This is what came out of developing one of the previous thumbnails:



There are still a few unfinished/rough parts but I'll build them in after applying colour. I'm a little unsure about the foreground atm and the inner part of the tree needs a lot of work....if you have any suggestions, feel free to post them. :)

Here's a plait I drew for reference, since I wanted some of the tree roots to be structured plaits/twists to indicate human interference:

Here are some ideas of how the mages might live. Pretty basic so far...


This one on the far right is partly inspired by Axel Erlandson's basket tree.
I bet the lighting inside would look quite interesting!
This one could do with more work in showing scale but it's only a sketch atm.


I'm liking the idea of this one, where the ground would be dug out to expose the
roots and make an entrance. The roots would be woven (somehow?!) to give it
some architectural structure and allow for creative designs.

Aaarrrgghh, I'm having one of those times when everything I draw turns out crap. Will keep plodding along and update this post with whatever else I churn out (and don't mind showing) by tomorrow since I have plans this weekend.


I started some digi paintovers of the previous figures but they were
looking too static so I whipped out the brush pen to loosen up a bit.



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Related Posts:
>> Mage Thumbs
>> Mage Headgear

Here are some ideas for a mage character design. When playing RPGs I rarely favour a mage as a main character because they're often quite [physically] weak and, well, poncy. They're great to have in the background as a healer/long-range damager though.

Anyway, I wanted to break the mould and design a more active mage who could instantly hold their own even at close-combat. Something along the lines of DA (pre-Arcane Warrior) meets District 13, hahah. So far the first variation is the closest to what I've envisioned for this character so I'll develop that one next. I like the last one too but will most likely save it for another design.

The weapons are there for placement more than anything atm.

This is how the portrait turned out after some crits from a friend:


He suggested playing around with overlays to add more tones so I gave it a go. Here's a link to his blog. :) Cheers, Chris!

Lately, I've been feeling the need to take a step back and do some studies and test out some brushes. This is a study of my friend Alena - I liked the way her hair fell in the photo and wanted to paint it. Also, she's actually wearing a hoody but I like to think of it as a medieval cloak. xD Gives it a different feel.

It's a little stylised and I managed to stop myself in time so not to over-work it....which is a minor achievement for me! It's always tricky to know when to stop painting until it's too late, usually - but I guess that's the beauty of painting digitally (not too painful to fix!). ;)