deviantART: gallery:dianae/188650

Syllia's Nightmare

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:01:16 PST

3rd artwork of the series for my metal band.

FULL VIEW NEEDED !!!

FULL SYLLIA… SERIES

>>>>>>OUR MYSPACE<<<<<<
>>>>>>OUR HOMEPAGE<<<<<<

We've got a new song posted on our myspace, "Paysage Désert", please check it out : it's the perfect soundtrack to view this image

Also, we'll be on stage the 13th of february so if you're in Paris, don't hesitate to come support us

Now let's talk about some technical stuff :

Photoshop CS3
25 or 30hours
wacom intuos 3 A4
a very small and crappy shot of my face taken with Photobooth as a reference
I googled some jellies as refs for their main shape
Water is heavily referenced from many google images for the main big splash as I wanted to make it look as real as I could.
Been quite time consuming…

Photo texture from www.cgtextures.com (rust) used on top of the picture to add scratches

I'll let you figure out about the symbolism ^^

Thanks a lot for viewing

EDIT2 : better lighting, more details

Syllia's Dream

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 04:57:49 PST

Hi there !

I know I've been away for quite a looong time… actually for almost one year.
I went through some pretty hard life times but things got better and I've finally been able to paint again last month
So… here's the result : a painting which is meant to be used as posters and flyer backgrounds for my alternative metal band.
It is not as realistic as the first Syllia painting since I wanted to go for a more graphical look, something a bit less "fantasy" and more dynamic.

FULL SYLLIA SERIES

I was in a hurry when I painted this one so some parts may look rushed but I spent quite a long time on the body and bubbles (these almost killed me !), I'd say almost 35 hours went into the painting process. I guess I've never enjoyed painting so much as it meant a lot to me to be able to paint again.

References used for the body (several ugly grainy snapshots taken with an old cheap 2megapixels camera, self timer mode -_-' ) and I also googled several images to understand how reflection, light and colours worked on soap bubbles.

Here's a crappy-looking WIP step : [link]

Here's where it has already been used (I had not finished the nails and ribbons yet when I made our myspace layout and flyers, I may change these soon)
Our myspace : [link]
and
Our website : [link]

Textures from [link] + an old shot of my old mouldy shower curtains ^^

Photoshop CS3
Wacom intuos 3A4

Thanks a lot for looking

Have a wonderful day everybody !

EDIT : OMG a DD *___* I don't even know what to say, this floored me ! I just got internet back today and I fell off the chair when I saw this. Thank you so much and You guys don't even imagine how much you made my day, this is so good to see my first post-depression artwork appreciated after so many months of doubt. Thank you

Cinabre

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 08:49:02 PST

DESCRIPTION EDITED !!!

FULL-VIEW AND READ THE DESCRIPTION. THANKS !

I dedicate it to my father for his birthday JOYEUX ANNIVERSAIRE PAPA !

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Cinabre is the central piece of this tryptich far from being finished…

Its name comes from the french name of the cinnabar stone, which is considered both as a poison and a symbol of eternal life (it has been used as a drug of longevity and resurrection).

Cinnabar is also used as a pigment.

All these images are meant to look very stiff, icon-like and full of symbols (bugs, colors, stones… ) and will be printed full size (200cm x 60cm) as door ornaments.

EDIT : Since many people asked me what are the symbols, here's a very quick explanation

She's red, color of fire, life, passion and blood. Yet, she's very pale and has "dead" skin. White has different meanings in different cultures yet it's almost often associated with calm/peace. I added green too, to enhance this opposition. The colors symbolize life duality.

The pomegranate is based on the myth of Persephone : it's a symbol of death and life too. Persephone ate 6 pomegranate seeds which caused the world to suffer winter.

The dice are meant to represent chance/fortune which are to me very important in life (I mean life in general, with its beginning and ending). I added the cards symbols (spade and heart) to enhance this aspect (heart = love. Quite easy ^^ spade = life, both soft and spiky, skull = death. Easy too )

She's wearing a very bright red dress full of feathers and some "light bulbs thingies" (some kind of metaphorical fire) which symbolize the phœnix : also associated with life and rebirth.

The cinnabar stone, as mentionned previously is associated with eternal life and death too.

The horns/antennaes are associated to Nature and insects (these are very organic). Insects have been associated with eternal life and death in many many cultures (Egyptian one for instance). Mosquitos "steal" life, beetles/scarabs carry eternal life, worms/flies are symbols of death…

Mantises are well-known for eating their mate.
I painted this mantis to enhance the "devouring passion" aspect of this painting and also to enhance the likeness of Cinabre to a "Red Lady" (I don't know the english name for these creatures, I'm sorry).
Red ladies are some kind of "vampires" that seduce men to steal their life in order to become immortal.
They are seducing them by showing them their perfect pale body (they are described as "so pale that their skin looks almost blue or green in comparison to their vivid red clothes they open to seduce men"). Cinabre's dress is untied as if she were about to steal someone's life (her stare is also very intense and her open lips show some sharp teeth).

This painting is full of dual symbols and tries to depict Life in general in a very iconic way, such as the two other pictures of the series.
I could spend the whole day wrinting the symbolism about this series so I think I'll stop here for now ^^

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Original size : 7087px x 23622px , 300dpi
Photoshop CS3
Wacom Intuos 3A4
No direct reference used (ie : I didn't copy a photo) though I used many references for the peacock mantis, a real pomegranate on my desk and a mirror for the hands.
40 hours approximately, I don't really know.

You can see the WIP here : [link]

Quick animated WIP : [link]

Closeups (40% size) [link]

Wallpaper here : [link]

_____________________

Thanks for looking !

_____________________

THIS IMAGE IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR. DO NOT USE ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN CONSENT. ASK FIRST

Magma Spirit - Fire

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 17:36:27 PDT

Edited : I changed the color scheme, the composition and added a watermark. Too many art thefts

After lots of days of work, I'm calling it finished (finished for now though.... Pamzylove wants me to add a hand holding a ball of fire, I'll do an alternate version with the hand when I can )

It's Fire, the second piece of my elements serie. The first one is [link] . I'll rework it since it looks flat and a little bit sketchy compared to the fire one.

I dedicate it to , she's the beautiful model of this picture, please checkout her gallery!

You can checkout the WIP thread here : [link]

Please full view

Photoshop CS and a wacom intuos 3A4, approx 35 hours (maybe more). Everything has been painted with a round hard edged brush. I've also used round soft brush for the glow. I'll try to do a tutorial if some of you are interested in it

Crits are very welcome!

EDITED!!! The old version can be viewed here : [link]

THIS IMAGE IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR. DO NOT USE ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN CONSENT. ASK FIRST

Red Queen

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 12:40:00 PDT

Hi people

I'm sorry for not having been able to reply to your comments, I promise that I'll do it as soon as possible, but I'm very busy at the moment.

Here's the Red Queen painting I had started last year, I've finally found enough motivation to finish it.

To see the whole progress, click here : [link]

You can see details here : [link]

I hope you'll enjoy it

Photoshop CS3
Wacom intuos 3A4
60 hours approx
No reference used

THIS IMAGE IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR. DO NOT USE ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN CONSENT. ASK FIRST

Why don't you do right?

