[Completed] Portraits for The Dark Hordes (by tsunami_)

[tsunami_]

Thank you!

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Here is an update of the demilich. I chose the more aggressive pose.
It is not totally cleaned up yet and I am going to change some things. The hand on the right is being redrawn to fit inside the frame. Later, the little scribbles will become symbols.

gwiti-demilich-progess.png (164.19 KiB) Viewed 1313 times

[tsunami_]

Here is the fixed up demilich. I fixed mainly the staff and hands. The lines should be done now, I will wait for KameRamen to O.K. it and then start the proper shading. In the meantime I will move on to the Dread Lich portrait.

gwiti-demilich-lines.png (177.98 KiB) Viewed 1272 times

[KameRamen]

Hello, thank you for sharing your ideas and sketches. I apologize for the significant delay in my response.
I agree with the overall ideas and direction. I also think Susanne's rough draft is good. Are there any specific questions that need to be clarified?
As for the Dread Lich's pose, I am still not quite sure as well.

Here is the fixed up demilich. I fixed mainly the staff and hands. The lines should be done now, I will wait for KameRamen to O.K. it and then start the proper shading. In the meantime I will move on to the Dread Lich portrait.

This is a wonderful piece, and I look forward to its completion. There are no particular issues. Thank you.

Maybe my replies might be delayed again in the future, but I will definitely check back. Best regards.

[tsunami_]

Are there any specific questions that need to be clarified?

Well, for example, if you have an opinion on the ghost edits or are happy to use the default portraits. But there is no urgency.

Maybe my replies might be delayed again in the future, but I will definitely check back. Best regards.

So far you have been happy with my work, so if you check the thread every week or fortnight, that is plenty. Hopefully, I will not take too long between updates.

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Here is my progress for the Dread Lich. I will use this pose unless objections.

gwiti-dread-lich-progess.png (174.61 KiB) Viewed 1189 times

Unfortunately, neither research nor other users have enlightened me on the hat. My suspicion is that the artist drew the hat sprite without considering what is represented, or copied it from another video game.
My various attempts to draw the horns/crystals/spikes looked silly, so I am ignoring them. Gwiti instead wears a janissary hat.

[tsunami_]

Progress: demilich is complete!

In this .zip file is the completed demilich portrait. I also made a blue version, not for this campaign in particular, but rather general use.
I removed some details because I was thinking it looked too busy.

Like before, I have included the 400x400 images and the original resolution.
Licence is same, CC BY-NC-SA. Licence link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Now I will return to working on the dread lich.

[tsunami_]

Here is my progress on the dread lich.
I will look at it again later and fix some things and adjust the colours and shading.

gwiti-dread-lich-progress.png (190.76 KiB) Viewed 1062 times

[tsunami_]

The dread lich is ready for approval (or request for changes).
While I wait I will work on Susanne sketches. I will be drawing all the staff edits at the same time so I will finish the dread lich first.

edit: Added this transparent version for checking in-game.

gwiti-dread-lich-lines-game.png (191.08 KiB) Viewed 880 times

[egallager]

It looks very good!

[tsunami_]

It looks very good!

Thank you!

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Here is a sketch for Susanne. I will try to make her pretty.

susanne-sketch.png (138.57 KiB) Viewed 934 times

[tsunami_]

Here is Susanne for confirmation. She was quite quick to clean up due to fewer details.
The hair is still in a sketchy state because my plan is to colour on top of it like with the teeth on the demilich earlier.
Next I will begin Tanar.

susanne-lines-1.png (90.54 KiB) Viewed 898 times

susanne-lines-2.png (149.1 KiB) Viewed 898 times

[tsunami_]

Here is a sketch of Tanar.

I think there are already enough skulls in this campaign and I can replace the skull-buckle with some kind of clan symbol. I have no strong opinion yet so I included ideas on the sketch (creature, weapon, letter, unexplained symbol). At the bottom is the Black-Eye symbol for comparison.

tanar-sketch.png (151.71 KiB) Viewed 815 times

[letti]

Here is Susanne for confirmation. She was quite quick to clean up due to fewer details.
The hair is still in a sketchy state because my plan is to colour on top of it like with the teeth on the demilich earlier.
Next I will begin Tanar.
susanne-lines-1.png

susanne-lines-2.png

Looks good to me!

I'm not familiar with the storyline/characters of TDH, so feel free to ignore this!

For Susanne's face, to make her "prettier", I'd suggest toning down the lines under her eyes a bit. I'm guessing she's a dark/necromantic type, which are usually portrayed with "darker" eyes. However, as/(if?) she upgrades, you can darken them to show more age and prowess. Under her right (our left) eye, you could add a light spot, I find that gives a more girlish touch.
The eyebrow on the far side of her face (our right) can be brought down a bit on the end - making a nice arch and feminine look.
Also, the line on her neck seems a bit off? Maybe bring it a bit lower and soften it to match her neck outline.

I've tried to show what I mean below.

Hope this is helpful!

[tsunami_]

My first critique on the forum!

The eyebrow on the far side of her face (our right) can be brought down a bit on the end - making a nice arch and feminine look.
Also, the line on her neck seems a bit off? Maybe bring it a bit lower and soften it to match her neck outline.

You are right, it looks better on your image. I will make a note to fix it.

For Susanne's face, to make her "prettier", I'd suggest toning down the lines under her eyes a bit. I'm guessing she's a dark/necromantic type, which are usually portrayed with "darker" eyes.

Yes, this is a source of trouble. Due to the story she should appear tired or stressed, but these traits are the opposite of beautiful.
For the Gwiti portraits, I darkened under his eyes and then overlaid the black outline again. Since you mentioned it, for Susanne I will try not adding the black line and see how it looks.
(Gwiti is supposed to look very sickly because he is partly dead/undead already, but Susanne remains human).

However, as/(if?) she upgrades, you can darken them to show more age and prowess.

This is a good idea (there is also a timeskip where it would fit). But my plan in this case is to just make one portrait for each secondary character.

Under her right (our left) eye, you could add a light spot, I find that gives a more girlish touch.

I suppose because women and children have flatter faces? I will make a note for this as well.


Thank you for the feedback!

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A progress drawing for Tanar. I changed the expression. I also squished him down a bit to make him more orc-like. Is he becoming too cartoonish?

tanar-progress.png (146.2 KiB) Viewed 769 times

[tsunami_]

Here is a more cleaned up Tanar. The swords are yet to be done.

tanar-progress-2.png (137.57 KiB) Viewed 709 times

[tsunami_]

Here is Tanar for confirmation, now with swords.
I still am not decided on the clan symbol, but that would be added at the end of the colouring anyway.

tanar-lines-1.png (98.07 KiB) Viewed 682 times

tanar-lines-2.png (164.98 KiB) Viewed 682 times

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Well, I have finished the line drawings for Susanne, Tanar and the dread lich and I am waiting for confirmation from KameRamen to shade them, and the staff edits will be done after the dread lich. So, I have reached a hiatus.