The Devil's Steed

VIDEO Part 1

VIDEO Part 2

A request from a watcher on DeviantArt who wanted me to paint my interpretation of Sol Invictus' album, The Devil's Steed. I must say I had a lot of fun with this. I was determined to use ArtRage again as I wanted to capture a traditional paint-feel and then I finished up/colour edited in Photoshop. Theodore Gericault's painting called "Officer of the Hussars" was also a big inspiration! The steed itself is mixture of horse and gharial, because I thought the horse on the Invictus' album looked a bit reptilian.

Below is the draft and the one nearer completion. As you can see the Devil had his horns clipped. They seemed too much of an eyesore.

Desert of Ga-Gorib

Here is the finished thing. Those colours are nice and baking hot! I can almost feel my skin getting sun burnt. There was going to be a flock of creatures as seen in the first draft, but in the end they didn't work so I removed them.

VIDEO:
Part 1 Part 2

Published in ImagineFX Magazine CD

I think this is the first time my work has been published publicly. So this is a great step forward in an art based career. At least I know I'm progressing.
If any of you guys are interested its the December 2011, Issue 76, of ImagineFX Magazine which goes on sale tomorrow ( 18th ) for those in the UK.

Pampered ego is pleased!

The Desert of Ga-Gorib (Part 2)

As predicted a creature with three forelegs is proving a problem. As I flip the canvas horizontally in Photoshop the problems that I couldn't see in my sketch became more obvious. So I those forelegs needed to be tweaked before I got into the detailing. The eyes were changed as well because before they looked too 'side-on' which is the structure of prey animals (predators have their eyes bang on the front of their face, a bit like humans). It also made it seem like the creature was looking in the direction of the girl, instead of the previous brainless expression from the sketch.

The skin will also have to look a bit more slimy, but for the moment I'm just sculpting the basic form.

All the images below show the process of the basic renders. The end is now in sight, I just have to go over with a second coat and tighten everything up.

The Desert of Ga-Gorib (Part 1)

Explanation of the title: based of the myth (or more specficically, the name) of Ga-Gorib from the Khoikhoi (a tribe of Africa). The name translates as 'the spotted one that is not a leopard'. Well, my shadow beast is supposed to be a cheetah, so it fits...kind of...

This was the first sketch, resembling the thumbnail more. However the beast look awkward and the scale just couldn't come through if it was crouched down like that.

So it became obvious that the beast needed to be standing upright at a distance. These are the basic sketches and plans. Phoenix Rise also wanted a few of my other creatures in there as well, but I had to be careful not to clutter and make the image too busy. So the creature list from my previous post is the 'Cheetah', two 'Rabbits', the 'Terrorsoar', a flock of 'Sharkers' in the background and a tentacle of a 'Octofelidae'. They have been scaled down so I can fit them all in one scene without making the Cheetah less impressive. They are accompanying the girl amongst the ruins, which are identified as the white splotches. The second image labels the cover measurements and the eye-path/composition.
One thing I am regretting is giving the 'Cheetah' a third foreleg. It looked good from a side view, but was tricky to draw front on. Trying to figure out the anatomy and where to place the thing was a nightmare. I may have to make it a bit more skinny, as its not a 'main' foreleg so wouldn't have to support as much as the creatures weight as the other two.

Shadow Creature Designs

Here are some shadow creature designs. I went slightly insane and tried to get a wide range of creature types and shapes. My personal favourite is the Cheetah design and I must admit I would hate to come across a levitating shark-thing in a dark alleyway.
And yes, there is a True Grit reference...not to mention a terribly bad pun.