A Scout's Path

A scout for the Fantasy Earth Zero Contest

The character reflects what I would most want in a roleplaying game, which is genuine character progress and change. I hope it's obvious that the it's all the same guy, only aged up a bit, otherwise this point get's lost at sea In most of the online games I've played the only visual recognition of progress is that armor and weapons gets fancier and bigger as you level up. In some games the final stuff can cause mild snow blindness through sheer sparkle and glow. Subtlety is not thy name

And the most noticeable clash of common sense goes for the classes that profess secrecy, camouflage, stealth and general caution. With experience you'd think the bright ones would need less stuff and show. And so I created a character that has done just that. Instead of simply adding stuff as a sign of progress, this character has grown up instead

In his younger days as a scout, he preferred the longbow and the fancy stuff. At least that which he could afford on a limited budget. I suspect him of being a mercenary too. He was a bit of a peacock and a poser. 20 years later of hard-won experience has turned him into quite a different sort of person. He's fighting style has changed to middle distance, with small thrown daggers and concealed crossbows. His clothes has turned more and more modest, until he's pretty much a regular villager in looks on the surface. Age is creeping up on him, and so he chips away at his fighting style until it's as efficient and to the point as it can get. He'd also probably use poisons if he could get away with it

This has turned into a rather odd looking piece. I suppose that can happen when you try to combine a very old fashioned look with something a bit more modern, and don't really know what you're doing either I've been seeing programs about European art history, and while I've formed the solid opinion that art would be better off without all those chubby brats with wings, the bloody putti that seems to be everywhere, I also feel like someone's lit a fire underneath me. I want to paint and draw, I want to make my own artworks and also do more studies. I don't think I could bear not progressing. I am, in a sense, very hungry.

Anyway, this piece was inspired by some magnificent images of murals and painted ceilings, as well as triptych, where the artists used technical trickery to make paint and architecture merge. Unfortunately I don't have a domed ceiling to start with, so I went with a much more modest concept, which is a metal frame. In the last hours I also got an idea of having some branches spill over as well, but without time to really work on that I had to let it go

As for the image in general, I originally intended to go with a more faded/grubby pastel colour scheme, to match classical references as well as the pallet chosen by the game producers, but it went a bit darker.



I had intended to show it in a WIP state so that I could put any critique and advice to good use, but it took time to get it even half done and then it was too late. But still I would like any advice about how I could have done this better, and maybe something to keep in mind if I ever try mixing frame/architecture with paint again.