Sun, 30 Dec 2007 19:47:19 PST

FULL VIEW ELSE I'LL EAT A KITTY ALIVE!!!!

(just joking, but please full view else you won't see the details )

Do you recognize her? She's Jessica Rabbit from the movie "Who framed Roger Rabbit?"

If you have not seen it, go watch it RIGHT NOW!!!!!

This is my own interpretation, I KNOW she's meant to be a cartoon, but I wanted to make her look a bit more real (although still cartoony)... just for fun. I know her dress is meant to be shorter By the way.... she's not bad. I've just painted her that way...

Photoshop CS3 as usual, lots of hours spent on it (approx 25 I think) with my beloved wacom intuos 3A4, no reference used

CHECK THIS OUT!!!! GREAT STUFF!!!!!!

Video! (Jessica singing!) [link]

Closeups : [link] (face and sequines) and [link] (shoes and sequines!)

Lineart for the ones who would like to color it (please don't forget to link to my profile and also send me a link if you color it and post it somewhere. This is for NON COMMERCIAL use only!) : [link] I did it after the painting for the ones who would like to practise colors, there was no lineart for this painting

MY BRUSHES!!!! (all the photoshop brushes I'm using) : [link]

Have fun now HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!!!!!

Edit : I won't make her nude, don't even bother to ask. Please try to pay attention to the art, not only to the fact that she's sexy!

THIS IMAGE IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR. DO NOT USE ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN CONSENT. ASK FIRST !

Chimaera

Sun, 08 Jul 2007 16:12:24 PDT

Hi people !
First of all, I'm sorry for having been away for so long, I've been very very busy, so I've not really had time to paint or comment on artworks, it may change soon though since I'm going to have some free time next week

About the painting : this is a character design for a personal project, it was meant to look like some kind of a mix between various animals (lemur eyes, sheep horns, some kind of bat wings looking hands, etc...) and human being, I hope you'll like it.
Photoshop CS, wacom intuos 3A4, 50 hours approx, no refs used.
Feel free to comment and crit
Details : [link]

Thank you very much for all the kind comments/messages/notes you've sent me, I've still not had time to reply but I'll do so, please don't feel offended if I've forgotten to reply, it's just that I've been way too busy

THIS IMAGE IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR. DO NOT USE ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN CONSENT. ASK FIRST

Dream Catcher

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 16:22:39 PST

Edit : I fixed the horns, changed some minor things, changed the color scheme slightly, added a watermark and updated the print (without watermark of course)

ASSOCIATED TUTORIAL HERE : [link] !!!!!

This painting has no particular meaning, I had just started doing a hair painting tutorial then I've finished the sketch I had done...
Nothing special

Please note that it's a quickie compared to my other works so it may look a little bit rushed (I've spent 7 hours on it).

No refs used, I've had a hard time figuring the hand... it still looks off but since it's not something I had planned to paint nicely, I don't really care

C&C are very welcome!
The tutorial can be viewed here so you can see how different is the final image [link]

EDIT!!!!!!!!

It didn't look good so I've spent some more time working on it so it's now a "finished" painting (at least more refined than the previous version)

I hope you"ll like it

Details can be seen here : [link]

THIS IMAGE IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR. DO NOT USE ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN CONSENT. ASK FIRST

King of the Ash World

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 10:35:01 PST

FULL-VIEW TO SEE THE DETAILS !!! LARGE SIZE !!!

Commission for for her friend's birthday. A belated happy birthday to him !
She told me he liked this kind of artworks ([link] ) and asked me to put screaming faces on his armour so I made something with a similar atmosphere (though it's not really similar).

Very classic fantasy theme I enjoyed painting it, though I unfortunately had a big artist block after having started it (some troubles caused it, now it seems to be gone)

Photoshop CS3
25 hours approximately
No reference used except for the face, though it looks nothing like the original photo, since very few of the face is shown and I changed the expression.
Some textures from CGTextures

Her Eyes

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 21:48:55 PST

FULL VIEW!!!!

It's going to be included in Exposé6 !!!!!!

Hi everybody!

I've finally found enough motivation to finish this piece.... (though I may fix some things later, I don't know... I'm just way too tired of this one for now!)

The story behind this painting is quite simple : the girl (you're free to find her a name if you want) is some kind of a noble witch, she was born blind then discovered that she had the power to see through the eyes of animals.
The serval cat she's holding is now "her eyes", he's bound to her (that's why he has human eyes).

I started this painting as a study to practise curly hair mostly and I ended up finishing it....

WIP Thread

Closeups

More closeups

A beautiful serval photo found on DA today, go check it out!

Photoshop CS3
Wacom Intuos 3A4
80 to 90 hours approximately (maybe less, maybe more... I can't remember...)

No direct reference used, but I googled some image of serval cats to create my own serval and I used a mirror for the right hand.

I hope you'll like it!

Thanks to everyone who helped me!

THIS IMAGE IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR. DO NOT USE ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN CONSENT. ASK FIRST

Tempestarii

Sat, 01 May 2010 14:05:57 PDT

Sorry for the lack of updates people, I've been dealing with many things lately (two bands, two jobs and all my ratties are dying from old age so I've not been painting very much...)
I've been way more active on my photo account as photos didn't require as much time as painting (and to be honest, I didn't feel like painting as I had many illustration jobs to do and didn't feel like painting personal things once I stopped working on these illustrations...)

Associated Wallpaper here :

Tempestarii are mythological beings which modify weather, weather-makers to sum it up.

I had this image in mind the day before yesterday and absolutely had to paint it, I don't know why

The winged fish are meant to symbolize both air (wind) and water (rain) while the blue God with red hair also symbolizes water and fire (lightning). I added him horns as these are quite common on pagan deities (and I must admit I love to paint ram horns, these are quite fun to do).

I wanted to paint something a bit similar to my "Nimue" painting, both abstract and realistic in some parts. This has been one of the paintings I had the most fun to create

I hope you will like it aswell

Photoshop CS3
Wacom Intuos 4A4
6 or 7 hours
no reference used for the Tempestari (except for my hand with a very crappy Photobooth shot)
I also googled some images of Betta Splendens fish but didn't really look at them and the winged fish ended looking quite different.

Comments and critiques are very welcome, thanks a lot for viewing !

Here is an animated WIP for the ones who are interested on how it looks : [link]

Nimue

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 11:48:35 PST

EDIT : WALLPAPER PACK LINKED BELOW !!!!

FULL VIEW OR I'LL EAT YOU ALIVE

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!

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Nimue, the Lady of the Lake

A personal version of this character from the Arthurian Legends.

I've been sick all night so I couldn't do anything but to stay at home for the New Year's Eve… I felt so frustrated that I spent all my night painting something personal (I had not done this for quite a long time ^^' )

This is also a pretext to try some new custom brushes I made… and to experiment with abstract + "realism"

Photoshop CS3
Wacom intuos 3A4
7 or 8 hours
No reference used

Inspired by Ewa Karpinska, Gustav Klimt and Odilon Redon art.

If you don't know Ewa Karpinska, you should REALLY check her artworks out ! She's an amazing painter who has a very unique way to use watercolours !

