Dec '16

Hi Sander, first of all: I LOVE the movie constantine. Your basic idea to design a knight to bring back zombies, vampires etc is great! (well my champion is a vampire :wink: )
I like your first image too. Did you draw some thumbnails or other concepts before that? Would be great to see your process. Can’t wait to see more from you.

Dec '16

This challange slowly starts to bring back childhood memories where you and your friends would draw the strongest champions and yell how it would block each others attacks haha :wink:

I should've actually done some proper sketching before diving into this concept, though it started as a very basic knight silhouette with some hints at armor plates. After that I slowly build up layers of detail until I got this.
It started as kind of a guilty pleasure, where I added bits and pieces in between working on other stuff.

For the final image I will definitely keep a step-by-step log on here, and before that I plan on refining this sketch a bit more and adding a back view.

Thanks! :smile:

Dec '16

Not in the 2D (yet) but i recently watched Constantine I find i manage to view that movie once a year at least one of my favorites, good to see others still go back to the oldies but goodies.

Anywho i like the concept artwork and the idea of the tar, I wouldn't worry about revising things too much, i messed up also :smile: but it's meh all apart of the exploration to a possible memorable character, for me anyway.

Good luck.

Dec '16

Very nice! I really love the sword!

Dec '16

Love your painting style. I can never seem to capture what I have in my head correctly. Hope I can turn that around.

Dec '16

Super love your direction

Dec '16

Here's another update. I changed a few aspects to make him a little bit more like a proper knight.
I'm still thinking on what kind of details to add. I'd love to play around with small lights, or maybe even make the sword white and ambient. Any kind of feedback is always welcome!

For the next step I'll paint the back view. I can't wait to start making the thumbnails for the final painting.

Dec '16

Your concept is really nice ! I love your painting style.

Dec '16

Reply to

sander-agelink

Hi, sorry to butt in out of nowhere, but that breast plate seems kind of dodgy to me. It's too long.

The screenshots I've added are from Knyght Errant's video "Common Modern Reproduction Errors: The Breastplate", the first one is how a real historical armour should fit (most of the time, even the guy says there might be other examples, but this is the most common), and the second one is what happens if the plate is too long.

Maybe I'm reading your image wrong, maybe it was intentional, but I thought I should at least mention it.

Dec '16

loving the painterly vibe so far :smile: keep it up!

Dec '16

great job dude, would i suggest bringing the cape back but more on the back than it covering the arm, i feel it brings some character to him especially with this great painterly style you have :smiley:

Dec '16

This is just beautiful. I love it!

Jan '17

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Another update!

I decided to include the cape and I'm pretty happy about it. To emphasize that he's send by death and not just a regular knight I had the idea to make the cape part of him, just like his armor.
His cape kind of merges with his back around his vertebrae and is this made up out of a light-weight cloth, that is so rugged that it almost appears as fur.

I thought it would be a fun idea to kind of gamify him, as if he's a playable character in a video game. So I made a second version where his vertebrae and cracks in his armor kind of light up, to signify his armor is part of himself.
If it were a game I would think of his vertebrae as a health indicator like in Dead Space.

Do you guys think it works better with or without the light? Personally I think it adds some complimenting colors and contrast that can look cool in the final illustration, but I'll leave it to your feedback. Any other tips are also welcome (:

Jan '17

I really like the colours in the non-glowy version more. Without the glow we are able to see the beautiful subtle colours in the helmet, and the cloak look much more rich in colour. Maybe instead of lights to signify the armour is part of himself; have skin overlay parts of the armour. I am thinking of the way a cut scabs over; I think it would help push the theme of Death sending him much better. Awesome designs!

Jan '17

Wow... the level keeps just going up in here. great work man!

Jan '17

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Hey guys! Here's another update. It took a lot of trial and error to find something I was happy with. In the end I decided to overhaul the shoulders and color pallet.
I blended the knight armor with some inspiration from old Korean armor designs, and I think it worked out pretty well. Also did I change the color scheme to a green-ish color to hint a bit more at the death theme.

@Khulim Thanks for your feedback! You were completely right, and I tried to push the overal design a bit more to your notes.

It could use a bit more detail. Personally I was thinking of bone like rims and details across the armor. To be honest though I am extremely eager to start thumbnailing for the final illustration. Would it be cheating to come back to the concept for detailing while working on the initial sketches for the final piece?
Please let me know if I should add a detail pass, or continue to the next phase!

Jan '17

I'm liking the new colour scheme. The venom yellowy green gives the impression of pestilence and death. It is now very apparent that he is affiliated with the dead.

Would the details be real bone or bone designs? I think both would work well, or neither since your design does illustrate what you intend already. The detailing may give him a more authoritative appearance if that is what you desire.

I think you can definitely start working on the composition right now. Can't wait to see how you're going to do it!