Monday, February 4, 2013

Act of Treason

Act of Treason
oil on paper on board/digital, 12" x 16"
©Wizards of the Coast

So what can I say about this guy? The art request asked that I show an noble of the aristocratic Orzhov guild losing his mind in a "carnarium", which is like sadomasochistic circus with cuts of meat hanging from the ceiling. In his delirium, he has cut open his fine robes skewered the skin of his belly and arms. For reference, I looked at a lot of pictures of hindu festivals, where some skewer their flesh, even hanging weights on them in displays of faith and mind over matter. This, however, is the toned down version. 


Originally there was blood, and cuts on his arms, as you can see in the submitted sketch, which was approved. Seeing this in the finish, in color and more clearly rendered was way too vivid and graphically violent. I went a little overboard, and the image in this state would never be approved.  I was asked to take the blood and the cuts out, which was done digitally.





4 comments:

  1. amazing job!
    love the perspective, smooth color variations, the highlights and all the motion/flow - from below to his stomach past his head and to the light from the top( and all those cuts of meat going to that same spot)

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  2. Aw man, it's still great without the blood but I personally really enjoy all the blood. In this scenario would you later alter the original to match the new digital alters? Does that effect a collectors decision on buying the original if they don't match perfectly? Just curious :) Awesome work!

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  3. Thanks for the compliments guys!

    @Mike-I like the blood too, so that's why I'm going to keep the blood in the painting. I would imagine that it might discourage someone from buying it since it's not the same ad the published form. But it might not with others. I've seen some buyers who requested that the original published version of a painting be altered afterwards for their collection. It really depends on the individual collector

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  4. That's such a great character, and the composition is killer!

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