The Travelogue of Tavish Thorne

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to once again collaborate with my Friends at Savage Mojo games. They were producing the new roleplaying game setting, and had commissioned a short story to help promote the upcoming game. They asked me if I could turn it into an illustrated fiction book, and I said sure.

 

Illustrated fiction is somthing I've had a love for since I was young, and my appreciation for the style of storytelling has only increased over the years. Unfortunately, it has traditionally only been a medium used for childrens books, though in recent years that model has expanded a bit, it still is vastly underutilized in the genre of adult fiction.

Anyway, as I have wanted to do just this kind of project for some time, it was a no brainer. And the story was written by the incomparable John Wick no less, author of some of the biggest roleplaying games of the past 15 years, which made it even easier.

 

Sure, it was to be a promotional product, and didn't actually pay "money" for my time or effort, but sometimes free is the right paycheck when it comes to doing something you have wanted to do for most of your career. The complicated part of this sort of scenario, is that you then have to find the time to do the work between all of the paying clients, and determine where you can squeeze it in in a way that will not only allow the time needed to produce the quality required, but to minimize the effect on your clients and paying commissions. The only thing worse then doing work for free, is doing work for free that overlaps a paying gig, and ends up actually costing you money. An artist who is paying for the privilege of doing someone Else's bidding is a poor man indeed.

 

Thankfully I was able to avoid that by having a week long window open up in my schedule the very week after I received the script. It was perfect timing, and the perfect excuse to do some art for fun.

 

So I sat down on a Friday afternoon to start drawing the basic art, and by Sunday night I was finished. It was somewhere around 30 drawings when it was said and done, and while some of them were smaller (just a hand holding a ring or a deck of cards) some were very much not small (cities, full page character images with elaborate backgrounds) and I was pretty proud of the work I had done actually.

And on Monday, I realized I still had an entire week left to work on it. I had been so excited that I had burned through the whole project in a weekend.

 

So I started scanning in the pencil drawings into my computer, and rather then turn it over directly to the guys at Savage Mojo, I began laying out the book interior pages myself. Many of you know I have a background in graphic design, and this kind of complex page design and artistic license was too good to pass up. So I spent the remainder of the week doing graphic symbols and nit picking layout and shading and adding light color to the pencil art. In the end, after a weeks worth of work, it turned out to be one of my favorite projects I have produced in (as of this writing) the 15 years I have been a working artist.

 

It can still be found on RPG now, and is available for less then a starbucks coffee: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/85733/The-Travelogue-of-Tavish-Thorne

Morgana creation process

I don't usually do much in the way of process articles. Not because I don't want to, or because I don't understand the uses of such materials, hell, if there had been one hundredth the tutorials available when I was learning digital art myself, it would have shaved years off my learning curve.

 

But that's kind of the point. There are so many tutorials, by so many artists far more talented then I, and far better at explaining their process and methods, that it seems a bit unnecessary. Nevertheless, I do want to share the creation steps of this particular image, as it is the rare exception to the rule, in that I remembered to save progress shots while in production.

 

This was another personal piece, done late last year, and one of the more recent personal works I've had time to actually complete. As such, it is a little simpler in composition then some of my work, and the process was fairly straight forward from start to finish. Because of its simplicity, it is a perfect example of the kind of atmosphere, lighting and color finishing I try to apply towards the latter stages of an image.

 

Here I've laid down the basic lines, shapes, and tones, using a lot of exploratory elements to find the right curves.

Here I've begun to get rid of the lines, and fill in some of the basic directional lighting. I also decide to add the crescent shaped wall opening behind her, to frame the bottom half of the composition.

Here I've refined the lighting a little more, and started with the area light, to make sure the main figure reads well in relation to the background. I've also begun to drop in some composite elements for detail work.

 

I've finished with the lines layers, and added in some subtle textures. I've also continued building up the highlights and finding the light forms with the rim lighting.

Here I'm just continuing to add highlights, and begin to darken in the shadows as well. Also defining more drape to the fabric, and additional details and composite objects to add interest to the figure.

This is where I really started to think about color and texture, and how to pull the character out of the background. I also added in a lot more refinement to the tree details and worked up a lot of smaller branches to help break up all the directional lines created by the big branches.

And finally, I darkened up the image considerably to achieve the mood that would lend itself best to the scene, saturated the coloring a bit to bring up the earth tones and create a sphere of interest in the center of the image, and added in a few more details, like blowing leaves, to create a sense of motion. 

