-By Howard Lyon
I feel like whenever I do something for Dungeons and Dragons, especially Dragon Magazine, it feels like am visiting my youth. Â I remember sitting around the table, playing D&D (which for me, consisted mostly of drawing characters and creatures) and thinking that if it were possible to do this for a living, that is what I am going to do. Â I was 10 at the time. Â By the time I was 12, my ambition included wanting to paint like N.C. Wyeth, Howard Pyle, Arnold Friberg and a few others, but my roots were in D&D.
My very first freelance illustration was for Dragon Magazine, then produced by Paizo Publishing. Â I can’t help but cringe looking back at the illustration, but I remember feeling like I had finally arrived upon receiving that commission. Â So, here I am, again fulfilling the ambitions of my youth, painting for Dungeons and Dragons.
I start with some rough sketches… I hope that at least some of you can tell what is going on in here. Â It is rough! Â The loin cloth hanging down is so long would have been a terrible liability in battle, and the Lich King looks more like he is playing keep away than surrendering the orb.
A little closer to the target, but still not quite right.
Here we are. Â Still some work to do on poses, but this sketch is close enough to the vision that I move forward.
Sometimes I will build clay or wood and foamcore models to paint from, but sometimes 3D is nice too. Â I built this little set out in Blender. Â I used to use 3D Studio MAX and then Maya, but Blender is free and does what I need it too. Â I am actually finding it very powerful. Â I build out the basic set and add in a few skulls and bones from a skeleton model.
I knew that the stained glass was going to be an important part of composition. Â So many dungeon paintings can get really grim. Â In this case, the illustration needed to show that the Lich King had taken over this throne and that it was formerly a place of light and beauty. Â I thought the colored light and saturation of the stained glass would provide a nice backdrop and framing element for the foreground and figures. Â Taking advantage of the digital toolset, I designed out the stained glass straight on and then positioned it in the scene.
After a quick photoshoot, I was off to the races painting the characters and details. Â I wanted the fighter in the scene to feel grounded, armor simple and believable. Â I kept his palette very warm to contrast with the cool colors of the Lich. Â I was aiming for a character out of early Hollywood adventure movies, like Ivanhoe or the Sinbad movies. Another nod to my youth and watching Adventure Theatre on Saturday mornings.
Thanks for letting me share a little nostalgia with you along with the process for this painting. Â Also, thank you to the lovely Kate Irwin for this fun commission!
I am off to New York this week and will be taking lots of pictures of the great art there. Â If all goes well, I will have a few blog posts from the trip!
I really enjoy the opportunity to see what goes on “behind the scenes” in the creation of a painting, and this post certainly provides that opportunity. I also think that adding the stained-glass window was a wonderful touch–it definitely conveys the feeling you were going for. Thanks for sharing!
Have fun in NYC. Hope you get better weather than I did a few weeks ago. Thanks for the post Howard!
So… I wrote the post last week, I was being extra efficient and had it ready to go. I should edit the post, I have actually been there and back again. It was an amazing trip! The food and the art were both inspiring and filling. Seeing Bouguereau's Nymphs and Satyr was a life highlight and then we had the best Indian food that I have ever tasted. Many other great experiences and I will have a few good posts from the trip I think. Can't wait to go back. We did get out of there just in time to miss the nasty weather they were hit with.
Thank you Seth! I hoped that seeing some of the process would be useful. Reading Lauren's post yesterday, I feel I need to share some of the reference photos too! 🙂
Sweet painting! Thank you for sharing your progress and the methods you used for the different elements of the scene. Nice big shout out to Blender!
-N
NYC=Disneyland for adults (Those who don't live there)
Totally awesome as always, Howard.
Really gorgeous. I love the colors in the stained glass. It adds so much to the image.
I was inspired to download Blender and am currently attempting to figure it out! Thanks for the inspiration!