http://admemento.cgsociety.org/gallery/ admemento's gallery of images en-us 120 http://admemento.cgsociety.org/gallery/627927

"Everything in its entirety will flow through the consciousness and veins of this my beautiful first Son. In his self-imposed torment let him impose the torment of the love upon himself, of those he deems to love above me..."
~ 'Convivium', Andrew E. Maugham


I had some time over the past couple of weeks, so I figured I could give in and paint him again: Lucifer.

He is one of those characters that I don't seem to get tired of. Maybe it's because he's been with me for so long, and for so long I've not dared paint him, that now all those pictures in my mind want to come out all at once.
I kind of wanted to do something that reminds of old paintings, without compromising a modern or maybe even timeless feel. It was odd doing just a portrait after all those complete character paintings, but a nice break nonethless. I do like the simplicity of straight forward portraits...

The one reference used was a heavy silk scarf for the draping, everything else is freehand. The stone shield in the background is three years old, a "recycled" part of a painting I never finished. Back then, I'd looked at some shields and carvings to get an idea for the design, and how to best do it, but didn't reference it from anything in specific.

Here's a pencil sketch of the face, for anyone who's interested. I did that at a friend's house when she was asking me what I was working on... it's so much easier to illustrate it sometimes than to try and explain.

And some close-ups:





Thanks for looking, and have a nice day! ]]> Sun, 04 May 2008 13:39:09 +0000 http://admemento.cgsociety.org/gallery/620935

The fourth in the row of commissioned pieces, based on a story by the client. It's also the last one I will be able to show for the time being:

The Fallen are - as the name suggests - creatures who have fallen from grace. Or maybe they never fell, and have always been nightmares incarnate. No one knows what they really look like, as they can appear as anything they choose to drive their victim into insanity, and thus servitude or, if you're lucky, death...

Again there was no real brief. Neither my client nor I knew how to best depict these creatures. It wasn't until I was sketching for "The Fair" that I had the idea of doing what I did here - to go for a subtle yet obvious counterpart.
Painting it caused me quite a headache at several stages, because there was always something that didn't feel quite right, and then Photoshop decided to ditch several hours of my work at one point - lets just say I wasn't a happy critter. In the end though something clicked, and it all kind of came together.

I used personal references mainly for the hands and angle of the face.

Some close-ups:







Thanks for looking! =]]]> Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:29:31 +0000 http://admemento.cgsociety.org/gallery/610557

The third in the row of commissioned pieces, based on a story by the client:

The Fair are ethereal creatures - supernatural for the want of a better word - and don't often show themselves. The woods of Otherworld are their domain, but other than that not much is known about them. Some claim they are Angels, others think they are Lucifer's minions appearing as Light to lure people into their realm.

This time there was no real brief. My client and I just exchanged some ideas, rather based on the character of the Fair than their look. Though we both agreed it would be interesting to go with a genderless form.

As always with commissioned worls, I first sketched initial ideas out on paper, then transferred them to digital - manually, as I don't have a scanner.
I then used a personal reference for the pose - to get it just right, sticking closely to the first sketches. Photographic custom brushes came in handy for the tree trunk texture, and lots of custom brushes for the foiliage.

Close-ups:







Enjoy, and thanks for looking! =]]]> Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:28:37 +0000 http://admemento.cgsociety.org/gallery/594846

Another piece based on a story by the same client who commissioned the Samurai Templar:

The Walker is an assassin, a heretic, worshipped and feared, reluctant leader of an army, and a loner who roams the lands (hence the name). No one seems to be quite sure if he is human, or not, or if in fact he actually exists.

The obelisks are important to the story, as is their unreflective stony and transparent look.

I was again given a great amount of artistic freedom with the character, so his appearance has changed quite a bit since the original concept and brief by the client.

On a side note: The rifle's inscription are Enochian glyphs. It's a language that was devised/transcribed by John Dee and Edward Kelly during the reign of Elizabeth I. It reads "Bagle iabes . de bransg cordziz . a etharzi", which translates as "For God . To guard Man(kind) . In Peace".

