Behind-the-Illustration: The Emperor of 13th Age

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Aaron McConnell

The Emperor rules the world’s greatest human kingdom, known as the Dragon Empire for the mounts of its mightiest warriors. All the signs suggest that the age is turning, but will the Empire fall or shift to a new balance?  –From the 13th Age icon teaser description.

The final illustration of the Emperor digitally painted by Lee Moyer:

My pencil drawing:

An earlier sketch that had the key ingredients, but didn’t have the necessary amount of refinement that the Emperor demands:

Earlier thumbnails included the Emperor with a tamed dragon.  Think Ernst Stavro Blofeld (of James Bond fame) and his cat.  That approach was too ripe for parody.  We’re not going for Dr. Evil here.  Whether the  Emperor is a corrupt ruler or not has yet to be determined.

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Behind-the-Illustration: The Priestess of 13th Age

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Aaron McConnell

The Priestess hears all the Gods of Light and speaks for those who please her. She is part oracle, part mystic, and part metaphysical engineer, since she created the Cathedral, an ever-expanding temple with rooms or entire wings for each of the faiths she favors.   –From the 13th Age icon teaser description.

Lee Moyer really made this piece his own with the digital paints.  I sometimes have a guess about how the light and color will work when I turn the pencils over to him, but this was one of the cases where the final result was a total surprise.  I just gazed in awe for a few minutes when he sent it to me.  We had discussed the architectural design of Hugh Ferriss as an influence for the Priestess’ cathedral, so evidently I was expecting the background to be mostly monochromatic.  I have come to understand that the tastes of the Priestess are much more diverse and spectacular.

Below an extremely crude thumbnail.  (I’m lucky that Lee and Rob can look at something like this and determine whether it’s a direction I should pursue, or not.)

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Behind-the-Illustration: The Dwarf King of 13th Age

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Aaron McConnell

The Dwarf King is lord of Forge, the dwarves’ new homeland beneath the mountains. He’d love to reclaim the dwarven Underhome lost to war against the dark elves and the creatures of the deeps. But now that the Empire is stumbling, the dwarves find themselves manning the mountain walls that shield the Empire from the orcs and monsters of the north.  –From the 13th Age icon teaser description.

Without further ado…The Dwarf King!  Digitally painted by Lee Moyer.  Below you will find my pencil drawing as well as an earlier sketch with revision notes provided by Lee.

*Somewhere between Lee’s revision sketch and my pencil rendering there was mention of Brian Blessed’s teeth.

**To the completionists who wish to stay up-to-the- minute on 13th Age, please follow this link to Pelgrane Press.  You’ll find my Behind-the-Illustration cross-posts, but there are also some additional Art Sneak Peeks.

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Behind-the-Illustration of The Orc Lord

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Aaron McConnell

The Orc Lord is a figure of legend. The last time he walked the land the Lich King fell, in part because of the Orc Lord’s attack. Who will fall before his hordes this time? Who won’t?  –From the 13th Age icon teaser description.

The images in this post should give you a pretty clear picture of the way we developed the illustrations of the Icon characters for 13th Age.  The striking Orc Lord that you see before you, again masterfully painted by Lee Moyer, came a long way from my original thumbnail.  Once I was reminded that this wasn’t your typical “Joe Orc,” I quadrupled his body mass and covered him in the finest armor, at least the finest by orc standards.  Lee altered my sketch to improve his proportions.  It is very helpful to have someone who can see the image with fresh eyes and not only describe the revision ideas, but actually present them visually.  I stayed true to Lee’s alterations with the pencils and then he let fly with the digital paints.  Looking at the full color version I can almost smell the smoke and orc sweat lingering heavily in the air.

Email from Lee:  ”SO – Interesting discussion with Rob (Heinsoo), and it’s led to THIS version of the Orc Lord.  Rob’s point is that the Orc Lord should never be mistaken for ‘just some Orc’ so the extra beefiness is great!  Basically, he LOVED the width of the figure, so I’ve added some significant width to the torso and arms.”

You’ve come a long way, Joe Orc!

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It Tickles!

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Aaron McConnell

I went to the Stumptown Fest on Sunday, and had a great time meeting up with friends of old and making some new ones.  Yesterday for some reason was a rocky road at the drawing board. The stuff I was working on was not coming together, so I did this sketch inspired by the husband/wife duo who have been drawing X-Men character sketches of late.  Great stuff!  I HEART the awesome X-Art of Jesse Hamm and Anna Sahrling-Hamm. (Click the names, view the blogs, thank me later;)

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