[Kraken]

Already some great images from a lot of people! I just had to jump in with both feet.

My image is called Gift of the Wyrmslayer. The sketch depicts the battle where Tanis Half-Elven(the guy about to be a midnight snack) and his companions fighting a giant slug within the kingdom of the Sla Mori, and ancient Elven nation. Tanis gets his bow disintigrated by the slug and falls back at the foot of the throne where the dead Elven king is sitting. Tanis somehow gets his hands on the dead Elven king's sword and skewers it through the head. After the battle, Tanis recalls to his companions that he didn't actually take the sword from the king, but it was handed to him by the dead king. The sword turns out later to be the great magical sword Wyrmslayer. The sketch is the moment where the king gives Tanis the gift. The rest of the companions pictured are Sturm the knight, Flint the Dwarf, and Raistlin the mage. There were others present, but for the sake of time and my sanity, I am limiting the number of figures. I think it still makes for a good scene. I am not sold yet on the composition so figure placement and camera angle will most likely change.

[Sunstar]

Wow!, I really like the sketch, I really hope you can get it on time. Are you going to create your own style for Tanis, Raistlin, etc.. or are you going to use the one made by Larry Elmore?

Good luck!

[kelly_romeo]

Another DragonLance entry! Sweet! (Big DL fan here.) I remember this encounter from the novel very well. I dig the sketch, and the composition looks like it has a lot of potential. Also, I agree with your time and sanity check...there are a lot of characters to contend with, even with the reduced numbers. I considered the same factors in my own image. Good luck to you. -Kelly

[Kraken]

Thanks all. Glad to see more Dragonlance fans in here. Yes, I think I will use Elmore's version of Tanis to a degree (minus the Indian feathers!) I think I have to stay somewhat true to the core description of the characters (red beard and hair, ranger clothes, etc.) Other parts can change though. I have done some modeling of the clothes and the sword at home. I'll post those later tonight. I got ZBrush a couple of weeks ago and have been trying to learn it. I modeled the dead Elven king skull this morning and liked the result. I just have to make a shader for it. I'm going to have to figure out the displacement mapping thing. I've never used it before and supposedly you can export displacement maps from ZBrush to Lightwave, which is the renderer I'm using. This is definately going to be a learning experience! Good luck to all and here's my little skull....

[Maytridy]

Wow, wonderful model. My only crit is that it might be a little too bumpy on the top of the skull. Other than that, great job cramming in those details!

Love the sketch too!

[Kraken]

Well, bit by bit, I'm inching along on this. Here's the first renderings of the Wyrmslayer sword and Flint's axe. I need to work some on the gold and iron textures, but I like the progress. The modeling went pretty quickly, but I have a habit of playing too long with the textures. I made a basic head as well, then took it into ZBrush and played with them to get 4 different heads for each character in the scene. You won't see their faces directly in the scene, so their similarities won't be so apparent. Since the poses might change, I went ahead and did these though. I also have done some work on the clothing, but my Zbrush displacement maps are giving me some trouble in Lightwave. I'm still pretty new with the software.

[Kraken]

Some floating heads......

[Kraken]

Awesome work by everyone!

Well, a lot is done, and still have a ways to go, but the background is pretty much done and so is Sturm. I didn't need so much detail in him as his pose will hide a lot of the detail, but I got a bit carried away. Tanis and Flint are almost finished, but I need to apply some textures to them. The dead king is almost done as well, just got to model his legs and a bit of armor. The only things left now are Raistlin and the giant slug. The slug will hopefully go faster than the others as he is entirely one model.

So here is Sturm. There's a few problems with him, but they will be hidden when he's placed into position.

[Kraken]

And the background...

[kelly_romeo]

You're making good time Chris. Sturm never looked so good. Nice detail on the armor! Looks like you stayed very true to the Solamnic style. Nice. Can't wait to see more. Oh, and the creepy environment....SWEET! I love the low fog. Keep it up.
-Kelly

[Kraken]

Here's the giant slug progress. Tanis is almost finished and I'll post him up soon. Still need to put Flint together and start on Raistlin. A bit more work on the background and I'll be there!

[romansro]

Wow I am extremely impressed with the slug, the saliva around the mouth and the eyes are just outstanding. If you have time I suggest making a slime trail around the bottom of the slug where he touches the ground.

Keep up the good work.

[Kraken]

Thanks Romansro! I totally agree about the slime around the slug. I actually thought about that and have tested some 3d versions of it. I think, however, since that is a small detail and due to the lack of time and how much more I need to do just to finish, I will end up painting small touches like that in the background with Photoshop. Raistlin is pretty much done, I'll post him tonight. Got the Elven king to finish up and then add some elements to the background.

[Kraken]

Well, this is it! I've emailed my final image. I wish everyone luck and I hope everyone had fun!

[Siege]

Kraken...WOW!!!


Really digging this image...has that gamers view of Dungeons and Dragons. This is the first piece I have seen that makes me feel this is a DnD image instead of just a fantasy image...top job...Good Luck!!

[kelly_romeo]

Krak - I agree with Siege, you really captured the "adventuring party" aspect of having several different character types. And you succeeded in creating not just 2 or 3 characters, but 5 separate characters, plus a monster! My hat is off to you. Each character looks great by itself. I really like the mood of this image. It's neat to see how close you are to your original sketch. You saw what you wanted and created exactly that. Fantastic work Krak. Not only do I really like this picture, but I like the subject matter as well. This was a great scene to depict. Here's to looking forward to the next competition.
-Kelly Romeo