ART WAR 4 | 2D | War of the Elements | Wlodek & Dzicz | martink1312

martink1312 2020-01-06 23:25:00 UTC #1

Name: Martin Kilian
E-Mail: martink1312@hotmail.com
Website: https://qilianart.artstation.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DailySuccessful
A young boy and his river spirit feral hog bound together by fate.

martink1312 2020-01-06 23:36:32 UTC #2

Hey there,

I am pretty new to this, so please be tame to me. I welcome critique very much though!
Here would be my starting ref sheet:

martink1312 2020-01-06 23:42:49 UTC #3

And here are my initial sketches for the character of Wlodek. I am still thinking about details on clothing and considering what weapon/tool he would use. It would be made of one of Dzicz's tusks, so I need to figure out how to properly mold it.

And an initial sketch for the boar. I want to go quite watery with this, while the wavy foam will form some kind of hairy structure the rest of the body will consists purely of water.

oscarowleyart 2020-01-07 09:56:17 UTC #4

hi! looks really interesting! the boar looks so unsettling haha. considering how its water what about coral rather than bone? could be really interesting lilke a coral skull, with the hair made from seaweed and kelp and stuff!

good luck!

martink1312 2020-01-07 10:16:12 UTC #5

Hey there,

thx for the suggestion. As the boar is meant to be a river spirit, corals seems not quite fitting. But I really dig the idea of seaweed and kelp, would definitely make the boar even more menacing and gives the whole thing more texture than just a blob of water. Will iterate on that!

martink1312 2020-01-11 22:06:59 UTC #6

Hey there.

tried to work further on the character and tried to work with a colour scheme. I somehow like the design on the one hand, on the other hand it is not quite what I envisioned for the character, so I think I will go back to the drawing board and think it over.

martink1312 2020-01-12 18:58:30 UTC #7

Hey there,

another iteration of Wlodek, this time a bit more primal/prehistoric. It goes a bit more into the dircetion I want it to, with him not being a priviliged boy but rather a poor victim/sacrifice who get to wield a huge elemental force. I will work on refining some details though. Also, still not sure how to use the tusk, at the moment I am thinking about Wlodek using it as a kind of surfboard to ride on Dzicz.

martink1312 2020-01-15 18:59:30 UTC #8

Hey folks,

slowly making progress, although I don't have a lot of time at my hand this week. At the moment I am at thumbnailing the right composition for the entry illustration. Not quite sure if I should work against a dark or light backdrop, and still figuring out the perspective to both show Wlodek as well as the scale of Dzicz. Also not quite set if it should be more of an action piece or something more calm.

martink1312 2020-01-17 12:06:08 UTC #9

Hi folks,

Sitting on the illustration now, doing the composition with my thumbnails at reference and trying to get the perspective right. Looking forward to actually painting it, it will be challenging though, and I am a bit afraid that it is a bit overambitious for my skill.

martink1312 2020-01-18 00:44:42 UTC #10

Hey folks,

keeping on progressing, not sure where to go with the lighting yet.

martink1312 2020-01-19 00:34:18 UTC #11

Hey folks,

so after a full day of painting, it feels like I barely moved forward, so I put the version of this morning together with the version of this evening. Seems like I am too much hung up on changing details in the appearance of Dzicz. I think I now move on with broader strokes again and fill out the rest of the illustration. Especially Wlodek still hasn't seen the light of the day yet. >.< But I feel like it is coming together nicely.

martink1312 2020-01-24 10:46:20 UTC #12

Hi folks,

Slowly inching forward, I repainted so much of it already, but am quite happy with the current version. Seems like soon I have to focus on the character instead on painting water and plants.

the

tj-works 2020-01-24 11:19:17 UTC #13

Love the way you painted the water. The variety of blues and painterly texture of the water flow and white foam looks gorgeous.

I feel for such a huge water creature, there's a lack of danger or consequence surrounding it as if it's not threatening. Maybe there could be animals or people running away and/or being sucked up in the water as a result? Just a thought. I don't know if that will fit with the champion's narrative or purpose.

martink1312 2020-01-24 11:27:04 UTC #14

Hey there,

Thanks for the nice words and for the suggestion. I would love to do that! Just need to figure out how to integrate that and when to do that.

martink1312 2020-01-26 14:17:19 UTC #15

Some more progress from the last few days. Started to add some more details.

nesokaiyoh 2020-01-26 20:54:20 UTC #16

I'm surprised I haven't come across yours on here, it's a really lovely concept though, and the finer painted details really make the piece! I do think your piece could benefit with darker values, especially for the size of the creature it really needs those deep deep blues and greens to give it some weight and mass. The trees could do with some darker tones too in both the bark and canopies. Great job it's coming along amazingly

martink1312 2020-01-26 22:30:55 UTC #17

Thanks a lot for the support and suggestions.
The values are an ongoing battle for me in this picture. I hope that in the end I can pull it all together somehow.

Here is the next step, finally Wlodek makes his appearance, with a splash you might say.

Oceane_Roh 2020-01-26 22:53:39 UTC #18

Oooh I'm glad you changed your concept a bit, the surfer is way better. That's a really sweet illustration I love it (even if these poor peoples may not share ma opinion :')

martink1312 2020-01-26 23:34:48 UTC #19

Thank you very much!
Yeah, the surfer style makes it a little less grim than before, also there is so much dynamic to play with. Glad you like it!

nesokaiyoh 2020-01-26 23:42:53 UTC #20

Just out of curiosity, how do you pronounce their names?