Campaign art - Descent into Darkness

[zookeeper]

Thanks for both comments. Still in his current shape I'd rather avoid brown tones, as they'd make him an outright mage.

Instead, I checked the existing necromancer portrait and picked worn-out clothes as a distinctive feature, added a creepy tatoo that covers his entire arm and human teeth on his necklace for a more discrete touch.

Zookeeper, this is up to you. Just tell me which would work best with Darken Volk's lifestyle / character / his relation to Malin.

Well, I suppose that the more his outfit looks like one of a typical evil necromancer, the more sympathetic and not-obviously-evil his face, posture and such should be in order to compensate. I don't think the colours you've used are quite that gloomy, but before initial shading it's hard to say whether a slightly friendlier expression or some brighter shades somewhere in his clothing would be a good idea. The worn-out clothes, tattoo and teeth seem ok to me.

[LordBob]

Revised (improved ?) Darken Volk. In addition to the teeth, ripped cloak and tatoo, it was suggested to me that a pet rat would add to the creepy side without making him overtly homicidal.

All in all, I think he's pretty much done.

[A-Red]

Yes. The shabbiness works really well for him.

[LordBob]

Revised face for young Malin and final lineart + flats for his older self.

[eliddell]

Um, in the flats for the older Malin, are you sure you wanted his ear that colour?

[scienceguy8]

Um, in the flats for the older Malin, are you sure you wanted his ear that colour?

It's a flat: a rough draft before final coloring and shading. The ear is partially obscured by hair, so it is simpler to simply color it with the surrounding hair color and then add the ear color behind it during the final shading.

[zookeeper]

Looking good to me. Is the young Malin's shirt's opening (the thing with the laces) a bit too much to our right? Looking at the shoulders, I'd think the center of his upper body would be more to our left.

[LordBob]

Thanks, it had slipped through unnoticed. Should be fixed now in the complete lineart with flats.

Edit : I've just spotted that young Malin has a slight squint. This trait might stay and even be emphasized in the final portrait, considering he's the kind of person who has been bullied in his years at the mages' academy : this and his coming from a remote countryside might explain why his peers despised and rejected him.

[kitty]

I want a pet rat, too! (And my cats totally approve of that idea…)
Seriously, I really like that Darken feels more like a shabby merchant than an evil necromancer. Malin could really fall for his manipulations. And of course I like that you referenced my worn out cloak.

Experienced Malin looks pretty great to me! Only there's something off about his rear eye, it's a bit too high and the nose should overlap part of the eye. The eye closer to us is very much at an angle and while this isn't a problem in itself, young Malin's eyes aren't slanted at all. Keeping such stuff consistent over the different iterations would make him much more recognizable. Similarly the giant eye brows on the young version aren't reflected in the older one.

[LordBob]

You've always had for faces the keen eye that I completely lack. I'll account for these corrections when I start shading.

Until I do that, here's Malin's lich self.

[Golden_Soldier]

I find it hard to believe that a lich with that little flesh would have a full head of hair... just sayin

[Zerovirus]

Actually, hair deteriorates slower than flesh when left undisturbed. Skulls often have full heads of hair while all flesh is decayed away, though the hair is understandably fragile.

[Golden_Soldier]

Ahh! that makes sense cant wait to see the shaded version!

[LordBob]

Slight revisions of all three Malins, accounting for received comments.
Plus, preliminary sketch for Dela. She has been given a very agressive pose, since Zookeeper described her attitude as "outright homicidal"

[tr0ll]

could be the background colours but to my eye the torc thing around his neck shrinks as he gets older. no reason it has to be the same one i guess...