_____________________________

Brushes used for this painting (you can use them but PLEASE credit me These are for PHOTOSHOP CS3)

If you don't have photoshop CS3, you can recreate all those brushes using my Nimue Custom Brushes Tutorial

Wallpaper pack

Details

Animated WIP

Wallpaper coming soon on my other account (I'll update my journal with it)

_____________________________

THIS ARTWORK IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR - 2009. DO NOT USE WITHOUT MY EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION

Morgan le Fay

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 13:45:37 PST

Hi artists Happy New Year!

This is my new painting, "Morgan le Fay", based on the Arthurian Legend.
Morgan le Fay was an enchantress who practised lots of sciences and knew how to make poison (the little bottle she's holding contains poison. The moths are meant to represent the souls of her victims, attracted by poison - you can see some sparkling dust around them, coming from the bottle)

It was meant to be just a lighting exercise at first (I was playing with my wacom and a mirror) but I liked the colours so I've decided to turn it into a painting.

Photoshop CS and my wacom

35 hours approx

no real refs used (I've just taken a look at some nightshots of streets, you can see them in the WIP thread located here : [link] ). I've used a mirror as mentionned above. The hand was the hardest part to make, it's still not perfect (there are some flaws in the painting but I was tired to work on it so I've called it done) but I've really tried.

The tones are brown and green on purpose, the lightsources are candles (and a little bit of magical light, she's a sorceress ) so there's no real diversity in the colours and the contrast is not very high.

Btw, the internet optimised jpg compression is very very crappy, I've lost all the details in this version the contrast of the lights was better, the hair was more detailed, the skin had some texture but I can see nothing of that in this version....

Crits are very welcome.

I have to apologise in advance because I think that I won't be able to reply to your comments... I've been very very busy lately and I'm still very busy. I cannot be very active in all the artistic communities where I'm subscribed and since I was first subscribed to GFXartist I keep being active there but I don't have time to come here as I would love to

Thank you very very very much for all the kind comments/messages you've sent me You can contact me by e-mail if you need a quick reply (I'll try to reply as quick as possible)

Lighter version for dark monitors : [link]

Details : [link]

THIS IMAGE IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR. DO NOT USE ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN CONSENT. ASK FIRST !

After the rain...

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 19:17:04 PDT

This is my entry for 's contest on Medowhaven [link] (go checkout her gallery, it's amazing!)

The characters are Faeren, a young elf knight and Snoots, his little enchanted pet. The theme of the contest was to depict the relationship between Faeren and the Forest of Illusions, since he's part of this forest.

I wanted to make him look as a tree and also live as a tree, growing after the rain.

I've had a lot of fun painting it, I hope you'll like it

Photoshop CS3
Wacom intuos 3A4
50 hours approx
No reference used

Please take a look at the closeups [link] everything is lost in this version, there are lots of details that can't be seen in small size.

You can see the whole progress here : [link]age=1&p=15

Faeren and Snoots belong to Adele!

THIS IMAGE IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR. DO NOT USE ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN CONSENT. ASK FIRST

Miranda and the Tiger's Eye

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 03:25:23 PST

PLEASE READ !!!!

This is the cover illustration for "Miranda and the Tiger's Eye" by author Sara Beacham. I had finished it a while ago but I just got the authorization to post it today.

If you have no idea of what to give your children for Christmas, this is a wonderful book

Book Cover, front

Press Release

Closeups

This is a wonderful novel for young readers (8-12 years of age). Fans of Harry Potter, The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, and the Spiderwick Chronicles will love Miranda and The Tiger’s Eye !

As you might tell, I was given total freedom for the background (it just had to be jungle themed). Yay !
I followed a sketch Robin Beacham provided me with for the characters poses.
I only made the illustration, not the book cover design, so please no crits about that

Photoshop CS3
45 hours approximately
References provided by Robin Beacham (the author's daughter).
Some textures from CGTextures

I'll make a specific journal very soon, as soon as the book is available on Amazon.com.

By the way, critiques are welcome BUT I won't change anything since the book has already been published. So if you really want to critique my work, I'd rather like you to do so on pieces I can modify

No prints will be available.

Clathrus Ruber Nymph

Wed, 21 Jun 2006 03:47:57 PDT

Edited : I changed the colorscheme slightly, added a watermark and updated the print (no watermark on the print of course).

Hi everybody!!! It's finished (I think that it's finished but if you see some flaws, please tell me and I will fix that)

Yeah!!!! Wooohoooo!!! (I know that I may sound stupid writing things like that but it has been a hell of a job doing all the textures on the dress, crown and details everywhere!)

I want to dedicate it to all the artists who have helped me and who have followed the steps of painting. Thank you soooo much for your help, feedback and everything. Special thanks to the 2 artists who have made overpaints to explain me what was wrong (Eilidh from CgTalk - she's also here - and Dimitri from Café Salé. Thank you very very much!

You can see the whole progress here : [link]

I'll have some more free time now, so I'll try to reply to your messages, sorry for having been away for so long

Details : [link]

Prints should be available soon (I'll upload them today, I have access to a ftp software now )

You can see a bigger version here (just noticed that I had forgotten to put the link to it ) : [link]

Oh my...... A DD!!!!
Thanks soooo much for that people! And thank you very very much to ^silentkitty for having featured it! Thank you!!!

THIS IMAGE IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR. DO NOT USE ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN CONSENT. ASK FIRST !

Poison Ivy

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 08:10:07 PDT

Edited : I changed the color scheme, fixed some anatomy issues and added a watermark. Too many art thefts

you can see all the painting steps here : [link]

Hi people Finally, I've finished my entry for the Poison Ivy Challenge run by
I've spent a lot of time on it, I don't like this colour scheme so it has been very challenging. I must have redone the face and hands at least 100000 times....

I hope you'll like it

Feel free to comment and crit! (I don't think that I'll edit it though, I'm tired of painting her! )

No reference used, except for the poison ivy leaves, I've just looked at some leaves using google image to see how they looked like.
The anatomy must be totally off, but I've really tried... I'll do better next time

Photoshop CS2, wacom intuos 3A4
40 hours approx.

And yes, I have a hair fetish

EDIT : I've fixed some issues due to popular demand

Thank you very much and !!!

THIS IMAGE IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR. DO NOT USE ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN CONSENT. ASK FIRST

Gentle spring breeze

Tue, 20 May 2008 15:09:26 PDT

Portrait of the wonderful for her birthday… Unfortunately, due to the insane amount of work I'm having at the moment, I couldn't finish it on time for her birthday

Something with a fresh spring atmosphere and more painterly than my usual work.

By the way, if you've sent me notes I've not replied yet, don't worry, I'll do so, when I'll find some spare time (I won't be able to do so for the next 2 weeks, but after this very hard period, I'll have some free time).

Photoshop CS3
Wacom Intuos 3A4
50/60 hours approximately
Reference used for the face, everything else is imagination.

Closeups : [link]

A WIP step : [link]

I think the lighting could use some fixing, I'll do so when I have free time.

Hanagumori

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 16:55:06 PST

ASSOCIATED TUTORIAL HERE !!!!!!

