Raid Boss

When the DeviantART Heroes of the Storm fanart contest was first announced, I knew I HAD to participate. Although I haven't tried the game, I am a huge fan of the Warcraft and Diablo universes. In the midst of conceptualizing and executing this painting, I was hit with a major personal tragedy. It gave me some time in between to really think about the painting.

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As usual, I started with a grayscale thumbnail sketch. Initially I wanted to create a series of thumbnails, but I kinda like this one and I decided to stick with it.

Next, I blocked in the colors using Color/Multiply/Overlay blending modes. You'll notice that I added the laser for Diablo. I wanted more interaction between the characters and this was something that players of the game can relate to. I wish to create fan art that players of the game can understand and relate to.

I started adding in some details to the painting and started to see some major problems with it.

Like the sci fi painting I did before, I screened a white layer and sketched over the painting to tweak the pose of Diablo. The old pose was too static and lacked the force of the action he is making. You'll naturally tilt your head forward when you shoot laser out of your mouth. Trust me, I know.

Did a quick block in of colors to test the pose out. Oh! I also replaced Gazlowe for Illidan. Illidan has always been one of my favourite characters in the Warcraft universe (I'll say it's between him and Arthas) and that also introduces some greens to the painting too.

Detailing Diablo...

Next was Thrall. You'll notice that he looks shorter as compared to the sketch from before. I tried to mimic the official proportions, which resulted in a shorter character.

Next, I moved on to detail Illidan. One of the problems Illidan posted was that his weapon will block off Diablo and Thrall. I had to come out with some solution to still show all three elements (because Illidan's dual blades are so darn iconic) and still keep the composition clean.

In the end, I made the blades smaller. I'm not proud of this solution, but its the best I can come up with.

Final.