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.
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.
Hey folks,
keeping on progressing, not sure where to go with the lighting yet.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
Some more progress from the last few days. Started to add some more details. 
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 
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.
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 :')
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!
Just out of curiosity, how do you pronounce their names?
Hey,
sry, i just came back home else I would have answered it earlier.
It is a bit hard to answer that though because there are not quite the sounds available in english.
Wlodek is pronounced like Vlad with a softer "L" (and an "O" instead of "A"), so basically Wodek.
Dzicz is like the combination of the "G" from "genie" and "each", something like "geach".
Both are derived from polish, meaning "Water" and "Wildness".
Thank you for explaining that! I only speak English but they sound like beautiful names and especially now I can read them lmao
Hey folks,
so here would be another update on the duo, finally having Wlodek fully fleshed out and his pose set. Will need to keep on rendering a bit more and adding some more details. Also will need to clean up a lot of places. Because of the 1000 overpaint I did for nearly every pixel some places aren't properly rendered.
Ahh it's coming along nicely! The rabbit at the front could be darker though as it's a bit difficult to see, the values blend in together there a lot
Are you talking about the squirrel in the bottom right? I don't see any rabbits.
This piece is coming along nicely. I wish the wider aspect ratio was wider though to make the shot more cinematic. It might be too much work to change at this point though, so you can leave it as is. Maybe blur the side trees a bit so the focal point on the water creature is clearer. Nice work.
Hey folks,
thank you very much for your feedback and encouraging words. Both helped quite a lot. Calling it done and submitting the entry now.
Cheers
Good job in finishing it! I hope you learned a lot during the journey too
