Gallery

Aion Characters

11 July 2010

Several drawings of charactars from the MMO aion. The red-head is my "domestic". I found that I didn't much care for the mechanics of her class, but I did want to do tradeskilling, so she was a perfect opportunity to develop my non-fighting skills without outleveling Kael on my main. That meant not only her tailoring, but gathering and aether tapping as well. So this picture is a homage to all that gathering.

The two side-by-side are our pair of chanters, Feyn and Fennek. The pose is a joke about the idle animations in that game: when in water, a male will try to catch a fish that keeps getting away, while in the snow, a female will wave her arms around and try to catch a snowlake on her tongue. My character is just the sort who would whack into him while failing her arms.

The headshot is of the same character of Kael's.

Click on the images to view the full-size version.

Brierlea

2 August 2008

This was a gift for a fellow artist that I've known for several years. Like me, she had a red-haired, half-elven ranger in EverQuest. But where my character was a very low-fantasy sort of persona...scrappy and dirty and grouchy around the edges...Brierlea was a princess. In purple. There was always something deliciously high-fantasy-and-fairy-tale about Brierlea. So I made a point to make her as gloriously, improbably shiny and colorful as I could. Because she's a princess, darnit. She doesn't need to blend into the forest, that's what magic is for!

Compliments of my new tablet PC, the rocking chair I moved to my office, and several lunch hours. Sketched out in Sketchbook pro, and colored in PS. Pose reference courtesy of posemaniacs.com.

Alias Sketchbook Pro

Crescent

29 February 2008

Just a portrait of Crescent. Running. This is the second piece I've done of her as an elder in this outfit. I've grown really fond of this getup.

Like the leetah picture, I did the sketch for this on my tablet pc, but then finished it up on my main computer.

Alias Sketchbook Pro

ElfQuest FanArt Calender 2008

1 January 2008

This is my entry to the 2008 ElfQuest Fan Art Calendar. The theme for 2008 was "favorite moments", and while I had many different ideas, I kept coming back to this moment in Book 4.

December - He Knew Better than to Argue
Rayek had just rescued Cutter from a troll boobie trap, and Ember was busy taking the credit, believing that it was her orders (and snowball-to-the-face) that made Rayek help.

I loved Rayek's silent response, because not only did Ember deserve it, but it really showed that he has a wicked sense of humour.

Photoshop CS2

Neesa

4 September 2007

My half of a trade for Nian, this is a gift drawing of Neesa, a shamaness. This is a concept of Neesa gaining access to the spirit world using mushrooms. This was also an exploration of a program that I had not used in a while (Open Canvas).

Open Canvas

Puny Pebble - Halfling Voodoo Priestess

4 May 2007

I drew Puny as a gift for a wonderful, quirky gal I know online and as an excuse to poke at Painter X and my own workflow. I started out planning for something as photorealistic as possible, but somewhere along the way I became too fond of the storybook feel of the scenery. I like that the sharper detail on her shoulders and face give it a feel of someone coming to live out of a story. (Not that you can tell at this size. If you are enterprising, you can find a higher-res version on my forums.)

Painter X Oil Pastels and Oils

Iss'avali Portrait

17 March 2007

The Iss'avali of Jungle Fire are a race of ocean-dwelling avali (aka Sea Elves). They do look suspiciously like dark elves of some lore, but no, there is no angst nor evil in the hearts of these honest sailors and merchants. This particular fellow is a character who will appear around chapter 6 or 7.

I don't normally duplicate Jungle Fire artwork on this site, but this picture is something of a special landmark piece for me, so I wanted it here as well. Three years ago I followed a tutorial by Don Seegmiller on how to draw characters in Painter. There was a great deal in there that I didn't know how to implement. In this picture I revisited, for the first time, the techniques he suggested, and I was finally able to take full advantage of them.

Larger version can be seen at the Jungle Fire Forums, and a step-by-step here.

Painter X, oil and pastels brushes

ElfQuest FanArt Calender 2007

1 January 2007

These two pictures go together, since both are entries for the 2007 ElfQuest Fan Art Calendar. The calendar project has been active since 2002, and has grown every year. The theme for this year was "Home and Family".

November - You Are My Home
This is of the two elves that Kael and I think of as a parallel for our own relationship, Chieftess Ember Firehair and Teir WolfFather. This picture took from July to November to finish, and is quite possibly The Picture of 2006 for me.

July - Better You Than Me
This is the family of my favorite elf, Crescent. Going from Crescent, clockwise, you have: Spirit-Crescent, Dart (her living brother), Spirit-Bowki (Dart's son), Moonshade (her mom), Kimo (Dart's best friend/lovemate), Newstar (Kimo's mom), Chitter (her new baby sister), and Strongbow (her dad). Whew.

