ART WAR 4 | 2D | War of the Elements | Queen of flames |

[krysta.art]

It's my first time joining a contest like this and I am pretty excited. I am going with the element fire.

My name is Krysta and I am an aspiring Concept/Game Artist currently studying design.
Coming up with new characters is a passion of mine so I decided to join the contest after a fellow student told me about it!

My character is the leading woman in a matriarchy that worships the sun as their giver of power (Fire Element)
Her folk is very tall, no difference in height between men and women, each family has a different set of horns, the stronger they are attuned to the sun the more horns they have usually. My Queen of flames having the most of them.
Men are born at a 1/3 ratio to the women in the tribes scattered throughout the terrritory.

Latest Upload:

You can check out my Instagram!
Name: krys.ta

[krysta.art]

Some first sketches of what I have in mind.
Next stept will be to put my favorite parts together, show it front and back, and then I'll work on an Illustration.
I like how it's going so far. My favorite part are her horns.

[krysta.art]

And this is my final design choice. I am really happy how she looks now. The next days I will refine it and then get to my final piece of work. Shoulder pats !

[krysta.art]

Refined the design (front/back) with cleaner linework.
I keep the option to change her big set of horns open for later.
Next step will be the side view and then some action shots maybe.
I will also be sketching down a Weapon for her. It will be something onehanded but bulky.

[krysta.art]

My Ideas for her design are/were the following:
- Dragon/Drake Features -> thus the horns and scales on her body as well as the big tail on her back
- Hair tied back into a bun which resembles a small flame (to take up the flame motiv)
- Big shoulder plate -> I wanted her to look elegant but also massive and strong so I took big shoulder plates to symbolise that
- Added cape for extra volume to her frame

I am very happy with it so far.
I will soon experiment with her colourscheme aswell.

[krysta.art]

Already started with some colour schemes this evening!
Not done yet, but I am getting closer to what I like.

[krysta.art]

Finished my colour schemes. Number three is my favorite So I continue with that one!
I didn't stray far from my original Idea as I think reds fit the character and the element the most.
I am particularly fond of her hair.

[krysta.art]

So this is her design (front).
Also once in black and white as I was checking the values so she wouldn't look too flat!
I am very happy with results.
On to thumbnailing!

[krysta.art]

Aaaand some thumbnailing has been done.
Top right is my favorite I will most likely go with that one.
For me the thumbnails are clear. I hope you can decipher them haha.

[nesokaiyoh]

Definitely a bit tough to tell what's going on in those thumbs (I think the bottom left looks interesting from what i can see) lol but the design is really cool, has a nice silhouette to it, if you wanted feedback on the actual values though if you squint your eyes and move back a bit she gets a little lost as a lot of those values are quite similar - Maybe mess around with the value of the skin or metal?

[krysta.art]

Thanks for the nice feedback!

I will definitely check the values again, now that you say it I notice it a bit too. Thanks for pointing that out.
Will see what I can improve there.

And yh my thumbnails are usually a bit very messy. Need to get better at staying a bit more simple!

[nesokaiyoh]

What could help with that is keeping each value profile to a different section of the image i.e. don't use highlights all over and don't draw with highlights.

Sorry if you didn't want any feedback, but if it helps, I drew over one of your thumbnails to help show what I mean! Contrast gives more attraction to the focal point and helps it read better (sorry if I misinterpreted it wrong!)

I actually don't know if I can offer help like this so if I'm in the wrong someone please tell me lol

[krysta.art]

Don't worry about it! I appreciate it as it only helps me become better and you weren't rude about it or anything.
I would've told you if it was unwanted!

And yh ! Your overpainting is nice. Makes my idea clearer and not so overloaded. Good sections.
Might steal the sections hehehe.
Will get to working on this and the values out as soon as I got time!
Thanks again!

[krysta.art]

After recieving feedback I tweeked the value of her gear a bit.
I made it so it looks brighter and I hope it worked out.
Hope I wasn't too careful with my approach!

[krysta.art]

Yesterday and today I've been playing around a bit with the concept.
It's just some rough scribbling.
Painting fire is pretty fun.

[nesokaiyoh]

Ahh this is much more readable! Of course mine was just a guideline but I'm glad you found it helpful! You could even make her a tad smaller to give contrast between her and the flames. Good progress so far

[krysta.art]

You have very good advice!
Making her smaller would make the scene definitely look more epic and dramatic.

I jump to the actual painting way too fast. To be honest, I believe I don't think enough before starting yet but that's why I joined the contest.
Getting into the workflow, getting feedback all while putting myself out there!

[nesokaiyoh]

You still have 33 days left, so really you could leave the illustration a bit later and really flesh out everything else (and those thumbs) a bit more if you're not sure (and if you have the time of course haha). It's up to you though! Imo you never get a good idea on the first try. But if you really try and work on more you could end up with something even better!

[krysta.art]

I might as well do exactly that!
We'll see where this takes me.

[krysta.art]

I felt like I wanted to revise the horn design I have going for her.
Those are some examples. My favorites are Number 5 and number 2!