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New illustration: "Driftwood"
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IMAGINE YOURSELF, IF YOU WILL,...

...taking a leisurely stroll at the beach, the gently settling evening sun warming your skin, the crash of waves in your ears, the warm sands under your feet.

When you see something protruding from the sand, looking — at first glance — like an intricate entanglement of sun-bleached driftwood. You think about taking some of it as a souvenir, when, suddenly, the sands start to shift...

 

DEER GOD! (GET IT?)
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"Driftwood" is the newest story by author Manen Lyset, who is a very consistent contributor to the NoSleep Podcast.

So consistant, in fact, that his story "The Pigeons Around Here Aren't Real" was the very first story I illustrated for the podcast! That was three years ago already...man, time flies!

You can listen to the fantastic production of "Driftwood" here!.

Anyway, while I normally dive into research for inspiration when I start on an illustration, I started with a very clear picture in mind with this one: the deer creature was just too cool to not draw it!

I wanted to do a very illustrative style in either black and white or a very limited color palette.
In the end I opted for black and white because the color of the skull and the color of bleached driftwood is pretty close together, which would have left me with a flat-looking and boring picture.

MORE COLOR! MORE COLOR!!!

 

The background originally started as a simple greyscale gradientwith some texture painted into it because I wanted the skull to be the star of this image.

However, as the painting progressed, the composition looked a little tame, I spruced it up by adding the triangle and the "magic sigil"with a cool flame effect. Fun fact: the sigil was originally intended for another project that never came to pass, so it found its new home here and saved me some time!

RECORDING THE PROCESS

Because Manen and I are friends, and because he expressed his interest when I told him I'm working on his story, I decided to record the whole process. Every single brushstroke, every art decision I made, all in a single video!

I'm currently in the process of mastering it (read: I am too dumb to master it and have to google and learn how to do it), but I will absolutely make sure to share the video here.

I hope you like the illustration as much as I do, because I'm really content with how it came out.

Artist spotlight: Crystal Sully
"Dragon", illustration copyright by Crystal Sully, used with permission.
Name: Crystal Sully
Homepage: http://crystalsully.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CrystalSully
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/digitallyuntamed/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/CrystalSully

Crystal Sully draws monsters, and boy oh boy is she ever good at it. She's a digital artist from Colorado and is currently working on The Untamed Bestiary, an art book containing over 50 different, beautifully crafted monsters.

She has worked for some major clients before, including Elder Scrolls, the Lord of the Rings TCG and — my personal favorite — the Pathfinder RPG.

Her art shines because of her meticulous attention to detail and her ability to convey an emotion instantly by mastering the effect of colored light. Furthermore, I love that her art instantly tells a story. You can't help but wonder what happened before the picture (like in this one, for example).

If you want to support Crystal's work, you can pre-order her fantastic book The Untamed Bestiary.
Visit her homepage now
That's all I have for you today, talk to you soon, my lovelies!
Copyright © 2018 The Art of Jörn, All rights reserved.


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The Art of Jörn · Schenkspfad 4 · Cologne 51105 · Germany

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