The Guardian

This particular piece was done fast – and by “fast” I mean “in an hour.” And it was not even supposed to be in my portfolio – it was just a quick illustration to help set the mood and is no larger than 30x20cm. Yet it was awarded a star at Elfwood.com – portal for fantasy art and was among featured artworks for the day.

Guardian is more-less a conceptual art of a large fantasy-oriented constructed being with a fire blazing within. The painting does not go into too much detail, as the main focus was the overall mood. The finishing touches included working with textures – which I don’t usually do – or like… But in this case it seemed quite fitting and was, ultimately, mostly fun.

Well, The Guardian is in fact a quick illustration to set the mood for one of my… *sigh* Dungeons & Dragons session. I will try to explain myself. Usually when leading a session (that’s right, I am not just playing D&D, I am also a Dungeon Master… And a pretty good one too, dammit) and creating an adventure for the players I try my best to make sure that they will enjoy the game and feel to be a part of the story – creating ambiance and visualizing the key parts of the plot – Meeting The Guardian was one of them. So, this is why The Guardian is… Painting such illustrations, of course, takes quite a lot of time, so I try to keep the “visual aids” quick, simple and avoid unnecessary details.

Even though The Guardian painting has a slightly stronger nerd vibe than the rest of my illustrations (and even nerdier backstory) it is a nice little addition to my portfolio. An the little nerd inside me is proud it is up here. There is a good chance The Guardian might get to meet the 3D model of himself too…