Process Post - The Dark Urge [Baldur’s Gate 3]

Here’s some behind the scenes for my last poll illustration! Ft. a thumbnail-sketch-to-final progression, along with some detail shots at different stages of my process.

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Boy oh boy I had fun with this one lolol 🩷 I definitely was feeling a little masochistic with this angle and refusing to put any clothing items on his scaly scaly detailed body, but hey. I fell in love with a concept, and love hurts sometimes 💀💀 (my spine, specifically…)

Surprise cameo from my model hand with removable claws!! I love that thing so much lmao. (Yes I have two hands, yes I can take pictures of them… but listen — if you don’t know the struggle of trying to get the right lighting and specific angle on a hand pic……. don’t come at me 😂)

 As far as mid-process hurdles go: my main one this time was knowing when things would start to really feel finished. This piece had a bit of a prolonged “flat” stage where I wasn’t sure when the scales were going to pop with the cumulative 3D effect I was going for, but I’m v pleased that it all turned out in the end.

Those patterned brushes were a major lifesaver here, since I could layer them with other textures, and then paint over top to add those little areas of light and shadow to each scale. Once more, shoutout to NoctemTenebris on gumroad for a few key brush packs that made the experience of going back in to shade by hand 5483594296 times more pleasant!

You can find the brushes here [I used packs 1 and 3]:
https://noctem.gumroad.com/


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FYI: If you’re new to my Patreon or just happened to miss it, I shared a detailed tutorial for my overall process HERE back in June, so check that out if you want specific insights into how I work in Procreate!

I also have a collection of all my previous WIP previews. process posts and tutorials HERE!

That aside, I’m very happy to answer process-related questions in comments or DM (I like to yammer about art stuff 🤭) so don’t be shy if you’re curious about anything I haven’t gotten into!