FINAL | ARTWAR 2 | 2D | Arzan of Eternity | BrettSYR

Hello all! First Art War here and I couldn't be more excited!

After some thought and playing around, I think a dark character is the route i'm going to take on this one. I already have a general idea of what I'm going to do, just need to execute it. Looking forward to working on it and sharing it with you all!

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Name: Brett Tiff
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brettsyr/

Final Illustration & Concept Sheet:

Here is my first little sketch dump of Arzan, little ideas that came about while I was drawing and scheming.

The basis of his character is that he no longer has a capable body due to having so much power within himself, rather, his form exists only due to bandages which he uses to seal said power. I'm thinking he could've been some sort of priest or worshiper who desired power well beyond his grasp or comprehension. I don't think story will have much weight here, but I think having one definitely helps with forging a character or creation.

In addition to the power I mentioned before, he is able to weaponize himself by releasing himself of the bandages and wraps that encase him, though unstable. The whole energy beam (lasers for days) is definitely my favorite thing I came up with on this sheet. I'm very excited by the potential here. Hope you all stay tuned, thanks!

Second sketch dump of Arzan. Here I played around a bit more with some aspects of his appearance, although much of it is just tattered bandages, wraps and cloth.

I improved upon his ability to weaponize himself, making a change to his arm and removing part of it entirely. I figure it makes much more sense to re-wrap a nub instead of an entire hand. Perhaps it is just another reminder that his true self has depleted significantly. In addition to this change, I switched the knot on his 'blindfold' to make it more realistic. If he pulls it off and it comes undone, he won't be able to retie it to the left because of his missing hand.

Overall, I'm really digging his design, especially his new arm. I love the idea of him taking his energy and giving it the form of whatever his imagination comes up with. Although, I would prefer the energy within him continue to be unstable to some degree, I'll have to express that in some way.

Finally, I touched base with some other details, though minor. I haven't decided if I want him to have some sort of cape or coverage to conceal his arm, but that is an idea moving forward. Overall, I am even more excited after this batch of sketches. I hope you all look forward to this as much as I do. Thanks.

Yeah I think that could work, I'll touch on that next! Thanks.

Third batch of sketches. This time I worked with some accessories to make his character a bit more interesting. I primarily focused on bracelet and necklace designs, I think those two additions are really the only ones that fit for him, at least right now.

I wasn't really sure what kind of style or inspiration I wanted to go with for the bracelets or necklace, but I definitely wanted some level of relation between the two. I didn't really have an idea of which bracelet design I liked after drawing them, so I skipped to the necklace to see if I could establish anything there.

Once I got to the 5th necklace idea, I started to get the ball rolling a bit, eventually coming up with the 7th one. It kind of reminded me of piano keys, but was also very basic at the same time. Then, I thought to change it up a bit, trying to make the design a bit more complex by adding in some pieces that stand out. Once I started to do that, I got the idea to individualize each piece, making it unique in its own way. I was somewhat inspired by the chains that maesters wear in Game of Thrones, each metal link representing different fields of study. I've been treating Arzan as if he was formerly a priest or something along those lines, so maybe each piece of his necklace represents a part of his faith. More to be explored when it comes to the details behind his necklace, but I at least have a cool direction to head in.

After coming up with a general necklace idea, I wasn't sure what bracelet design would correlate with it, so I went with something simple. Bracelet design #5 spoke to me, not standing out enough to hinder the necklaces' presence, but still there to add to Arzan's character.

I think adding these two details was an excellent idea overall, and certainly something that I can build off of even more. I look forward to developing him more as the event continues. Thank you taking a look.

Here is a little concept sheet I came up with last night to get a feel for not only Arzan's overall design, but to maybe give some insight into how his design came about (disregard any wacky proportions, the general look is the main focus here).

After putting on his accessories, I must say I really like the addition. They give him a bit more flair and even a bit of intrigue, his necklace especially. I like the idea behind him having bracelets on both hands, but eventually losing them because of his deformation. Might try to batter his remaining clothing even more, since most of it is gone anyways. I feel like it's in too good of condition for his complete change.

All in all, another successful day. I think some backgrounds and poses are in the near future

Finally got to scanning again.. ugh. Here are some poses that I came up with for Arzan. I planned on doing a bunch to get some sort of flow going, but I was quite satisfied with the ones toward the top of the page that I stopped. I'm thinking of going with the one towards the top left, or perhaps a variant of it.

The next step for me is the environment, what kind of situation is Arzan facing? Why is he posed like that? I'm thinking that he's going to be preparing for a showdown inside some sort of church or other religious building, maybe an abandoned building even. More to come. Enjoy!

After a bit of reworking, I finally came up with a nice composition for Arzan. I decided that a large open scene like a church (what I originally intended) didn't portray him the way I wanted to. Thus, I moved him to more of a tighter setting where his details could be seen along with his enemies. I also feel like this creates a tense atmosphere. You can obviously see a battle is about to ensue. No way out either, a knight guarding the very entrance he came through.

I have already started the line art for this composition, so look forward to that sometime soon. Time is running out, but I'm confident that I will finish with something I'll be proud of! Cheers!

So here is my progress thus far. My line work is looking good after two trials of doing it. I improved a bunch after going through it the first time (I wasn't pleased with the first run). Next step will be flat colors, then some complimentary layers after that. I'm hard-pressed for time, but i'm confident that i'll be able to finish it before the deadline!

Laying down some flat colors today. I might want to tweak the color scheme for the background, but overall things are looking good. More to come throughout the night.

The final product, though it didn't go as planned. In retrospect, I think I did some things very well. I believe both my character design and my final composition were strong, but could've definitely been executed better. The final piece fails to meet what I had originally envisioned. It is lacking in values, reflected lighting, and much more. I did learn some things from this competition, so there are some positives, but I am frustrated that I didn't manage my time better and didn't create what I had completely envisioned. I started the competition a little late, but still had plenty of time to get it done. Overall though, I did enjoy this competition. Lots of cool ideas that others in the community came up with, I look forward to seeing everyone's creations. It's been fun, cheers.