Paintings

This is Dante, the character you will be playing as in AetherFall. He is a star gazer that studies the night sky along with the many sages and scholars that live in a small community on the far side of Laurooga. His adventure begins when he is sent across the continent to deliver a message. You control him directly in the field as the other units under your command tag along. Dante can fight to some degree using his knife and baton, but his power and hit points are low, so you want to keep him out of trouble as much as possible.

Still can't quite capture the charm that the militia unit had.

Inked with pigma micron markers on 12f animation paper. Colored in Photoshop.

If there's one enemy you don't want to have, it's the Kingdom of Venn and their mercenary skirmishers. Lucky for you, these elite troops only fight for their allies, and it just so happens that Dante is one of them. These guys are much stronger and swifter than the simple militia units, and they can take a real beating without giving up ground to the enemy. But that power comes at a price: they're far more expensive to call up. Skirmishers will be a solid mainstay of your forces throughout the game.

Not quite as satisfied with how this one turned out compared to the militia art. Redrew the head heaven-only-knows how many times, and it still doesn't look right to me. The shading just isn't as sharp either.

Inked on 12f animation paper with pigma microns and colored in Photoshop.

Project Legion has finally gotten a proper name: AetherFall. The first bits of promotional art are also coming together, the first being the militia unit you may have seen in today's Sketchbook Monday feature.


These militia are cheap to produce and don't pack much of a punch compared to their stronger allies, but their spears allow them to attack from a distance, shielded by their tougher companions. Consisting primarily of farmers and laborers, these little guys have put everything they have on the line and are relying on you to protect their homes and villages by securing victory in the campaigns ahead. Don't let them down!

I actually ended up doing the line art for this little dude twice. The first time I did it in pencil like the in-game graphics--but after scanning it I realized that the line quality just wasn't consistent enough for use outside of the game (web site, print, advertising, etc). In the end, I went back to my good old Pigma Microns. They don't "flow" as well on paper as a pencil, unfortunantly, but they do give me a solid, dependable line. Well, most of the time anyway.

Inked on 12f animation paper and colored in Photoshop.

"Get away from me, dreck! You smell funny and you can't even walk right. Hey! Don't hug me!"

Young Asch and Luke from Tales of the Abyss. It's been done a thousand times before me, but seeing these two as "brothers" in their youth simply strikes me as cute. And, for once, I'm satisfied with my own coloring job. Used the same cel shading wannabe style here I've been using in Swordmaster Odyssey as of late. Gives me some practice if nothing else.

Line art done on 12F animation paper with a Pigma Micron art marker. Color in Photoshop.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

This is the wallpaper that will be included in December's download pack here soon. Their eyes are bigger than they really should be (if I'd caught it when I should have, I could have fixed it), but otherwise it came out surprisingly well. The characters pictured are (from left to right) the kid from My Brother, Jessie from Swordmaster Odyssey, and Iccari from... well, he's not really from anything yet.

Line art was done with a #2 pencil (I should have gotten my pens out so I'd get more line variation), and everything else was done in Photoshop CS.

This wallpaper's download pack should be up by Friday.

Here's a piece that I forgot to upload here. Naomi is tending to Iccari's wound, though he wishes it wouldn't hurt so much. It's not actually a scene from the story, but I felt like sketching it out one day.

Line art was done with a simple #2 pencil, then cleaned up and painted in Photoshop.

Forgot to put this up here ealier.

It's Iccari, who's shown up in a Sketchbook Monday or two. Had the urge to toy around with his design a bit in color.

Did this concept piece to test a painting style I want to use for the illustrations in a story. Only problem is, it turned out nothing like the painting style I want to use. I want a very light and low-contrast look to it, almost like a watercolor. Guess I'll have to keep trying--not that I don't like this piece, of course!

Lineart done with just a simple #2 pencil with some slight modifications in the computer. Painted using Photoshop CS.

Oh, and speaking of Sketchbook Monday, I should have that up in a couple of hours.