Thri-Kreen Predator

So I'm a fan of Dark Sun. It's not a secret at this point. So when Wizards announced that they were doing a new version of the setting for fourth edition D&D, I immediately started plotting an elaborate scheme to insure my involvement, no matter the cost. And after months of shady back alley dealings, greased palms, and dark deeds I shall never speak of, the art director finally offered me some images for the campaign book. Not because of my efforts mind you, he just thought I could do some cool art for the book.

 

This is one of the images produce for that project, one of the classic creatures of the world, the Thri-Kreen, done in a high action pose with minimal background.

I started with the basic pencils, which were approved without changes. I did end up changing the arm position slightly to improve the silhouette, but other then that, it was pretty straight foreword from start to finish.

And when it was done, I realized I was pretty happy with the result, but what I really wanted to do, was create the kind of full page art that the original Brom works are so famous for, with lots of rugged, rocky background that gives the viewer a peak into the wider world.

So, I decided that I would take some spare time and take this small image, and make it into somthing bigger as a personal project, and a few months later, I re-built a larger background behind him, using some of the old Brom works as color reference to try to strike that same visual cord.

In the first image, I had set down the basic colors, textures, and environment pieces, but it still needed some punch. So I created more layered rock formations, increasing the depth of field, and framing the image to make it feel closed in, and a better spot for a Thri-Kreen ambush. I also punched up the contrast and color, to give it a more saturated, reddish, sun blasted look.

Hyborean Sun

I've been a big Frazetta fan for years. After he passed, as some of you probably know already, I began doing Conan art as a tribute to Franks influence on my childhood, and career, for that matter.

 

Its been a little while since I've had a chance to do anything in that vein, but I had a good idea the other day, and really wanted to see it through before convention season starts, and steals every last second of spare time I have left. So that's exactly what I spent last weekend doing, and I am happy to say I managed to pull this one together in time.

 

No sketch for this one (at least, no sketch worth showing).

Dragons Unleashed

These three were done for the Pathinder book "Dragons Unleashed", from Paizo Publishing. It's an unusual sourcebook, and features only 15 dragons which make up the whole book. But they are 15 of the most badass, ancient dragons with crazy elaborate lairs and rediculous stats that will melt your face. I love drawing dragons, and when I get to draw really old, powerful dragons, so much the better.

 

Blessing

Here we have one of my random magic card illustrations from throughout the past year.

Usually, when doing magic cards, the art director commissions them 2 or 3 at a time, and for a specific block or set, complete with style guide/world bible and tons the theatrical flourishes around the art order for inspiration. They even send the commission by singing telegram.

 

OK, only some of that is true. Obviously the telegram thing is completely accurate. But the point here is that occasionally, I just get a card here, or a card there, and they are not connected to anything else, either as a special autonomous release, a promotional image, or something else entirely (they don't always say, so sometimes its a great big mystery).

 

This however, was done completely by itself, but they did say which set it was for, namely, the 2014 core set.

 

 

The art director made only one change to the sketch, by asking for the character to look a lot happier about the experience. In retrospect, he does look like someone ran over his dog in the sketch, even though hes getting hit by super bright light rays blasting from behind the wings of an angel dropping out of the sky behind him, reaching for him from above as if to say "Give me your wallet".

 

Behir

Somthing a little different for Paizo, this one was for a monster manual. The Behir is a pretty old creature in tabletop gaming history, and has been designed in quite a range of drastically different looks over that time. For this contract, I was given source art for reference which used one of the oldest images as inspiration, a look which the more modern interpretations had gotten pretty far away from. As a result, this design is both new and different, and very true to the visual roots of the monster.

 

Eando Kline

Another character design for Paizo, this one was unique in that it was a portrait of an actual pathfinder, and a central, unifying character used in the Pathfinder fiction mythos. The team at Paizo wanted someone that could be used as a single voice that their audience could connect with, who could lend personality to the world, travelling from place to place and relating his journeys as he did so. His design was intended to be an archetype heroic figure, but with a roguish, survivalist slant, essentially a fantasy Han Solo.

He was used in a number of places, and eventually ended up on the cover of "The Compass Stone: The Collected Journals of Eando Kline", which was a collected novella of pathfinder short fiction.

The image was also used as the basis for the Pathfinder series miniature design of the same name.

 

 

Dark Djinn

Another monster from Pathfinders rather Persian influenced Katapesh region, this was a simple design, but still lots of fun to draw. I had always seen Djinni's done in a pretty limited range of designs until Magic the Gathering started doing them with some pretty demonic styles, and I had been dying to try my hand at it ever since. This guy isn't one of the titanic, evil god like entities sometimes portrayed in fantasy art, he needed to be scary and dangerous, but not over the top. I was really happy with the final colors on the image as well, which is why I have included a look at the color version as well for the side by side comparison.

