November 13, 2011

Dragon Empires Primer

Damn... it ain't easy following Chris.

Here's a recent cover for Pathfinder's Dragon Empires Primer. A clean Asian-inspired aesthetic seemed appropriate for the project, so that meant no fog, no explosions, and no flying debris. There went three of my favorite usual staples. Inspired by the dojo scene in The Matrix, I went for a "bullet time" still frame.

The two combatants don't appear to like each other very much, and several subtitles come to mind: "Come At Me Bro," or "Stop Trying to Hit Me and Hit Me," or "You Got Some Wasabi on Your Chin, Here... Let Me Wipe That Off."

Many thanks to Sarah Robinson at Paizo for leading me out of my comfort zone.


9 comments:

  1. Awesome!
    Hehe, wasabi on your chin....

    Only one tiny critique, if I may - the green light from the orb is on the characters only, which makes them very cut-out from the background. Maybe a hint of green on the floor or the closest lamp, even if it isn't realistic, might integrate them better?

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  2. Originally there was more green light spilling into the environment, but it made the characters seem really close to the background and threw the proportions off (for instance, the swords on the wall appeared tiny in comparison).

    Good point though, a hint of green on the floor and the lamp would have helped.

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  3. Holy crap dude, this looks so damn good! It's so funny you posted this, I seriously JUST re-watched the Matrix yesterday. The outfit designs are so damn cool and I really love how well you've separated them from the BG. Great piece, man. :)

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  4. Great one man, you really killed that background. Painting interiors is something I always dread. Love that smoke/magic effect too.

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  5. Awesome cover! Can't wait for the book to come out at my local game shop! I love the Pathfinder series already, and now to know who did the cover makes it even cooler!

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  6. Good stuff, Craig. The lanterns are a nice detail.

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  7. Thanks guys! I don't get cover commissions very often, and it was fun doing something a little different than my usual approach.

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  8. I'm with Chris, that background is great. I really like the action. You've created a lot of tension between the characters and it wars with the stillness of the BG in a great way. Awesome.

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  9. great stuff. before reading your comments with the post, i was just thinking that i enjoyed that kind of still/quiet quality to the background, particularly for this subject matter. you imagine the place to be deathly quiet, right up until the explosion of battle.

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