Photoshop CS2

Eyes High

17 November 2006

This started as an illustration for my ElfQuest fanfic "Ripples", but I was in the mood to take a little more time with the picture. Unfortunately that steam ran out by the time I got to the background, because rather than looking like she's sitting on a short ledge above other elves, she looks like she's on a frickin' cliff. Hum. Well, other pictures were calling my name, so I let it be.

Eyes High is the mother of the main character Skywise, who died within an hour after giving birth to him. We mostly see her pregnant in the stories, but she did appear in this outfit in a few places in "Wolfrider".

Photoshop CS2

"I like to look at the stars, too..."

28 June 2006

Newstar, often called the "elfiest of all elves", is a Wolfrider who grew up among the immortal and agrarian Sun Villagers. She has become a Sun Villager in every way but for the mortality of her wolf-blood. There is symbolism in my choice of twilight, rather than night, since she herself is caught between sun and stars. The downward slope of the shooting star and the slope of where she sits (her mortality) are contrasted by the upward cast of her gaze (living her life as if she were an immortal.

Photoshop CS2

Raptor

22 April 2006

I was not the only ElfQuest fan in my family: my father grew to enjoy it after he saw how much I loved it. This is a re-drawing of "dad elf" I drew when I was younger. He goes by the name "Raptorius" in his educational activities in real life, so I have thusly dubbed him "Raptor" as an elf. :) The bird in the picture with him is the Mississippi Kite. I included this bird because he is the leading expert on this species, and made it the subject of much of his research during his life as a raptor ecologist.

Pencils and Photoshop CS2

Venka

01 March 2006

Venka is the daughter of two arrogant and ambitious people (one a chieftess of a tribe of warriors, the other a loner magic-user), and she is the only elf alive with the magical ability to bend the pernicious Winnowill into submission, and yet somehow she grew up into a calm and tranquil woman. She is about as Zen as they come.

She's also absolutely gorgeous. I drew this as a thank-you gift for another artist who draws generous amounts of fanart for others.

Photoshop CS2.

Damina

19 January 2006

Of all the mini character portraits that I drew over the six month period, this is the one that survives high-res status the best. And frankly, everytime I look at it I'm surprised I drew it. Because it's dark. I don't think I do dark very well. And the magic effects actually look magicky. And it's just...I can't justify why exactly, but I thought it was worth seeing at this size.

The character is Damina Nehinah, a dark elf necromancer from the online RPG EverQuest II.

Pencils and Photoshop CS2.

Crescent in Tree

28 December 2005

Crescent is the daughter of the ElfQuest characters Strongbow and Moonshade. She died very young (early 20's) at the hands of humans. From her first appearance, she has been my favorite character (I run a fan site for her), so when I returnd to the ElfQuest online fan community, it was natural that I use her as the subject for my first piece of ElfQuest fan art.

Painter IX, oil pastel brushes.

Deadly Beauty

17 December 2005

Down to the earth I fell
With dripping wings,
Heavy things won't fly
And the sky might catch on fire
And burn the axis of the world
That's why
I prefer a sunless sky
To the glittering and stinging in my eye

- Tonight and the Rest of My Life, Nina Gordon

In a secret santa art exchange, I had an undead warlock from the computer game World of Warcraft as my giftee. In a nighttime sky, in the winter, stars are not the only beautiful things to fill the sky. There are things that are dangerous, yet beautiful beyond breathing. That, were they to be seen in sunny skies and warmer climates, would foretell catastrophe for all life. Yet in cold, northern climates, are wonderous. Which is not so unlike an undead woman (work with me here). So...voila! Christmasy, undead goodness!

Pencils and Painter IX

Fishing

05 September 2005

"The troll was cursing to itself as it rebaited its hook. Once again, it peered into the water, waiting, until finally it cast its line, in still another direction away from where the strange fish had been stealing its bait. This time the line lay quiet for a while, and the troll had the chance to lean back, before it once again jerked madly.

"Once again, the line was hauled up, and this time, a flash of silver shone from the hook."

- Exerpt from A Learning Experience" by Breccia Silentstep

Painter IX

Fate Rides Wicked, Vol. 1 of the Lerilon Trilogy

12 July 2005

This was commissioned as a cover illustration for Fate Rides Wicked, Volume 1 of the Lerilon Trilogy', by Johnathan Biviano.

It was my first attempt at drawing dragons, and I concluded that while there are some people who have a natural affinity for the creatures, I am not one of them. I am rather proud of the baby dragon though, especially the soft fur on the belly.

Painter IX

Epoix Gryphen

27 May 2005

This was a character portrait commission for a fellow's RPG character, Epoix Gryphen, gnomish rogue. He's the classical archetype of the sticky-fingered thief and scallywag. (no, that is not the One True Ring..it's his latest pilfering is all. :)

I honestly think this is one of the most successful drawings of mine in many ways, but unfortunately it needs to be seen on a monitor with a good blackpoint and a wide gamut to appreciate.

Painter IX