Guild Wars 2 commission to commemorate the characters’ owners’ anniversary! This one was commissioned several months ahead of time for a surprise gift, and I’m excited I can show it now.
It’s painted in the “Speedpainting (Tier 3)” style.
After reading the commissioner’s description for what they’d like to see, I had four initial sketch ideas.
The painting in an in-progress stage after the initial idea is decided upon.
With support from ArenaNet.
Had an idea with my sylvari characters I wanted to jot down! It turned into a book cover composition, somehow. It’d be reversed if I used it as one – but I mainly wanted to sketch my three characters together, since I haven’t drawn them all together in an illustration in a while.
The left character is my Nightmare Court elementalist, Caydren; the middle character is my sylvari reaper/necromancer, Landis; and the right character is my Nightmare Courtier ranger/druid, Lorcan (who has yet to have his outfit added).
My Nightmare Courtier ranger/druid’s favorite pet Iboga, which he affectionately named “Mordremoth.”
Close-up of my necromancer before I begin adding sylvari features to his anatomy.
Trahearne sketch ideas (character from Guild Wars 2).
The idea was, I wanted to see how Trahearne looked if he held Caladbolg in the “modern fantasy” greatsword style, where the weapon is slung (probably impractically) over the shoulder. I suspect (though could easily be mistaken) this pose was once popularized by FF7’s Cloud Strife player character, and has since become a standard fantasy pose. I think GW2’s in-game male humans and norn also take inspiration from that pose, instead of the more practical carried to the side, as GW2’s in-game male sylvari characters wield them. Incidentally, this was one of the early things which endeared me to my male sylvari character – and eventual new main – over my original female charr main.
While I cannot help but think the pose is impractical whenever I see it, there’s no denying it looks slick, in an anime sort of way, haha. It admittedly also probably looks more practical in this case, as I made Caladbolg smaller than I would have otherwise, to fit in the composition. If I take this further, I’d need to push Caladbolg’s perspective more, to appear its proper size.
Earlier versions, plus a rough color test.
Random Trahaerne sketch from last week. I think it became unintentional practice for the sketch from this week.
With support from ArenaNet.
Edit: February 6, 2025
I decided to refine the Malyck drawing a bit more, seen above! I since wrote on the following page, and there was quite a bit of see-through. I tried to remove it as best I could digitally, but it makes me consider acquiring a pencil board in the future. There is a Hobonichi pencil board I was eyeing the other day, and looking for an excuse to justify its purchase… haha.
Anyway, since I ended up adding more to it today, I changed the date on the drawing to today’s.
Original post below:
Did a warm-up sketch of Malyck earlier today, initially with the intention of inking it. I’m very out of practice with clean pencil drawing – I mainly use one for jotting a quick note or a rough sketch idea, nowadays – but I was enjoying using it a lot today. And ended up adding more to it in pencil instead, which may or may not have been to its detriment. I’ll try an ink test another time. :)
I was going to leave the sketch like this, before deciding to draw on it a little more and ending up with the sketch at the top of this post.
I love working with mechanical pencils, and it used to be the medium I used the most often. I still use one (the Staedtler 0.3 mm drafting pencil is a thing of beauty, and incredibly durable), but it’s more infrequent than I’d like. I mainly use it for jotting down quick ideas, and not finished drawings. Maybe I’ll try doing some cleaner sketches this year.
With support from ArenaNet.
Recently finished this GW2 commission for Rafael! His character, Lilly, who is a bloodstone-themed elementalist!
Initial sketch ideas! I had several ideas come to mind based on Rafael’s description for Lilly, as he had a specific mood and personality in mind for her portrait. I always love working from a written description. It’s very satisfying to imagine what a character’s personality is like, and then try and reflect that outward in their visual portrayal.