#blazkul

Redraw/reimagining of a piece from 10 years ago, The Baths. While back then I drew draagul's Trikoz, this time I've drawn my own Vashar, the predecessor to the same temples that Trikoz would come to claim years later. Vashar is an aged emberspike who takes pleasure in the material benefits of being a leader, covering himself in precious metals and gems. Here, he is tended to by some of his blazlin servants who ensure his scales are gleaming for when he meets the next diplomatic entourage.  Technically, Vashar has spots - I just couldn't get them to look right and decided I preferred this piece without. You can see his spots here, though. This piece also served as painting practice, background practice, and just... spending time trying to learn to enjoy the process again. I'm pretty proud of it but I need to move on and stop tweaking it lol.

For someone, this picture is long awaited. I can't tell you how long ago I started this picture, but it had to be a couple months, at least... Anyway, this is DraaGul's character Trikoz Trek Emberspike of the Blazkul. Tending to him are select Blazlin who work in the roman-inspired baths to clean all the sand out of his scales and, otherwise, pamper him. Gotta say I really do love how this came out, in the end. I got frustrated with it beyond belief at a few points, but I find it worth it. I especially like how the water came out after all my hopeless fiddling A lot of building and environment practice in this. Perspective and sizing, as well. I actually 3D modeled this entire building in Google Sketchup to get an idea of how to draw it. You wouldn't believe how much it helped! The desert outside of that door I made almost by accident, too; forgot to adjust a brush's hardness but I liked how the accidental result was and kept it. Also I adore gradient maps + soft light. Just absolutely adore them.