It's going to be included in Exposé6 !!!!!!

Hi people, first of all, I am not dead.... but I am very very busy with school and commissions (and works that are 95% finished but that don't please me so I'm reworking them again and again...)

About this painting :

I had promised lots of people I would write a tutorial a loooong time ago. I have finally nearly done it (I'm still writing it, but here's the base image, I have recorded all the painting process using SnapzProX, I may post it this weekend)

It has been challenging because I wanted to make her look half Asian and half european, which is not as easy as I thought (I don't know if I have succeded in it, but I like her eyes and expression) and also because it is a very unusual color scheme for me. Her face is painted (she is meant to look a bit like a young Geisha, although it is my own adaptation) so her skin may look unusual.
I will make the videos available on youtube as soon as my computer has finished encoding them.

Oh, and Hanagumori means "late spring with blossom haze" (thank you very much to *gohodoshi for the translation!!! )

For people who had sent me notes ages ago and I have still not replied (I'm so sorry guys, I really swear I'll read my mails and notes more often in the future ), could you please send them to me again? I have received LOT of spam so I have given up reading them all

Mhhh.... I think that I've said enough, now I'm off to work (again).

btw, please accept my apologies, I won't be able to reply to your comments for now I am really way too busy at the moment. So : THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!!!!! to everybody who has taken the time to view (please full-view ) it

Thanks for viewing, crits and comments are most welcome

Much love to everybody :hugs:

Photoshop CS3
Wacom intuos 3A4
12 hours approximately
No reference used

Closeups (100% size) [link]

Quick WIP animation : [link]

and YES she has a blue eye and a green eye. It is fully intentional, I just felt like painting an odd-eyed person, without making it too obvious.

THIS IMAGE IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR. DO NOT USE ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN CONSENT. ASK FIRST

Would you be my Valentine?

Sat, 24 Feb 2007 22:14:12 PST

This one may be the most time consuming piece I've ever done (and I don't think that I'll do it again, I had started to hate it in the end ^^)
This is part of a serie I'm doing with my best friend about celebrations (Christmas, Valentine's day, etc....), this is actually the first painting of the serie. She's doing the 2nd one, then I'll do the 3rd, etc...

It's about some persons who can harm people who love them then and being lonely and cold, searching for a heart to take, blinded by they feelings, trying to "hunt" for a "love prey"... Dunno if it's very clear (I'm very tired so I'll edit this description once I've slept enough to be able to speak french and english without doing too many mistakes )

The tree is a human hearts tree (that may be a little bit erm... gross, I don't know... I just felt like painting real hearts so here's the result ^^).
The peacock feathers symbolise pride and also bad luck. The eyes... well, she's blind
The snow leopard is meant to symbolise her "hunter" behaviour (now blind aswell), the fact that she's sitting on a tree is meant to represent how lonely she feels (and it's also a nice place to search for hearts, remember )

I know that she's breathing against the wind, but making breath right looked wrong so I'm gonna call this thingie "artistic freedom".
The lighting is typical flat snowy weather lighting so there's not a lot of volume.

Photoshop CS and my beloved wacom
50 hours approx.
Ref used for the body and I've taken a look at some snow leopard shots (google is my friend!) to remember how they look like.
No refs for the fabric so it's totally off but I don't really care since this image is not intended to be realistic (I've never seen a heart tree )
I don't know what else to say... I hope you'll enjoy this image, feel free to crit
Thanks for viewing!
Thanks a lot to everybody who has helped me in the WIP thread
I may edit this image later if I'm motivated enough....

I definately have an issue with web optimised jpg.... it destroys the colourscheme, contrast and volume My painting looks flaaaaat (it had not a lot of volume due to the dull lighting, but the jpg version is totally flat!)

WIP thread : [link]
Reference : [link]
Closeups : [link]
Previous version : [link]

THIS IMAGE IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR. DO NOT USE ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN CONSENT. ASK FIRST !

Pan and Selene

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 09:11:42 PDT

PLEASE FULL-VIEW FOR DETAILS !!!!!!!

After some more work on it, I'm now calling it done

Photoshop CS3,
20 hours,
No reference used.

This is my own rendition of a Greek myth.
Pan has seduced Selene offering her white oxen ; Pan is the god of Nature, Selene is the goddess of Moon. They are meant to look quite opposite, it has been very interesting to paint

More about Pan and Selene here : [link]) (the link seems to be broken, please add a ")" at the end of the link ! )

Associated WIP thread : [link]

I've tried to edit the image, I hope it looks better You can use it as a desktop wallpaper

If you have some time, please check this out!!!! it's my metal band new demo [link]

THIS IMAGE IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR. DO NOT USE ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN CONSENT. ASK FIRST

Lakkenaa and Snowball

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:51:48 PST

ANOTHER UPDATE

Previous version here : [link]

Finally done !

I did this illustration for the december part of the DrowInside Calendar by
Check it out, it's awesome !
HURRY UP AND NOTE *Kanuka76 IF YOU WANT IT !!!

You can see a preview here !

Closeups (size : 55%) UPDATED.

WIP steps

Lineart made after this painting

Photoshop CS3
Wacom Intuos 3A4
No reference as usual
Original size : 3450px * 10630px, 300 dpi
I'd say about 18hours ? I don't know though. I'm having big eye troubles at the moment and I can't work as I'd love to since I can't stare at my computer for a very long time

I found them names ! The girl is called "Lakkenäa" and her dragon pet is called "Snowball". I don't know what Lakkenäa means, I did a Google search and it doesn't exist, but I liked it.
And no, she's not cold, there's some fire behind her and let's pretend she's using magic to feel warm.
She's listening to Snowball telling her where she can adopt an other dragon (and a specific one by the way : he fell in love with a pretty pretty she-dragon and wants her to be his girlfriend ! )

I hope you'll like it ! I know it's still a bit sketchy, but I was already late to give it to *Kanuka76 since the official deadline was over
I may refine it someday when I have free time though. For now I'll just keep on working on contest commissions (almost done ), other commissions, school work and music !

The Ascent

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:29:46 PDT

EDITED : watermark added, print updated (without watermark of course). Slightly more saturated and vivid.

Dedicated to and

Hello everybody!

Due to the fact that I've had some kind of an artist block, I had not updated my gallery for long. The only thing I've been able to do lately is to finish this painting. It had been commissionned by ImagineFX, the workshop can be seen in ImagineFX issue 26 (december issue)

This is quite different from the published version since I have had time to refine it (I had to meet a deadline then, and my old monitor died during the painting process, so I had no choice but to submit a "not-so-refined" painting. Anyway, all the techniques were explained and detailed, I used the same ones to finish it ), you can see the magazine version here : [link]

It's about seasons (winter/spring), life and death.... I suck at explaining what I mean so I prefer avoiding saying too much stupid things

Details here (not 100% size, original size is bigger) : [link]

Photoshop CS3
50 hours approximately
Wacom intuos 3A4
No reference (though he looks EXACTLY like my ex-boyfriend. I am pretty happy with the likeness... I challenged myself painting him from memory. Nice exercise by the way!)

