Hey folks, woah, I got to do the cover for the latest Ravenloft book for Dungeons and Dragons! Talk about rolling a 20!
This was a dream assignment for me. Ravenloft was one of the coolest D&D modules to play in my youth. It had it all, Vampires, undead, wearwolves. And it didn’t hurt that it had the best cover I’d ever seen on an RPG, by the master, Clyde Caldwell. One of those images that has been seared into my brain for decades, and is partially responsible for setting me on the art path. Thanks Clyde.
SO grab some popcorn, you have about 15 min of gothic process headed your way. As I take you from this:
To this:
Scott, great video! I love how loose you seem in your application of paints and inks. I do have a question though.
How long does a painting like this take you once your proposal has been accepted?
I’m finishing up my art degree and (obviously) want to enter the field when I’m done, but everything in college is rush, rush, rush. So, achieving this level of completion on something doesn’t seem realistic until I’m done with school. Thanks for the video!
I think I worked on this for 2 weeks, at least a week and a half. And that is just the painting stage. It is the longest I’ve ever spent on a painting. Thanks for the question.
Thanks Scott. I love the line work. It’s refreshing to see pen and ink still shine like this.
Fantastic! This piece reminds me of one of my favorite paintings. A painting I’ve seen by, Edouard Detaille, titled “Memory of the Great Manoeuvre”. The similarity is not in the subject matter, but in the aspect that both works could be broken down into several complete; stand alone; compositions. Each of the very nice smaller compositions gather together to make a very harmonious whole. Thanks for sharing your process.
The Detaille painting is in The Appleton Museum Ocala, FL, and if you Google an image of the painting, take note that he is in the painting himself. He is the guy in the foreground walking up the hill with his easel and gear on his back.
Awesome video & painting Scott! 🙂
That’s so fun to watch. Love the narration.