UNDEAD QUEEN

This was the second collaboration with the beautiful Pathfinder people. Using sex as a weapon, this is an undead queen ruling with lust over her subjects. Powerful with the arcane and wearing the guise of youth, she is a terrible storm of wrath when provoked.

A photo reference was used for the pose, and the lighting had to be dramatic to shape this dark, gloomy composition. Not much to say about this piece, expect it was a handful of selections and getting the texture right. The light was obviously my friend.

THE ORACLE

This is a piece I was commissioned to work on, as a cover for a tabletop game (Paizo's Pathfinder) adventure book. The theme included a young looking psychic woman, within the confines of a library. She was posed to reveal the future to the viewer, in a calm and knowing manner. Cultural directions touched the gypsy element, though they needed a slightly "sexier" outlook.

I didn't use any reference for the posing or composition, deciding I preferred to doodle my way through no-gos until I hit the spot; which, admitedly, is a pretty straigh-forward setup. The light should clearly focus on her, and through working on that I veered toward an inner radiation kind of feeling, ever so subtle. I kept the background dark and made the figure pop out quite clearly.

The final piece, after a few color tests, was this:

For the face specifically, I used a model reference, for the aim was to keep an overall realism to the piece. With slightly different eyes and hair-style to the original, the end-result satisfied me and client alike.

I also referenced her left exposed arm, and also had to shuffle through a number of intricate jewlery designs, all the while keeping it simple.