Image size : 8268px x 6248px, 300dpi

I hope you'll like it! Crits and comments are very welcome, though I must apologize right now.... I'm so busy that I think I won't be able to reply to most of them But I really appreciate feedback, and you can be sure I'm reading them all! It's just that I don't have time to reply :/

Homo Octopus - another mermaid

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 09:41:33 PDT

This painting has been done for a tutorial I'm writing for psd magazine.
It's another mermaid, but I've done it on purpose since lots of people had asked me how to paint sea creatures/hair/translucent skin/gills (I've tried to put all these things in one picture).
I hope you'll like it
The composition may look unusual and a little bit empty but since I'm planning to use it as a wallpaper (you can also download it to use it as a wallpaper if you like it), I've put some "empty space" (not really empty, but dark enough to avoid being too distracting) on the right part (I have a mac computer.... for the PC users who would like to use it as a desktop wallpaper, you can flip it horizontally, I had totally forgotten that it was the contrary on windows....)
Enjoy

THIS IMAGE IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR. DO NOT USE ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN CONSENT. ASK FIRST

Atlas and Dione

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 01:29:13 PDT

Edited : Larger version with watermark. I refined the hand, haid, adjusted the color scheme, added some bubbles. Print updated (no watermark on it of course).

This painting is a concept for a videogame project about Atlantis. The characters are Atlas, the king of Atlantis and a Nereid : Dione.
It had to be a little bit similar to "Deep Sea Creature" because this one has become part of the game aswell (so I've added the same features on the faces under the eyes, a similar composition, etc...)

This is some kind of a "speed painting" (10 hours...) and yeah, I know about the blurry hand... boo boo, it's ugly ^^ I'll fix it when I have more time ) so it's a little bit messy... I had to meet a deadline so I've not had time to make it look better and I'm a little bit too busy at the moment to work more on it.

Comments and crits are most welcome, I may update this image soon

Photoshop CS and my beloved wacom, my ex-bf used as a ref for Atlas face and a mirror for the Nereid's face (each member of the team will be converted into one of the game characters and since my name is very similar to the one of this Nereid, I've painted myself as her More coming soon! )

By the way, we're still searching for 3D artists/animators that could do models and animate them so if you're interested, please send me a message

Thanks for viewing!

Edit : I've added some scales and fixed a small lighting issue

THIS IMAGE IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR. DO NOT USE ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN CONSENT. ASK FIRST

Sea Dancers - Water

Fri, 05 May 2006 10:32:30 PDT

Edited : I changed the color scheme and added a watermark. Too many art thefts

Hi artists!

Here's the finished version of the Sea Dancers Thanks a lot for your comments on the steps!!!

It's part of a project about the 4 elements. This one is Water, I hope you'll like it!

Everything has been painted from scratch in photoshop CS. About 15 hours.

Refs used for the face and body (linked below), everything else is imagination. Thanks a lot to [link] for the wonderful stock image he provides! Body ref : [link]

Alternate Version (green one) : [link]

WIP : [link]

Refs : [link]

Closeups : [link]

Some of you may notice the "grainy" texture, it's due to the invisible watermark.

Please full-view, lots of details are lost in the small version

Prints are now available WIP of "Fire" coming soon.

Thanks to everybody who have viewed the deviation and written a comment here, I'm a little bit busy so I don't have time to reply right now, I'll try to do it as soon as possible!

THIS IMAGE IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR. DO NOT USE ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN CONSENT. ASK FIRST !

Lord of Nightmares

Sun, 02 Jul 2006 14:10:49 PDT

Edited : I changed the color scheme and added a watermark. Too many art thefts

Each night, he comes on Earth. He comes, following the nightmares way through the stars. Nightmares are there, waiting in the fog of this dark road. They try to reach his hands. He'll take one of them, the others will have to try again each following night.

Just a quick story

I've done it with no idea of what I would do at first, it was just a bad quick sketch that has become a painting. It was the first time I was painting spacescapes, it's very hard to do but I'm quite pleased with the result
No refs used here, I've only taken a look at my left hand when I was drawing (then flipped it horizontally.... lazy me!)
I hope you'll like it, it has been hard to paint but it was interesting since it's the first time I was doing something like that
If you think that some parts could be improved, please tell me, I would like to fix the flaws. All crits are very very welcome!

Photoshop CS and a wacom intuos 3A4, approx 40 hours.

Thanks for viewing!!!

Details : [link]
You can take a look at the whole progress here : [link]

THIS IMAGE IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR. DO NOT USE ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN CONSENT. ASK FIRST

Syllia...

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:00:28 PDT

FULL VIEW

FULL SYLLIA SERIES

Details and WIP HERE : [link] You can also find a very detailed description of this character there

Little tutorial on how to paint water here : [link]

A veeeeeerrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyy long time overdue artwork for my band. Will be used as posters / ads

SYLLIA IN CONCERT SATURDAY, 28TH. MORE DETAILS HERE [link]

Photoshop CS3,
Wacom intuos 3A4
No ref (I used a mirror for the lower part of the body and hands)
50/60h

PRINTS DON'T HAVE WATERMARK !!! DON'T WORRY

Looks MUCH BETTER in real life… details have disappeared due to jpg compression, as usual -_-

Edit : She's meant to have huge eyes, proportions of both a child and a grown up person, and a very weird expression…
Actually, she's not a young girl, she's ageless, and she's pretty mad… Not an innocent girl ^^'

EDIT : OMG!!!!! A DD oO THANK YOU VERY MUCH and Thank you !!!
Wow… don't know what to say now

Deep Sea Creature

Sat, 02 Sep 2006 17:47:59 PDT

Edited : sharper and larger image + watermark added and print updated

First of all, I'm really sorry for being so inactive for so long, I still won't be able to reply to all the comments and to comment on your work since I'm actually very very busy (working for comics and other professional works) so please send me a note if you want me to comment on your work, crit or if you have an important question

Mermaids have been lots of times described as beautiful and kind creatures. But that's not the way they are described in mythology. They are said to be crual winged creatures that turned into a crual mix between human beings and fish. They were singing to attract sailors then they eat them.
This is my own version of a mermaid/siren, a deep sea creature using photophore to attract preys.
Photoshop CS and a wacom intuos 3A4
No reference used (only doing some google search to see how the photophore of the anglerfish looks like) so there must be lots of issues but I like it as it is now Crits are very welcome though
30 hours approx.

Process can be viewed here : [link]

Details : [link]

Thanks for your help on the WIP I had posted. I've read all your comments and tried the suggestions (the scales didn't work at all though) but I've not had time to reply to your comments. I'll try to do it as soon as possible Thank you very much once again, I really appreciate your help!

Please FULL-VIEW for all details! Everything is lost in the preview

Edit : PLEASE guys, DON'T use this everywhere, this character is now meant to be part of a videogame (not released yet!) and I'd REALLY APPRECIATE you to respect my work, all the images you can see in my gallery ARE NOT FREE for use!!!! ASK FOR PERMISSION FIRST!!!

