Ivy - Concept Art & Illustration 2024

During my last term at CG Spectrum, I’ve been working on a personal project - Sephiria. The focus of my course was illustration rather than concept art and thus the ultimate goal of this project was to create a series of three illustrations conveying the story of my choice. Without a brief to guide me, I created a short story that allowed me to do what I enjoy the most – female character design and creature design. However, to get out of my comfort zone I also challenged myself with designing a male character.

Story of Sephiria

Sephiria was a peaceful kingdom nestled deep in a forest where people lived with creatures in harmony. They made pacts with creatures and as such shared memories, feelings, and even lifespan. However, the peaceful days ended, when a foreign army invaded the land, mercilessly slaying everything in its path. Many people and creatures alike have fallen to their deaths. Since then, trust between creatures and mankind has been hanging by one very loose thread. Nowadays, only ruins of the once thriving kingdom remain as a bittersweet reminder of its former glory. However, not all hope is lost. In the heart of this place of ruin is a sanctuary, where orphans of the war are safeguarded by the survivors of Sephiria´s fall, restoring the trust once shared between humans and creatures.

Zen-Za the Sanctuary Guardian

Zen-za is one of the survivors of Sephiria´s fall and a guardian of the creature’s sanctuary. She can communicate with these creatures and share memories as well as emotions. When designing her character I took inspiration primarily from Mesoamerican, Polynesian, and African cultures - tattoos, hairstyles, clothes, accessories, etc. I also tried to incorporate elements characteristic of these cultures and animal symbols when designing her weapon of choice – the spear.

I love painting human faces so Zen-Za´s face along with hairstyles, accessories, and tattoos was the first thing I worked on for this project. I have a long history of painting fair-skinned skinny female characters so this time I gave Zen-Za a tanned (Moana was my inspiration for skin color) and athletic figure more befitting of the tribal warrior. With this in mind, I also designed different costumes, and later on, I selected a costume color scheme with red elements that would stand out against green foliage in the background of my illustration.

Creature Exploration

After Zen-Za character design, I have done several exploration sketches for creatures that I could incorporate into my illustration.

Thumbnails

In my first illustration for this project, I was trying to depict Zen-Za as she leaps into the battle to protect the creatures who found shelter in the sanctuary or fights side by side with the creatures to guard the sanctuary from intruders. I also played with the idea of a more peaceful illustration where she is surrounded by creatures, and one is trying to steal food from the pouch hanging from her belt. Eventually, I opted for more action-packed thumbnail and explored a few color variations of the selected scene. Subsequently, I used Daz3D to pose a 3D model and light it according to the thumbnail, took a few reference photos of myself, and together used it as a reference for creating lineart and final painting.

San-Se the Werewolf

The main character of my next illustrations is San-Se. He is another survivor of Sephiria´s fall, but unlike Zen-Za, he can transform into a werewolf at night.

For my next two illustrations, I decided to depict San-Se in his human form during the day and in his werewolf form during the night. In the day scene, San-Se holding an injured kitten is hiding from poachers who are checking the bear´s trap while one of them looking in the direction of a blood trail on the ground. In the night scene, San-Se in his werewolf form is tearing the bear trap with his bare hands while staring angrily at the poacher who is quivering in fear with his back pressed against a nearby tree.

San-Se Character Design

Rather than Polynesian facial features which inspired Zen-Za´s design, I hoped to create a more Native American look for San-Se. As a source of inspiration for the costume design I used elements from Mesoamerican and African cultures, but also Native American and Middle-Eastern cultures. I wanted San-Se's character to be recognizable after transforming into a werewolf, thus some features like hairstyle, eye color, scars, accessories, and costume elements were used in the final werewolf design.

Thumbnails

To choose a color palette that would best convey the respective mood/emotions of the day and night scene, I have done several color variations. For a day scene, the desaturated palette was used to invoke a more somber, melancholic mood. In the firelit night scene, red in costume amplifies the sense of anger, and orange evokes the warmth of the fire and contrasts with the cool purple-blue tones of the nighttime background which in turn enhances a mysterious atmosphere. Subsequently, I gathered 3D references using Daz3D and photo references and began to paint.

Other Illustrations

Beowulf

The brief for this illustration was to re-imagine the poem of Beowulf. Here, I am trying to capture a part of the story where Beowulf with his party is about to fight a dragon. Initially, the costume designs were heavily influenced by Norse culture, but later I deviated from Viking influences and reworked the sketches to create more multicultural fantasy costumes.

War Veteran

This is my first completed illustration titled “Confessions of a War Veteran” for the Advanced Digital Illustration course at CG Spectrum. I enjoyed painting this piece because it combined my love of portraits and intricate details.

Upcoming Project

Before finishing, here is a little sneak peek at my upcoming project revolving around magic, alchemy, and mischievous fantastic beasts.

I would like to thank my mentor Eric Wilkerson for his guidance and all his feedback. I would also like to thank open illustration students at CG Spectrum for their comments. Big thanks to my husband for his continuous support.

Thank you for taking the time to look at my artwork!