Heroic Character Illustration

Materials

• Colored pencil
• Ink
• Photoshop
• 8.5 x 11 photo paper

This is my D&D alter ego, Exeter Nightpool, Path of Descent Paladin and defender of the vulnerable and oppressed. I wanted to do something different with an Aasimar, so the wings came out more science-fiction than fantasy and I used an energy effect to illustrate him preparing to unleash a Divine Smite.

The piece was my first foray into using Photoshop to finish an illustration, which honestly had it’s ups-and-downs. The tool allows for so much refinement that I found it difficult to know when to stop and move on, and this forced me to reckon with my less-than-helpful perfectionist streak.