I used my own references for the figure (I'd never painted someone walking before), and the client provided a photo of a rifle. The background was changed halfway through painting, which caused me quite a headache, especially the texturing of the road and the general look of the landscape. There are a few things I'd now do differently, however the client was extremely happy with how it turned out, so all is good.

Here are some close-ups:







Enjoy, and thanks for looking! =]]]> Tue, 12 Feb 2008 18:50:18 +0000 http://admemento.cgsociety.org/gallery/594026

A commissioned character portrait based on a story by the client:

Several hundred years after the Crusades, in another world, where the Samurai and the Knights Templar have merged into one peaceful yet powerful Elite Guard...

The original brief described the Samurai Templar wearing the typical white robes of the Templar, with nothing much else to distinguish him also as a Samurai, save the Katana. The client had asked me for my input, and after some preliminary sketches of my ideas, this was the version we ran with.

I used live reference for the Katana and boots, a personal photo reference for the general pose, and looked at quite a few pictures of Civil War Revolvers before settling for a (modified) version of General McClellan's pistol.

Here are some close-ups:








Enjoy, and have a nice day! =]]]> Sun, 10 Feb 2008 18:45:33 +0000 http://admemento.cgsociety.org/gallery/604035

A character portrait of the Angel Gabriel based on the novel "Convivium" by Andrew E. Maugham:

Gabriel is best known as the Angel of Annunciation and Truth, but she's also one of the Angels of Vengeance. Not one to mess with...

Both Gabriel's appearance and the sword are based on the descriptions found in the book, minus the tattoo on her arm, which was a spur-of-the-moment request by the author.

Personal photo reference used for the pose, and my sword was a good help to get the sword right. To get the jewel in the pommel to look so real, I used several layers of custom texture brushes over the basic shape and shading of the stone.

I'm not too keen on the background anymore, but I made a point of never to touch finished paintings again, so it'll stay.

Anyway, here are some close-ups:







Thanks for looking! =]]]> Tue, 04 Mar 2008 18:22:44 +0000 http://admemento.cgsociety.org/gallery/597646

A character portrait of the Fallen Angel Rahab based on the novel "Convivium" by Andrew E. Maugham:

Once Guardian Angel of Egypt and a high-ranking General of Hell's Forces, Rahab is a quiet character with a history of violence. "Nuri" is Egyptian and means "Fire".

This was really the first one in the row of characters from the book that I painted. Rahab is briefly described in the story, but it left a lot to the imagination. The author always told me he imagined him to be "lean and mean", with a menacing presence and a smouldering charm.

I used an editorial photo of JR Gallison as reference for the face, and my winter coat helped with the embroidery of the coat.

And here are some close-ups:





Thanks for looking! =]]]> Tue, 19 Feb 2008 18:08:17 +0000 http://admemento.cgsociety.org/gallery/593576

A character portrait of Lucifer based on the novel Convivium by Andrew E. Maugham.

This picture had been lingering around in my head for a good 6 years, but lack of skill and fear of screwing it up stopped me from actually painting it until recently. Well, that's not quite true. I have painted Lucifer before some two years ago (not counting endless sketches before that), but even though the picture turned out alright, in my mind it still wasn't what I wanted.

Anyhow, this piece depicts a scene from the book, with some minor artistic freedom taken for good measure.

Most of the work went into the fabric; not just painting it, but also putting the brocade pattern together. Was a welcome challange though, as patterned fabric has always been one of my pet-peeves (and probably still is). =D

I used my own references for the fabric and the hand.

And here are some close-ups:





Enjoy! =]]]> Sat, 09 Feb 2008 04:35:50 +0000 http://admemento.cgsociety.org/gallery/593182

"To you I gave my wings, because I have a reason to stay."
"Can these wings make me fly?" he asked.
"No," she said, "but happiness can."

This piece meant alot to me when I painted it over the course of several weeks in 2006/2007. So it was - and probably still is - a very personal one.
I used my own references for the figure, and lots of custom brushes for the rough texture of the stone, as I wanted it to stand in total contrast to the softness of the wings.
That said, this piece certainly was a turning point for me regarding my work, in many ways.

Some close-ups:





Enjoy. =]]]> Thu, 07 Feb 2008 21:26:55 +0000