One more work to archive here! This is a Tier 2: “Watercolor-style” commissioned painting from 2024.
Below are a few process sheets from this commission (with client name omitted, as since this was from a while ago, I cannot quite recall whether this commissioner wished to remain anonymous).
I’ve been meaning to occasionally update this blog with some art I haven’t posted here before! Starting with a few Guild Wars 2 Tier 3 “speedpainting” commissions from a while back. These are 3 of my favorites from 2023!
The other reason I wanted to post these is because I took timelapses of several pieces from the 2023 batch of “speedpaintings.” I’m planning to post the timelapse for the first and third artworks in this post (the fiery charr and the confident-looking sylvari).
I recently finished editing the timelapse videos for those two, and will post them to YouTube soon. I’ll update this post when those process videos are up!
I’m undecided about whether I’ll post the timelapse for the middle artwork (with the Ascalonian sword – one of my favorite weapon skins!), even though this is personally one of my favorite speedpaintings (I learned much about brushwork doing this one). I discovered while editing the clips that there’s a small portion in the middle that didn’t record. It’s very short, but it’s one of the parts I personally would want to see drawn (it’s when I draw the shoulder shapes), and I feel like it’s less interesting without this portion in there.
Timelapse video above
I searched all through my frames and sadly it is nowhere! It’s just lost. I’ll look at the video again to see if it’s still interesting to watch, but argh! I wish I had it there, because that one was so fun to draw, and I’d have liked to see that part drawn too.
I’ll again update this post with the process videos when they’re up!
In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, I was reminded this year of the time I drew my sylvari reaper playing a tin whistle (which is also known as the “Irish flute”).
The original painting is from 2019, and was part of a collaborative project organized by Angelique van der Mee. Several artists drew our own characters in support of the “#Love4ArenaNet” hastag, which to my memory was a spur-of-the-moment way to show a little support for the devs at the studio who were laid off at the time. It was a rough time for the studio, and a very sweet idea by Angelique and everyone else who was involved with the idea. Angelique then made a lovely composition involving everyone’s contributed artwork.
For this 2026 paintover warmup, after I drew the musical notes (which aren’t in the original), I idly thought perhaps I should have drawn “Fear Not This Night.” But for the holiday, I wanted to draw one of my favorite tunes I enjoy playing on tin whistle, instead. I would be very impressed if anyone can recognize it from the music notes, and I mentioned on socials that if anyone does guess it, I’d do a sketch for the – because it’s such an esoteric bit of knowledge, I would marvel if someone could recognize it!
Tin whistle is my favorite instrument, though sadly I rarely play it now since moving into an apartment. It’s why I moved more into practicing guitar – I’ve always liked guitar, too, but used to play tin whistle more often. Guitar has the benefit of being able to play at quieter volumes, as necessary!
In the original 2019 version, I drew my reaper, though this paintover is only showing a crop of the full-body art. I did add more to the full-body in today’s paintover, but it’s not really presentable. Maybe if I have a chance, I’ll add it to this post at a later time.
2019 version in the full post below because I’m not keen on how it looks when I saw it again today, haha:
Ended up adding a bit more to this Cerus painting I originally sketched during the launch week for Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure – which launched on August 23, 2023. According to the filename, I did the original sketch on August 29, 2023. I have a vivid impression of the starting parts of this expansion. There was an introduction scene with Cerus I was particularly enamored with. I was intrigued by the darker direction this expansion began with, and I remember having the immediate urge to draw Cerus’s formidable presence with my reaper main.
That drawing was technically always unfinished. I happened to see it again yesterday, and I was reminded of what I wanted to fix with it at the time. Which I told myself I’d do at a later date.
I ended up painting it a bit yesterday for fun, and I think it is nearing a more finished state. I don’t think I’ve posted the full composition anywhere yet. I want to do so when it is finished. In the meantime, above is a sneak peak crop showing how it’s looking now. While below is the original sketch from during that launch week, in 2023.
Bit of “sketch-painting” I haven’t posted in a while! I wanted to try a few techniques I haven’t used in a while. Mainly just the combination of a very soft and harder brush.
It’s Lorcan, my sylvari druid in his ‘Untamed” elite spec form.
Taller crop (Edit March 12, 2026: Slightly updated version). The full composition is full-body, but this one was fairly unplanned, and I’m not sure the full composition is worth furthering. I titled this post “work-in-progress” as it wouldn’t take me that much longer to refine the smaller crop, but I’m not sure when I’ll be able to do this.
Also, I hope it’s obvious his waist area is covered by foliage. What is the point of my drawing those it if it ends up looking phallic either way! Haha. Well, in any case, I’ve been thinking lately about how artistic nudity used to not be considered so “risqué” as it is today – really old posts on this blog include artistic nudity back when that was widely understood as not titillating.
Slightly earlier version of the taller crop in the full post:
