[Jadebrain]

Odd, some of my old image uploads seem to have disappeared, and right when I need to share them with friends. I’ll re-post the one I’m trying to share.

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[Jadebrain]

Here’s an anatomical outline for an attempt to re-make an old picture from scratch. You’ll notice that the pose, while basically the same in concept, is more balanced and less “crouch-y” in the revised anatomical outline; in addition, IIRC, this is my first attempt at drawing a face from that angle, animalistic or otherwise. I had a lot of trouble with the muzzle, but even more trouble re-creating the hair; while I could actually look at one of my dogs for a reference of the former, I had no reference for the latter. I am also aware that I forgot to draw the ears and tail, though I’m not sure if the ears would be visible at that angle anyway. And yes, the feet are supposed to be that big.

Any tips? Suggestions? Comments or questions?

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[Jadebrain]

I’m not sure if I’ve uploaded a picture of this character already, but it really doesn’t matter, since I’m re-doing her whole look. Here’s Brigrada Olldrijpar (pronounced brih-GRAH-dah ALL-dree-per), the High Jarl of Gondrogar. As this is an outline, I have yet to do patterns or shading, except to help with the placement of scales and splints in the finished product.

One thing I’m wondering how I should accomplish is how to add a scale pattern without making the surface appear darker than it should be; I’m a bit heavy-handed, and so pressing lightly with the pencil is hard for me, and using erasers to lighten the area tends to blur things a bit.

Another thing I’m wondering about is whether or not I should continue to use splints in her gauntlets. Originally, I considered her culture, which is aesthetically “barbarians from the north,” and I immediately thought of vikings; in trying to be accurate to that, I ended up asking online what an incredibly high-ranking viking warrior would wear for armor, and the most exceptional thing that was mentioned was “splint armor” (mail was also mentioned, but it didn’t seem “exceptional” enough). However, I was later reminded that this setting is one of my own creation, and now I’m trying to go less “strictly viking” and more “germanic barbarian in general” in terms of the armor she’d have access to. Any suggestions regarding that?

Continuing the theme of this character, I’m wondering how else I can tie in the theme of her clan without sacrificing function in her armor. The Olldrijpar clan prides itself on its members’ ability to take down any sort of dangerous beast, and so I decided to put the image of a bear’s face on the front, but should I do anything else?

Finally, I’m wondering about what I should do about her helmet and muzzle armor. Right now, the helmet looks too reminiscent of Darth Vader, and the muzzle armor looks like the grill of an old car. Any suggestions on what to do instead?

Any other suggestions are also welcome.

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[Jadebrain]

For Character Design Contest #79, here’s a picture I did a while back. Perhaps it’s not my best work, but what the heck?

It wasn’t so much inspired by a song so much as an ideal aesthetic that multiple songs were written to reach for, but none have perfectly achieved. As such, I’ll instead pair it with the song which, I think, comes closest to achieving this ideal.

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISdeiheoP9w

[Jadebrain]

Here’s what WOULD be a finished armored outline for the character I’ve been working on, had I not forgotten to draw the tail. Since this image was scanned, I’ve decided that the tail armor would basically be like a tapering scale tube that would wrap around the tail. I’ve already started on the creation of a final, textured form of the picture, but I’m not sure how to draw the scales (the armor is basically a take on lorica squamata) without making the area the scales are drawn on to look too dark. Any other ideas for improvement are also welcome.

[Jadebrain]

And, here’s another WIP take on an outline of the armor.

[Jadebrain]

Here’s an anatomical outline and the beginnings of a sketch of armor, for the purposes of brainstorming, as per the comment thread on the blog today.

[Jadebrain]

Here’s an obviously unfinished rough draft of a friend’s character in another friend’s campaign using my game system, Festa the Fixer. Still to do are the left foot, the tail, and the rifle on the back. In the final draft, the furs she’s wearing will look different; they’re only drawn like that now because it’s a rough draft.

Race-wise, she’s a Gannum, a highly-intelligent race of small people that sort of resemble elephants. In addition, they have second brains stored in their bellies, and their hands sport three fingers and two thumbs.

Culturally, she’s from Calmekanni, a steampunk nation in the desert; however, in the campaign, she’s on an expedition in a very cold arctic region far away from her homeland, which is why she’s wearing furs.

Any thoughts on things I should do different?

[Jadebrain]

I’ve decided to re-do Brigrada Allslayer, given that her clothing reflected neither her culture nor her status within said culture. I’ve got the outline of her body finished, though I will say that her right foot looks awkward (given that it’s a hoof, and it’s bent at that angle; I’m not sure what can be done about that.) Any thoughts on that?

