Campaign art - Descent into Darkness

[Pewskeepski]

I meant the brief part before he becomes a lich, When he's poisoned.

[zookeeper]

Looking good, not much to comment on again...

Here's a bit of clarification of how the portraits are going to be used:


Scenarios 1-3


Scenarios 4-6


Scenarios 7-11

First lich portrait: scenario 11
Second lich portrait: scenario 12

[LordBob]

I tried a few adjustments to make old Malin look more like his younger self. Hopefully it should be enough, either way I'm done : without a real life model, I could spend ages trying and still not make it.

If someone with better portrait experience wants to have a go at him, advice is most welcome : I'll switch to other portraits for now.

[EELuminatus]

I like the improvements! - The mouth and the slightly more prominent lazy eye make him more easily identifiable, even though the character seems to have gained some strength / self-esteem.
The shading of decaying Malin looks better, too - the older version looked a little flat and too much like the "sane" Malin with a color filter applied, while now you notice his sunken cheeks.

So, I'd call your changes successful.

[homunculus]

some guy had suggested that in order to make a face more worn out one might try sharpening the line along the middle part of the nose (the solid bone, i guess you understand which line i mean), so i tried it out on the portrait.
also tried sharpening the shadow and increasing the lighting contrast a little bit half-way between your decayed malin and the current necromancer portrait.
i think it was a slight improvement.
i believe you could do it a lot better if you like this peanut suggestion.
right now it imho still attracts attention as soft gray, more like a fresh zombie of a healthy middle-aged man rather than a stern necromancer worn out by age and dark arts.
i see you are trying it cautiously little by little, why not experiment with sharper lines more bravely?

btw for the sake of humor i once tried coloring a portrait green with 'image=portrait.png~CS(-20,30,-20)' in a message with poisoned speaker (wondering if there will be decayed old poisoned malin and how freaky that would look).

[kitty]

Just a thumbs up! Both iterations of Malin look great! I can't wait to see how his lich version will turn out!

[Sapient]

I have enjoyed watching the evolution of the Malin artwork, and I must say that latest version of old Malin is really great. My favorite part is the attention to detail and lighting on both his sword and robes. So when someone becomes stronger as a dark adept, they will look more "ripped?"

[LordBob]

So when someone becomes stronger as a dark adept, they will look more "ripped?"

Well, there's no actual rule that says so, but it's what Kitty did for the necromancer line and I have to say I'm quite fond of the result.

Anyway, here comes the lich. Told him he couldn't feed forever on dark arts and mushrooms, but d'you think he'd listen ?

[zookeeper]

Perfect.

[A-Red]

A tragic descent indeed, but at least he finally got rid of that lazy eye.

Lovely work.

[StDrake]

those skin leftovers are weird, i know it's supposed to show corruption but..it looks more like he bathed in plasteline than skin, plus why is the robe damaged only on the sleeves?
I definitely miss some elements of the old lich-malins portrait

[LordBob]

I definitely miss some elements of the old lich-malins portrait

Well...If you can't be more specific, there's really no chance whatsoever of me adding them to the new portrait

[bigkahuna]

Well...If you can't be more specific, there's really no chance whatsoever of me adding them to the new portrait

The thing that I liked in the old portrait was that his robe was more weathered. Besides this, the new portrait is better in all facets. Though I would suspect that he would have a bit more flesh left on his arm, especially the hand and fingers.

[StDrake]

perhaps i've mistaken the old port with the sketch from previous pages - the glowy eye I miss for one thing, and that blonde fringe leftover, in current state it got blanked out and blended with the 'skin' colour
add what bigkahuna wrote
and those skin leftovers would (imho with which you dont have to agree) much better with a more skinny, or at least grayish tone. Purple is good for the robe, but not for the skin, even a corrupt one

[Girgistian]

plus why is the robe damaged only on the sleeves?

It's also damaged on the chest and the hood. Besides, it's logical that most of the rips are on the sleeves, as he's probably used his hands and arms more than the other parts both pre- and post-mortem (un-mortem?). That's what usually happens to my sleeves, anyway. The same naturally goes to the general level of decay on his fingers and hands, I think they'd be the first parts to lose skin and flesh due to use.

Is this a final or a WIP version, by the way? The different aspects of the portrait look great and the general image is probably more than enough to get into the campaign, but I'm kinda missing the cool textures he had on his clothes on the portraits where Malin is still more than just 'technically' alive, in particular on the upper sleeves. The same goes for the bare parts of the skull which also still look a little plain to me.
(I also really like those faint spots of liquid on his sleeve and hood, and the dried out veins on his arm and chin)