Some Story Concept Art

So! It's been a fairly busy week, but somehow amid all that's been going on, I managed to pump out a little story art this week which involve three very different characters!

First up is Oberon. Pretty much 99% of the time you see me sketch or render a Friesian stallion, it's safe to assume I'm probably channeling this spirited main character. He may look like just a horse, but he's very much sentient with quite a past, and more than enough brazen snark to keep other characters in line.

In February during my Gnomon Introduction to ZBrush class I decided I would try my hand at digitally sculpting him, so I played around with some armor ideas to implement with the idea that I wanted to the armor to look somewhat believable, but I also wanted it to be extra-usable for a wearer who is sentient and keen to fight.

"War Horse" - 30 Minute Sketch - February 20, 2013

Along this line, I later ended up revising the face spikes and some general proportions. I wanted Oberon to be able to bash and slash with them, and having a slender, curved horn simply didn't make sense to me in battle (and it looked far too thin and graceful to be really "him").

"War Horse" - 30 Minute Sketch - February 25, 2013

 Later on I worked on sculpting him in 3D. I didn't get as far along as I'd like, but I plan to revisit this sculpt in the coming months.

"Armored Friesian Stallion" - Digital Sculpture - WIP - Current as of February 22, 2013

Next up is a reworked/new character I've been trying to concept out both in physical and story terms this week. He's going to be getting a new name since his role in certain events is getting majorly overhauled, but he's a side character that's likely to be a part of one of my upcoming short stories. He's had a pretty hard life.

I spent about an hour and a half sculpting this fella in ZBrush. He's not anything amazing art-wise, but I'll be damned if it isn't awesome being able to concept a character in 3D and sort of be able to feel out how I envision him in my head.

Character Concept - Digital Sculpture - May 21, 2013

 The next day I did a quick study of him in action. He fits a fighter-type role, and though those bracers may not look all that magical just yet, they definitely are.

Character Concept - 1 Hour Sketch - May 22, 2013

 Next up, I'd recently had gryphons on the brain, and had realized that though this gryphon character had been around in one shape or another for over ten years, I'd really never done anything more than casually sketch him, like I did in this sketch below from last year.

"Richard and Friend Sketch" - Completed on May 22, 2012

This lead to me starting to try to sculpt him in 3D. I am completely and utterly intimidated by how I am going to manage his feathered wings, but I am finding it really, really cool being able to sculpt a character like this in 3D, and I look forward to pushing him further.

ZBrush Gryphon - WIP- Current as of April 30, 2013

 Somewhere earlier in the year, I'd started this little doodle as well. It's actually the same character. I really like to pull off that feeling of being warmed by a welcoming sun.

Sunning Gryphon - WIP -February 26, 2013

 And somewhere during the last 24 hours I realized I still had that file laying around, so I thought I would try to play around with his coloration. Previously, I hadn't really worked out the details of this fella's coloration aside from the fact that itwas some sort of hybrid between a tiger and a hawk, so I was just sort of laying color in and taking it from there.

Sunning Gryphon - WIP -May 23, 2013

And then somewhere late last night, I moved the composition around just... kept going. I roughed in a legit background, and while I'm still not pleased with it, it's going in a direction I dig. I just love the idea of a gryphon sunning himself before taking flight, and I'm hoping I can continue to push that feeling as I continue to work on it. This scene is meant to be a view from atop one of the towers seen here.

Sunning Gryphon - WIP - May 24, 2013

I'm looking forward to seeing what other creative things I can accomplish this weekend!