Monday 12 December 2011

Feywild


Viltham

Acrylic on Board,
Approx 14" x 17"
Original Artwork For Sale

Copyright Wizards of the Coast

Illustration work continually produces fresh challenges, sometimes that can appear simply to create a fresh dynamic scene conveying a particular story, but  it is always compounded by further factors; those might be as straightforward as dimension restrictions, format, and typesetting, or they may be even more complicated.

Viltham the Gnome was created as a painting for Dungeons & Dragons Fortune Cards: Fury of the Feywild. He needed to look undeterred by the burning of his forest home around him, and ready to retaliate with his own powerful magic, but also fit within a very specific format  for his role as cover star of the booster cards packaging.


Booster Packaging Template

Above is the template I was provided with. I was directed that his head should bleed over the upper line to allow a cut-out effect, and that the top of the card packs would line-up along the lower dotted line, additionally I should provide the whole figure on a larger image area to allow full flexibility of usage. I always relish these challenges, but they do provide compositional conundrums, which I believe I met, and here is the finished packaging:


Not only did I provide the packaging art, but I was also happy to contribute three cards to the set, a couple of whom appear on the sides of the display box too.


Keldar
Acrylic on Board,
Approx 8" x 11"
Original Artwork For Sale
Copyright Wizards of the Coast


Andronus
Acrylic on Board,
Approx 8" x 11"
Original Artwork For Sale
Copyright Wizards of the Coast


Lyrindel

Acrylic on Board,
Approx 8" x 11"
Original Artwork For Sale
Copyright Wizards of the Coast


Friday 9 December 2011

Statuesque


Statuesque

Wildborn Series
Acrylic, 15" x 11"
Original for sale. Image available for license.
© Ralph Horsley

This is my fourth painting in the 'Wildborn' series, and completes a set depicting the seasons; Sentinel - spring, Glimpse - summer, Glimmer - Autumn and Statuesque - Winter.

I liked the idea of working with  a limited, desaturated palette that would contrast strongly with the lowering sun. The Dragon deliberately blends in with the snow and ice around, yet is pinpointed between those two bright orbs.

Here are some process shots:









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