Same serie as "Atlas and Dione", more to come

THIS IMAGE IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR. DO NOT USE ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN CONSENT. ASK FIRST

Alien Girl

Wed, 19 Apr 2006 16:58:03 PDT

Edited : I changed the color scheme, reworked the hair, hand and added some more "alien" features, then added a watermark. Too many art thefts

Hi ppl

This another version of my AlienGirl character (selfportrait again) : [link]

refs : [link] and [link]

Photoshop CS, wacom intuos 3A4, about 60 hours.

THIS IMAGE IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR. DO NOT USE ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN CONSENT. ASK FIRST !

Am I beautiful? Collab

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 05:14:59 PST

This painting is a collab I did with Aaron Sikstrom aka

He did the lineart, I colored it

His original drawing can be seen in his gallery here [link]

You can see the painting process here : [link]age=1

It is the most time consuming painting I have EVER done! I spent 142 hours on it, I lost the file 3 times and I have finally found the motivation to finish it today because it was just making me nervous and feeling guilty because I had planned to finish it ages ago. Now it's done!!! Wheee!! (I'm very very sorry for the delay Aaron )

I hope you'll like it (and I know it's not realistic, the anatomy, lighting, water, skin, plants, etc... are full of "artistic freedom")

Some details : [link]

Now I'm feeling much better and I can work faster

FULL VIEW!!!!!

Photoshop CS3, wacom intuos 3A4
142 hours
no reference

THIS IMAGE IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR. SKETCH IS ©AARON SIKSTROM. DO NOT USE ANYWHERE WITHOUT WRITTEN CONSENT. ASK FIRST !

Slippery when wet

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 00:48:50 PST

Hi everybody!
This is a collab with Aaron aka seeThrou : [link]

His original drawing can be found here : [link]

It has been very fun to paint though I had stopped working on it for a very long time (I had started it some months ago and just finished it today)... I'm sorry for being so late Aaron

Photoshop CS and my wacom,
25 hours approx

Thanks Aaron for this collab, it has been very fun and challenging

I hope you'll like it, feel free to crit

The colours may look too light or not saturated enough, I've tried to calibrate my monitor LOTS of time, but it doesn't seem to work well

The closeup contains "explicit" stuff (the little sleeping guy is nude) so if you're afraid of seing a nude thing, don't click it

Closeup : [link]

THIS IMAGE IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR. SKETCH IS ©AARON SIKSTROM. DO NOT USE ANYWHERE WITHOUT WRITTEN CONSENT. ASK FIRST !

Night bird

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 14:58:22 PST

!!!! FULL-VIEW !!!!

For , who won 2nd place in the Fall Contest, ex-aequo with =ei-en
She requested me to paint her character Morgan. You can see Morgan here :
[link]
[link]
[link]
[link]

I hope she'll like it

Photoshop CS3
Wacom Intuos 3A4
11 hours
I used Adele's paintings as references for Morgan's face features.
I took some freedom with the lighting to make the face stand out. So please avoid the "oh the lighting is off" comments I know how to make lighting look right but I felt that it would look better this way

EDIT !!! I've fixed the ears (they were a bit too long) and added some grain the the picture. Still, all the details on the feathers and hair are lost due to the jpg compression, I've tried PNG but it's even worse. I think that photoshop doesn't like this kind of images It makes them look much darker and less detailed than the original painting.

PREVIOUS VERSION for the ones who are interested in seeing it : [link]

I'm done with contest prizes now ^^

Morgan is ©Saimain.

THIS IMAGE IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR. DO NOT USE ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN CONSENT. ASK FIRST

The Key Master

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 16:15:34 PST

For , who won 2nd place in the Fall Contest
He requested my own vision of his "13 Inches" world, so here's my version of his Key Master : [link]

I hope he'll like it

Photoshop CS3
Wacom Intuos 3A4
12 hours

The original file looks much better than this small web optimized version. All the details and textures are lost unfortunately...
Anyway, I've had a lot of fun painting it, It's a very interesting character!

The Key Master character is ©Ei-en

THIS IMAGE IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR. DO NOT USE ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN CONSENT. ASK FIRST

Pirate

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 18:05:59 PST

A quickie I had started yesterday and I have finished tonight.
There are not lots of details because I've only spent 8 hours on it so I couldn't do a very detailed work.
It's some kind of a "comissioned" work (though I've only done it for fun for a friend who wanted to look like a pirate)
I've used a grid for proportions to make it look similar to the photo (small one unfortunately so it has been a little bit difficult).
Clothes, lines and bg are from imagination, I've taken a look at some moon pics to make it look right.
I've worked on 3 layers : one for the bg, one for the figure and one for the ropes.
I hope you'll like it
Details : [link]
Reference : [link]

THIS IMAGE IS ©DIANE ÖZDAMAR. DO NOT USE ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN CONSENT. ASK FIRST

Self-fun

Wed, 28 May 2008 00:09:20 PDT

Some very quick sketches I did for DailySketchGroup on CGSociety, theme "selfportrait" some time ago. I really like these ^^

Few minutes each. 20 I guess? Maybe 30, I think I spent 20 minutes on each of them though.

Photoshop CS3
Crappy webcam snapshots as refs. Was very fun to paint!

Autumn dreams

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:04:46 PDT

SPEEDPAINTING ! Please full-view though.

Contest prize for the very talented who has won a digital colored sketch
I'm very, very sorry for the huge delay hun, life has been quite complicated lately.
I hope you'll like it and your boyfriend too !

In case you're wondering, I've indeed mixed underwater elements with ginko biloba leaves… I thought it illustrated quite well the "autumn dreams" concept

Photoshop CS3
Wacom Intuos 3A4
4 or 5 hours

I used a photoreference for the man ( provided me with an ID photo of her boyfriend - face + cap)
Everything else is imagination + a mirror (I've taken a look at some google images for the goldfish, but I didn't copy any photo, I just studied goldfish anatomy)

I'm working on MANY paintings at the moment, including other contest prizes and professional stuff (I am not allowed to post some of them yet) so I won't be able to reply to all comments, but I read them all ! Thank you very much for your comments and critiques people, much appreciated !

The Newbies

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 02:07:55 PDT

Commission done for the french rock n' roll band "Les Newbies". DOWNLOAD for larger size

This will be used as a poster for their concerts.

They'll be playing the 21st of june in Paris.

Ils joueront le 21 juin à l'angle de la rue Froment et de la Rue Boulle, m° Bréguet Sabin, dans le 11ième.

Check them out if you live in France, they are great!

Photoshop CS3
Wacom intuos 3A4
18/20 hours approximately
No ref used
I would have done something more complex if I had more free time, but I'm very very busy at the moment.

You can take a look at the poster here : [link]

Very different from my other works, I know…

They are NOT meant to look realistic or have realistic proportions !!!! I was asked to paint them this way so don't tell me I could have chosen other animals please.

The TOP and BOTTOM part are NOT detailed : these parts will be hidden with TEXT. Thank you!

The Last Arm'maenor

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 12:33:31 PST

Commission for ~Krafus , posted here by his request.

FULL VIEW or I'll eat a kitty ALIVE!!!! (just joking but please take a look at the fullview since the most important parts are details)

and PLEASE take a look at the files linked below and description!!! (there are closeups, references, sketches he provided me to setup the composition, details, etc... It is worth the look so you can understand better the background of this painting!).

