Since I seemed to be on a roll with this character, I moved straight onto the illustration process.
I started off with four composition variations; super-rough value sketches; no more than ten minutes each.
After picking my favourite, I tried out some lighting variations; again, super-rough; ten minutes each. In this case, my favourite was the backlit, rim-lighting style.
During this stage, I decided that I didn't want him to be holding a book in his hand. Instead, I wanted him to be caught in the middle of casting some kind of a spell that would be glowing fiercely and creating a secondary light source which would light the dark side of his face from beneath in a creepy kind of way.
I had originally planned for this illustration to be a nighttime scene, but at some point along this stage I decided to set it in a daytime, high contrast environment (I had an idea that the warm, daytime tones would provide more interest than cold and dark (also, to place an evil character in a sunny daytime setting tends to give a piece quite a strange atmosphere - it almost doesn't feel right)).
As the sketches show, I was thinking of how flow could play a role in the composition, with the clouds and robes all playing a vital role in steering the viewer's eye around the piece. I'd already established that there might be mountainous - or rough - terrain surrounding the character, so the image was gradually beginning to form in my head as I progressed.
I gathered my reference for the pose and set to work. The pose I worked with differs slightly from the original sketches, as I settled for a lower vantage point, to try and emphasise the power of this character.Working with thirds, I positioned the pose and started figuring out all the details, working and re-working different elements until I was happy enough to get on with linework.
This piece was coming together far more efficiently than the Spellsword already, mainly due to the lucky start, and some careful planning earlier.
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