I’ve started on the clothes, as well; while I’m far from finished, I figured I’d also upload what I have so far. Any advice is appreciated, but I’m especially interested in advice on how to make her armor look A. More functional-looking, B. More Norse-looking, C. More regal-looking, and D. More able to convey the “theme” of her clan, which prides itself on its reputation for being able to take down any foe.

[Jadebrain]

Here’s the finished picture of Sharal. I may or may not digitally add color later.

[Jadebrain]

@Herr D said:

As to those arms, from your description of the culture? I would say small, magical amulets tied on with leather thongs.
Your pic with the horns? I think you’ve done fine with everything, but I want to know about the horns! Did they originate from cultures that lock horns or just hammer? That might say something interesting about the way they developed culturally.

Amulets? On the arms? Wouldn’t that potentially get in the way of swinging whatever weapon I give her?

As for the Grendemoth (I assume you’re talking about that), they don’t really have a culture. They’re an engineered race, created by a ritual performed by druids for a long-dead nation to serve as guardians of that nation. While the nation didn’t last long enough to make use of the Grendemoths, the druids which created them outlasted the nation itself, thus allowing the ritual to complete. Since then, individual Grendemoths have sort of assimilated (mostly as second-class citizens) into whatever society they find themselves in. The particular Grendemoth in the picture belongs to a nation based mostly on a combination of ancient Mesopotamia and medieval India.

[Jadebrain]

Here’s the almost-finished picture of the second outline of Sharal. You’ll notice from the eraser marks that I’m having trouble deciding what to put on her arms for clothing. Also, I’m not quite satisfied with the leggings. Any suggestions are welcome. I’ll draw in her tail on this outline after I get those two things figured out.

In case you’re wondering, her skimpy clothing is a racial-cultural thing; the Poruqe (the race she belongs to) are often highly interested in majesty and beauty, and tend to wear either less clothing to emphasize their natural beauty or more extravagant clothing adorned with lots of accessories. Sharal is of the former type, of course. As a battlemage, she also makes up for the lack of protectiveness of her clothing with magic.

[Jadebrain]

I’m doing a new drawing of Sharal, one of the characters I’ve already uploaded. I’m pretty much going to re-do the costume. So far, I’ve got the anatomical outline done. In case you’re wondering, I’m going to put a sword-type weapon in her right hand, and a spell effect in her left. One of the things I had trouble with was her right leg – it was hard, given the angle and position which pretty much concealed an entire section of her leg. I also just noticed that I forgot her tail – that shouldn’t be too hard to fix. Any thoughts?

[Jadebrain]

Here’s an anatomical outline for a drawing I’m working on. While I’ve started to draw the clothing and armor already, I’m not too far into it to be able to start over if any suggestions can be made to improve the anatomical outline. I already know that the left (our right) horn needs to be repositioned in order to make sense at that angle… Any other ideas for improvement? And yes, the “abs” are supposed to look like that.

[Jadebrain]

I tend to play mostly fighter types. They’re simple in both roleplay and mechanics yet diverse enough to cover a wide variety of fighting styles and cosmetic options. The latter point explains itself in terms of how objectively important it is, but roleplaying ease is more subjective, and as such more important in my case. By “Roleplaying Ease,” I’m not necessarily talking about making simpleton-type characters, but rather, making characters where it’s easy to roleplay in terms of making decisions that your character would realistically make.

What I’m talking about is basically the reason for which I NEVER play Tactical/Resourceful/Insightful Warlords in DnD 4e. For those of you who don’t know, a Warlord in DnD 4e is basically a leader who leads his/her allies through strategy and inspiration – basically a field general. I am not good at all when it comes to strategy and tactics (I tried reading Sun Tzu’s Art of War to fix this, and it didn’t help). But whenever I see anyone play a Warlord or other “smart” character, it’s assumed that because the character is “smart,” the player will make his/her character do “smart” things during roleplay.

The problem with this assumption is that the way the character is roleplayed in this regard depends on the player’s abilities, not the abilities of the character itself. The fact that your character has an 18 (pretty high for a starting score in DnD) or so in Intelligence or Wisdom or whatever has no reflection on your ability as a player to emulate those abilities for yourself, and if you as a player are not “smart,” you can’t think of doing the same things that a “smart” person would reasonably think to do, and if you can’t think of doing a particular thing, your character will not be able to decide to do it.

Sorry for the tangent. My point is, I’m not “smart” in terms of my ability to make wise decisions, and that’s why I make characters that rely more on raw power than strategy; hence, fighter-types.

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