KRAFUS' SKETCHES (many sketches : references for poses, background, clothing, armour, etc... TAKE A LOOK AT IT, there is a lot of work involved here!) : [link]

KRAFUS' REFERENCES (LOTS of references too, please take a look at them!) : [link]

CLOSEUPS (you must see this or I'll die in terrible pain. Seriously, this is worth the look since you can't apreciate the skin texture, clothes texture, etc otherwise) : [link]

Description Krafus sent me (I've deleted some parts and changed a bit some sentences in order to make the description a bit shorter, there were even more details, and every item was linked to a photo reference he had sent me).

Details of background and general mood of portrait

The woman is named Seffania Errane. She is the Mistress of Revels of the City of Twilight, also known as the City of the Setting Sun and, by its detractors, the City of Monsters. The man is Arghail Duskallion, the Lord Councillor and highest authority of Twilight. The “Dusk” part of Arghail’s family (actually noble House) name is entirely intentional, and meant to fit in with the twilight theme.
The portrait is intended to be vertically separated in two, with a “transition zone” in the middle, bisecting the sun. On Seffania’s side, it should be a dawn of rosy clouds and bright colors, making people think of the start of a bright new day, full of hope and promise. The sun should also glow and generally be brighter than on the other side.

On Arghail’s side, the background should be dusk, with a dark yellow sun, a crimson sky at the very top turning to orange below, and clouds that look like dark smoke. You will see that, on his side, I’ve divided the sky into two zones, red and orange. I initially planned to put in more red, but looking at pictures of sunsets, I’ve realized that there would only be red at the top of the sky.
This side of the portrait’s background should evoke the sun setting over a blood-soaked battlefield, and should be generally darker than the left one.

For the general size of the whole drawing, as you can see in the overall sketch, the sky and sun take up a little over one-third of the portrait vertically. The tallest, middle mountain takes up exactly one-third. I’ve tried drawing the bottom of the mountains and adding a small line of distant trees there, but my efforts there are obviously lacking. I’ve come to think the mountains in the sketch are a little too pyramidal – maybe they should be a little rounder. Also, I believe they would look better with their slopes covered with trees.

Below the mountains are green, grassy plains. Although I didn’t draw them, there should be some low hills and rocks (with a bit more rocks on Arghail’s side) to give the plain’s landscape some variety, and perhaps a feel of the distance between the spot where the characters stand and the mountains.

Arghail should be fully half as tall as the entire drawing (which should allow you to then accurately proportion Seffania given their relative heights).

The picture will have the same name of the third book : The Last Arm’maenor

About the characters :

SEFFANIA ERRANE

Physical Description

At the time of the novel’s beginning, Seffania is 18, and almost inhumanly beautiful, as one might expect from a young woman who is host to part of the divine essence of a goddess of beauty and love. Though she stands a full 6 feet in height, she is slender and perfectly proportioned, with full, firm breasts. Her skin is pale and as smooth as silk. Her fingers are long and slender, perfect for playing the harp, her favourite musical instrument. She moves with a supple, almost liquid grace that draws all eyes.

Her hair is a thick, lustrous cascade of dark red hair that falls to her waist, and shines like crimson fire whenever light touches it. So there should be brilliant red highlights in her hair from the light of the sun.

Her hair frames a delicate oval face of surpassing loveliness. Seffania has high cheekbones set below captivating amber eyes, which are made even more arresting by long black lashes and finely arched brows. Her lips are a lovely shade of rose.

Seffania’s voice is sweetly musical, and can be near-irresistibly enthralling when she sings. Nearly all males of races who find humans even remotely attractive stare when first seeing her, a reaction she has become used to (as well as graciously declining advances and propositions).

Pose in portrait

Seffania is standing upright, with her head bowed forward and her eyes closed. She should have a contemplative, thoughtful expression on her face. Her right arm is upraised in front of her, and her right hand is slightly cupped. From her hand, projecting upward, is a glowing magical image of Alinaura’s holy symbol, called the Entwined Flames. The image’s “core,” so to speak, is what I drew.

The glow around it should be the bright red of passion and love, fading paler as it goes outward.
An important point to note is that the point of the magical image’s “core” should be the exact same height as the tip of Arghail’s sword. Also, the mountain behind can be seen somewhat through the red glow, but not the white “core”.

Personality

Naturally gentle and caring, Seffania seeks to be worthy of the divine essence in her, and of the immense gifts of beauty and magic it has brought her. (Because of Alinaura’s power in her, Seffania became a high priestess, equivalent to an archmage, at the age of 12, much faster than other known mortal being). Happiness and beauty warm her heart, be it a child’s delight at a treat, a rainbow in the sky, or a song that brings smiles to listeners’ faces.

Above all, she wants people to be happy with themselves and each other, and to find love, whether or not it is through worship of Alinaura. Through her position of Mistress of Revels, she seeks to arrange these things in Twilight by organizing public feasts, celebrations and art exhibitions in her goddess’s temple and the House of Harmony. She takes her responsibilities as Councillor and temple leader seriously, and seeks to fulfill them to the best of her abilities.

Seffania is fully aware of her beauty, and has long since learned to graciously decline advances and propositions. Since she became a full adult, at age 16, a number of male Godblooded nobles from other cities have come to Twilight in the hope of courting her. Being the heir to Olandia, a direct descendent of one of the oldest and purest Erthillian bloodlines, a Daughter of Alinaura, a high priestess, and an incredibly beautiful young woman, she would make a priceless addition to any noble House. However, all would-be suitors have returned home empty-handed.

Being the heir to Olandia means little to Seffania. She views herself first and foremost as a high priestess of Alinaura and a Twilighter. The fate of Olandia saddens her, as does the death of her parents, but little more than the general decline of eastern Akrion since the Blackskull War. To her, home is Twilight, with all its social differences from the rest of the League’s cities, its fortress-like architecture, its racially diverse inhabitants – and its Lord Councillor.

Seffania is very intelligent and thoughtful. Alinaura’s divine power allowed her to mature intellectually much faster than normal humans or even fellow Godblooded. By the time she was nine, she could already hold full conversations with adults on abstract matters such as philosophy and theology.

She does not like using her magic to compel others against their will, but does so from time to time when a man becomes too annoying or persistent.

Clothing and equipment in portrait

- Wide-sleeved robe of white silk, with gold embroidery at collar and sleeves (and hem, though that does not appear in the picture). The gown also has a slight V-shaped neckline, and looks at once elegant and alluring. I have created the embroidery pattern, a combination of the Entwined Flames and hearts that you can find in ScrollworkEmbroidery. There is also an image of the robe’s front (with other items) in FrontRobe. The wavy lines on that picture (and in Sketch1) are meant to stand in for the embroidery.

- Bright red cape made of velvet and trimmed with white ermine fur. The clasp, which you can see in FrontRobe, is a large heart-shaped ruby set in a golden circle. I don’t know whether you’ll be able to add the clasp considering Seffania is seen from the side, but I’ve always figured it was better to add too many details than too few. I think the simple red tone you can see at [link] will be best for the cape.

- Broad belt of woven gold, with a round buckle.

