The Fall of Lordaeron

First and foremost, happy year of the horse!

I've been playing a ton of Hearthstone lately and had this idea floating in my head. What if the downfall of Lordaeron was accidentally caused by the heroes' addiction to the card game? This WIP post details the thought process of the initial planning phase of the painting.

I wanted this illustration to be epic, containing numerous characters interacting with one another and a fully rendered background. There were several key events I wanted to cover: Orcs invading the human city of Lordaeron, a guard getting angry with Uther and a 'fan service' shot of Jaina. I dissected the canvas into 3 equal parts, giving each 'storyline' equal space for the viewer.

I was contemplating on whether to place Jaina or the orc invasion scene first. Given that most people read from left to right, I decided to start with the orc invasion storyline at the left. As this panel contains a dramatic element, it will hopefully lure the viewer to continue viewing the image.

The centre and focal point of the painting contains the scene where the guard is frustrated with Uther. The pose of Uther was critical in showing his addiction to the game - he doesn't even turn to look at the guard.

Lastly, the fan service shot of Jaina. Notice that she actually sits in a very uncomfortable position given that she needs to face downwards at the playing board. Judging by the camera angle, she should be back-facing the viewer if she is in a more natural position. However, this being a fan service shot, I tilted her body so that her assets are facing the viewer.

I also added some Batriders and catapult shots flying towards the background castle for added drama. Like Uther, Jaina is completely sucked into the game and isn't aware of the dangers that her city is facing.

Here's the final painting:

This painting was really tough to draft, but I had a lot of fun doing it.