 

 

Sepid Div

Done for the Pathfinder "Legacy of Fire" adventure path books. Not sure which book the final appeared in, but it was a an awesome character to create. Big, humanoid demon, with four horns, a giant scimitar, and spiky armor. What more do you need?

Loremaster prestige class

This guy is fond of books, and scrolls. He is literally wearing scrolls all over his clothing, like arcane armor. I'm not sure how he sleeps without wrinkling some of these texts irreparably, or maybe he takes them off first? In that case, it must take him longer to get dressed then a "D" list celebrity going to the Oscars.

Maybe the sad side effect of being a dwarf who loves books, is attention deficit disorder? Maybe the scrolls are simply notes to remind himself about the things he uncovered in his reading.

 

As a side note about the art, I want to also mention that I really love drawing dwarves. This may sound strange, so let me try to explain. When growing up, I played a fair amount of fantasy video games, dungeons and dragons, and watched every fantasy movie I was allowed to watch (fantasy movies in the eighties were sometimes as full of nudity as they were swords). Anyway, this gave me an appreciation for good design, both in monsters, and in the more human looking races. I always preferred believability more then anything, and because of this I always felt dwarves were commonly done a disservice in the genre. A people of stout proportions and hearty appetites, they were often portrayed as a cross between the fairytale concept of a dwarf and some kind of part halfling, part gnome creature with a giant beak like nose who had an unhealthy fascination with gold, and just came off sort of greedy and creepy.

Despite the disservice that pop culture has done this species, they remain a popular choice in roleplaying games, due to their inherent stamina and natural aptitude for combat and exploration. Which leads me to my point, whenever I have the chance to draw dwarves, I try to reflect the better qualities of their race, and show them as more than some steroid riddled gnome with an axe, but a character of real courage and resolve, with a realistic and distinct anatomy that makes them a worthy addition to modern fantasy.

Prestige Class Assassin

For this guy, I was assigned pretty much exactly what you see here. A large, half orc assassin, with crossbow, poison dagger, tons more daggers and weapons, and face mask designed to look like a demon. As a hulking, combat ready monstrosity, hes about as unintuitive as you get in the rogue class arena, and a wonderful way to re-interpret the archetype and its potential.

 

Chronicler prestige class

This was one of two images that came in a little late, after I had done most of the others. It was one of the latter additions, that I suspect was taking a few extra laps in the playtesting pool before the designer decided it was in fact ready for the spotlight. Its a pretty great idea for a class actually, it takes the combat centric play of tabletop role playing, and creates inside those boundaries, a true academic character. In the world that Pathfinder has become, a place full of ancient history and deep mysteries, this character is someone who specializes in lore and language, and its a particularly useful profession, but not one you are likely to see at every gaming table.

 

Mystic Theurge prestige class

I really liked the idea behind this character. It's a classic multi-class concept, combining both the divine traits of the cleric and the outright damage output of the Mage into a single character. It's also a concept that is almost never seen in gaming, usually impossible to balance, and something designers tend to stay away from. But the basic idea is just fun, and a natural place for people to want to take a high level character, so the rules technicians found a way to put it into the book. And I'm glad they did, because I have never had a chance to draw another Mage/Cleric before or since.

 

Shadow Dancer prestige class

This was was of those oddball classes that didn't really have a niche in classic fantasy, and was pretty open to interpret however I wanted. Sure, the classic Paizo level of detail was there in the art order, The dagger, the studded leather armor, the scroll cases, the sword, and the cloak, but the pose and body language were up to me, and with this particular class, I knew it was going to need to look agile and fast, so I wanted to show her in a kind of dance pose, spinning and flourishing her cloak at the same time, in a kind of dramatic entrance (or exit). It's a wonderfully interesting class to draw, full of implied ability and personal style.

Arcane Trickster prestige class

This one was fun. The idea of a cat burglar style of thief, who uses magic to facilitate the vandalism and pilfering, is just plain awesome. It may not be traditional heroic fantasy storytelling, but I sure can appreciate a little practical realism in gaming every once in a while.

 

And a note on the actual production of the art, when doing a contract for Paizo, they have a unique style of commissioning important character art. Almost every little piece of equipment on her was in the original text description included in the art order. Seriously. Down to the runes on her cloak.

This is not the usual way of commissioning character art. Most of the big companies have to commission so many characters, and so much art in general, that the little details are something they leave in the hands of the artist. But not Paizo. They give us a million little details, and challenge us to cram them all into the art. Personally I kind of love the style it creates.