- Dazzling golden tiara decorated with nearly a dozen rubies.

- Heart of Cindall, hanging from Seffania’s neck. As I mentioned in the background, the Heart is a powerful magical item, which allows Seffania’s Source (from which come a spellcaster’s magical energies) to replenish itself more quickly. It is a holy symbol of Alinaura with the Entwined Flames, which are wrought from a single ruby and surrounded by a platinum circle. The chain with small links it hangs from is also made of platinum.

- Ornate dagger with golden quillons shaped like wavy flames, whose tips curve back toward the lormsteel blade. A ruby is set in the center of the guard (on both sides), and a larger, heart-shaped ruby is set in the round golden pommel. Also, the grip isn’t made of leather, but is rather a gold finish wire wrapped handle (actually gold-coloured lormsteel).
The scabbard for Seffania’s dagger has an elongated golden version of the Entwined Flames along its length, between the locket (the upper part where the dagger goes in) and the chape (tip).

- Ring of Office, on Seffania’s middle right finger, which denotes her position of Mistress of Revels and serves as her seal for that function. Given the pose and the glow from the Entwined Flames image, I expect very little of the ring could be seen, if any at all, so I did not create a picture of it or put it in Sketch1. Maybe, if you think it appropriate, you could add a small dark shape suggesting the presence of a ring.

ARGHAIL DUSKALLION

Physical Description

Arghail stands 6 feet and 2 inches and looks to be in his early thirties by normal human standards (he is in truth 618 years old when the novel begins). He has tan skin and thick, wavy black hair that reaches to his broad shoulders (in short, he has the complexion of a Latino). His arms and legs are corded with well-defined, iron-hard muscles, and his stomach is flat and hard. He bears a few scars, but much fewer than one might expect from a man who has been in literally thousands of fights. His hands are large and strong, with long, callused fingers.

He is very handsome, with high cheekbones set in a chiselled face. His dark grey eyes are typically cold and hard. I’ve included the portrait of a man whose face closely resembles how I picture Arghail’s. Of course, the face in the picture would have to be aged at least a little, and the straight hairs replaced with wavy ones.

Arghail moves with predatory grace, always in perfect balance. His voice is a deep and commanding baritone, honed on countless battlefields.

Even for a Godblooded warrior, Arghail is phenomenally strong, fast and hardy. This is due in part to the spirit of the demon lord Raeziel that is melded to Arghail’s, which increases his physical abilities. He might well be the world’s best warrior, and many Erthillians believe him to be the single greatest practitioner of the bladefang fighting style (described below) in history.

Sometimes, however, when Arghail grows angry or decides he must go all-out in a fight, he reaches into his soul and summons thick, swirling shadows that shroud his body. When Arghail is in this state, which he and others refer to as the Ravager, he fights with berserk demonic fury, and is nothing short of terrifying to foes and allies alike. Compared to Arghail’s normal state, the Ravager is even mightier in combat, and can single-handedly slaughter his way through dozens of foes with appalling swiftness.

Pose in portrait

Arghail is standing upright, looking straight ahead. His expression is grim and cheerless, and his mouth is a flat, unsmiling line. In his right hand, he holds Thirst, his magical sentient bladefang (a type of sword I describe below), right in front of him.

Personality

Arghail is a somber, often gloomy man. He but rarely smiles, and then only in the company of people he has known for years and fully trusts. He wishes for some sort of redemption for his deeds in the Blackskull War, but does not believe he will ever find it. He also blames himself for decisions that have led to grief for Twilight, most particularly trusting Brettian Dukkorrir, the treacherous Hierarch of Berexos. Though Arghail does not realize it, being Lord Councillor of Twilight has become a burden to him. Even so, he still seeks to acquit himself of his responsibilities as ably and fairly as he can.

With over six centuries of experiences to draw upon, Arghail is very perceptive (except where matters of the heart are concerned), and has learned to hide his emotions behind a mask of chill impassiveness. Often, the only outward sign of his anger is a cold, unblinking, deathly stare that few people can withstand for long.

Be it as General of the Order of the Black Skull or as Lord Councillor of Twilight, Arghail acts with forethought and planning, always seeking to gather as much information as he can before making an important decision, particularly when it will affect people under his responsibility. However, he is also fully capable of improvising when the need arises, especially on a battlefield. As Lord Councillor, he is harsh but fair. Practically all Twilighters revere him, though many Godblooded (especially those from Arlenia) hate him.

Clothing and equipment in portrait

- Thirst, Arghail’s sentient, life-absorbing bladefang. To help you understand what a bladefang is, I’ve included here two entries from the index I’m compiling.
Also, I have created a drawing of a bladefang, with measurements, that I named Bladefang (see references sketches!!!)

- Suit of polished black lormsteel armour, with engraved silver scrollwork at the edges. It is very flexible, a necessity for the bladefang fighting style, which explains why the breastplate is segmented instead of being cast in a single piece. I tried to make the armour as realistic as possible, but I know I might have made mistakes. Speaking of the scrollwork, it can be found in ScrollworkEmbroidery. The small arrows in Armor2 indicate in which direction the tip of the mountains in the scrollwork should be pointing. To see how I’d like the scrollwork to look like in general, see the scrollwork on the quillons of the sword in ExampleScrollwork, though the scrollwork of Arghail’s armour is of silver color and thus should be brighter.

By the way, it is completely intentional that there is no scrollwork about the armour’s neck – Arghail doesn’t want to give enemy archers a point to aim for at that location.

The gauntlet is a bit special. Due to the precision required by the bladefang style, it has to be fully articulated. Therefore, the gauntlet’s “bottom” stops at the wrist. The back of the hand is covered by a plate of armor, which is linked to articulated finger armour pieces. The black leather-covered palm itself has no armour.

- Black velvet cape, clasped in front by a chain of small silvery lormsteel links. Unless I’m very much mistaken, the chain will be fully hidden by Arghail’s raised right arm.

- Sword belt of heavy black leather, with a round silver buckle (nothing spectacular).

- Dagger with black leather grip and silvery pommel. This dagger and its scabbard can be seen in DaggersScabbards.

Krafus told me he is very happy with the result, I hope you'll like it too (it's not my usual style, I'm usually into less symmetrical compositions, so it has been a bit hard to paint).

Photoshop CS3,
No other references than the ones provided by Krafus, so I had to figure out the bodies, hands, lighting, etc....
LOOOOOTS of hours (I had to fix lots of details.... especially the scrollwork on the armour, I made it all wrong the first time, stupid me!)
Huuuuuuge file : A0 size, 300dpi (which means it is 14047px wide x 9933px high !!! )
Lot of tea and lot of music! (and very few hours of sleep.... ^^)

Trees and grass have been done using my own photos as textures to create custom brushes (these photos were blurred, painted over then turned into custom brushes). I have used this brushes over a texture I had created with standard brushes, then painted over it again and again. I'm pleased with them since they look quite realistic in my opinion. They have been very time consuming to paint though....

My favourite part of the picture is Seffania's belt... another time consuming item. I was not used to paint gold at all, so it has been a nice training.

I'm still busy as hell so I'm sorry if I cannot reply to all your comments

Chocolate for everyone!