. This shield is enchanted with the ability to fix the wielder to the ground so that they cannot be moved even by extreme force
- The nemesis wears heavy royal guard armor in white, blue, and gold, with evidence of battle-damage. The golden laurels of the royal crest are visible in various locations on the armor. He wields a two-handed battleaxe in one hand due to his great strength. He is missing his left arm at the elbow from a previous encounter with our hero
The Story:
- This moment is the climax of a very long campaign, so should look suitably epic
- In this battle, our hero fatally stabs and bites his nemesis, giving in to his more feral side — a tragic turn for the character
- After killing his nemesis, our hero is also struck by an enemy arrow and plummets unconscious off the cliffside
- He is saved by his friends hanging below, who catch him at the last minute
In planning this painting, I knew I had to do justice to all the character and environment details that my client had meticulously crafted with their D&D group. I also wanted to convey the high stakes and intense tone, while adding some levity and hope with the birds flying high. Time to make some thumbnails.
- Main character
- Another character in the scene
Step 2: Thumbnails
I started by creating 3 quick thumbnail sketches in Procreate to show the client. I chose a few character orientations and camera angles. In all of them, I wanted a strong diagonal composition to throw the viewer off balance and introduce a sense of peril. We ended up choosing the middle one.
- Thumbnail 1
- Thumbnail 2
- Thumbnail 3
Step 3: Refined Sketch
Once the client had chosen their preferred thumbnail, I refined it into a line drawing and black and white value study.
- Line drawing
- Value pass
Step 4: Color Studies
The value pass having been approved by the client, I made up three distinct color compositions, each evoking a different mood and tone. We ended up going with the middle again.
- Color Study 1
- Color Study 2
- Color Study 3
Step 5: Final Painting
I started by printing the line drawing out on paper, which I then transferred to illustration board via graphite transfer paper. Then I clarified the lines with a light pencil before locking them in with a fine black pen. I painted the whole thing in greyscale before applying a warm-neutral wash to unify the values a bit. Finally, I went in with color and rendered everything out.
- Line transfer
- Value pass
- Background
- Foreground