 

Pathfinder Corebook prestige classes

A few years ago, I bought a copy of the Pathfinder alpha book. It was a printed, published book of a kind of "work in progress" game, meant to be tried and picked apart by fans and rules lawyers. It was actually a pretty impressive book as it was, but it was made very clear by the publisher that it was intended to be replaced by the real thing sometime later.

 

This was an unusual approach to game publishing, to say the least. But it worked. Really well. Soon people were picking up thousands and thousands of copies of the play test book, and no one seemed to care that it was going to be completely overridden by the fully tested and filled out version of the game only a year later.

 

My gaming group was very happy with the alpha Pathfinder. So much so, that we had completely stopped playing anything else by the time the full book was even half way finished. Which is a good thing, because when Paizo asked me if I wanted to be in the full book, I said hell yes.

 

The art director first asked me if I could do character work that was a little more "Graphic". You see, they needed someone to do the prestige class images, and Wayne Reynolds had done all the art for the basic classes, and whoever they found to do the new work, it couldn't be so different that it visually clashed with Waynes art. And his work is completely different from my usual stuff, probably more so at that time then today. But because I wanted to be in the book, and found it an interesting challenge to slant my work more in that direction, I said yes and got to work almost immediately.

 

I really wasn't sure I could do it at first, but as soon as the sketches started to take shape, I became more and more confident that it would work. The style of drawing, of pulling out shapes and rendering them cleanly, in an almost comic book style, was a fun and unexpected evolution for my abilities, and something I still benefit from today on every image I create today. And as the original sketches were so much fun, I will be posting them all here, one at a time over the coming days.

 

Here first is the Duelist, a strong, agile musketeer style class.

 

The Fall of the Gray Veil

This was a piece for Dungeon Magazine done late last year, and I am reasonably sure it was published in February in the E-zine.

 

It was a bit unusual, obviously for the subject matter, as fantasy art rarely affords the chance to render someone of a less then super heroic physique, much less one of somewhat morbid proportions.

 

But it was also unusal due to the nature of the article it was illustrating. The storyline of the adventure involved a certain odd magical effect, in that the area in which it took place, was enshrouded in some kind of curse that took the color out of everything. Yes, it sounds basically like an episode of the twilight zone, or a certain tobey maguire movie from 1998.

 

Regardless of the inspiration, the art for the article was commissioned with the odd request of being full color, but needing also to look perfectly as good in black and white. Simple right? No real adjustment necessary right? Good art looks good in color or not, no matter what, right? I seem to be using a lot of presumptive question marks as though I'm going to lead up to a point that completely discards all the previous statements right? You guessed it!

 

Simply put, full color art can look just fine in grayscale. It just doesnt always. And its a hell of a thing to finish a painting in full color, and turn it black and white only to realize all the vivid color clothing and armor, is all in the same tonal range, so instead of a well realized image, you now have a muddy gray mess.

 

So, as a little insurance policy, I painted the image in a range of very low color saturation, so the tones were very easy to keep track of in relation to color. Which, to be honest, the image lends itself to rather easily, since the subject matter is basically a giant walking truckload of dead flesh, and a vampire. These are not colorful things at the best of times, so it was an easy balancing act in the end.

Spectrum 20 winning entry

So every year I hear from a lot of the other artists in the business around the time Spectrum is taking entries. You see, its a book that has a juried entry. It's like the biggest, baddest fantasy art contest in the world (in a good way) and we're all trying to compile our best work from the past year.

So naturally, almost anyone who creates art for a living wants to be featured in the book. And boy has it become a challenge, tens of thousands of entries, and all judged by some of the biggest names in fantasy art, which change every year. So it's a changing set of tastes, and a different field of competitors every year, and a higher and higher standard and deeper pool of talent as well.

This is the image I managed, somehow, to get included in the book this year. I wanted to post it here again so I could show the initial sketch, and the final image side by side. Mind you, this is the final pencil drawing, there were quite a few sketches and thumbnails which led to this point, and even a failed final drawing or two which just didn't make the cut. I would love to show all of those to you as well, but most of them have long since met a gruesome end.

More Shaintar characters

The Shaintar Orc, Assassin, and Troglodyte. I've often done pencil fantasy art with a more comic book approach to proportion, shape, costume and detail. It's a simple, and easily exagerated way to illustrate fantasy characters. After all, these creatures are all imaginary anyway right?

But with this book, I really wanted to take a different approach and keep things as realistic as possible. Yes, they are wearing some fairly impractical armor, and in some cases, wielding some damn oversized weaponry, but with enough realism in the same image that I think it balances out a lot better.