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Adhriva
Learned Scribe
USA
147 Posts |
 Posted - 21 Jul 2016 : 11:20:02
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Eclipsed Empire: Artbook
“I open the pages of a favorite book
When I’ve an hour or three
And characters that are worth a second look
Walk and talk with me”
-- Ed Greenwood on Twitter, May 27th, 2016
This thread is for discussing a 308+ page, fully illustrated Artbook of stock art for the community that will be released at a much later date. The focus of the artbook is on the Elven realm of Cormanthyr.
When the DMGuild was first announced, I embarked on a rather insane and ambitious project: To tell a graphic novel set in the realm of Cormanthyr. A story that follows up the Last Mythal series that told a story of the diverse Elven people coming together as one realm - not a realm of mighty cities and ancient magics as it used to be, but to forge a new realm built on the strength of it's people. What I ended up with was two graphic novels, Ballad of the Night and Ballad of the Dawn respectfully, that totaled a staggering 600 pages of story combined. Each of these pages were to be digitally painted and fully illustrated, from the smallest panel to the most heart-wrenching splash page - a production time that would have taken years to see to it's end (deadlines are there to protect workaholics from ourselves) but I loved every second of working on it thus far and still tender a burning passion to see this through. Sadly, that dream cannot happen due the 'No Narratives' rule of the DMGuild (and I will not release the story as unauthorized fanfiction outside of the DMGuild)....but the project will live on in the form of an Artbook. Much like one of those Art and Making books we see of films....but without the Making Of part. I think it's high time the effort, and what will become of the project, is made known to the wider community. As an artbook, I might not be able to tell you the details of the story, but I can give you the basics of it and completely blow you away with stunning visuals and concept art and can offer context for images even. All the illustrations will be released under a Creative Commons license for you all to be able to use as stock art. This story ultimately proved to be exceptionally difficult to adapt into other mediums, such as an adventure path, due to the fact that it is not the story about the epic battling of armies, or powerful spells and magics, or world ending threats of doom and destruction - this was a mere thrust of the dagger, but one straight through the Coronal's heart and we felt every twist of it. This tale makes for great background tension for any campaign or adventure, and as such, I truly feel it's better given to the community to do with the ideas and art as they will to tell their own stories. I'm doing this to flesh out my favorite part of the Realms, and to do that, it can't be simply *my* story - it has to be *ours*. After all, out of all the riches Cormanthor has in it's vaults, friendship is the most valuable among them. Atleast, according to the Sage of Shadowdale.
The Artbook will include the following:
- 65 Full, 2-page spread (18.2”x10.4”) illustrations. Each of these will be 450dpi (8190px by 4680px). These are high quality prints of many of the key scenes and characters in the realm's history.
- 7 beautifully painted Atlases of the Cormanthyr region through the ages. These are Ancient Cormanthyr (founding to 666DR), Weeping War (712-714DR), Cormanthyr Wars (1374-1378DR), War with the Shadovar (circa 1487DR), Searching for a new home (1487-1494DR), The Dark Empire decades (1520-1550DR), and finally the Harper Rebellion and the Cormanthorian Civil War (1549-1557DR)
- 8 fully colored and illustrated sequential pages from the comic. 4 from Ballad of the Night and 4 pages from Ballad of the Dawn
- 193 finely rendered sketches and illustrations, all at 450dpi (around 9.1"x5.2"; 4095px by 2340px...a.k.a. still larger then most of your desktop wallpapers) These feature everything from Seiveril's crusade on the march to the Harpers under Hesaphie and Amarune to the ancient proto-mythal trees of Ancient Arvandaar (ancestors of the magic that would come to be the Tree of Souls) to the Shattering of the Crownblade to Myth Drannor's throne room under Tannivh Irithyl and many more
- 56 Concept designs. The book will show the many character designs, such as those for Ilsevele Miritar, Maeral Irithyl, Blood Dragons, Hesaphie Ealoeth, our diabolical villain "Dhregis", Amarune as a fully realized heir of Elminster, all the way to what arms and armor the Daemonfey had when fighting Seiveril's Crusade and even old Vyshaani architecture
- Heraldry, standards, and sigils of the elven realm throughout the ages.
- A catalog guide to In-realm Elven Art from their tapestries, sculpted reliefs on the walls and columns, to paintings and statues.
That's alot of art! And it will ALL BE STOCK ART you can use in your own projects. I might not be able to tell you the minute details of story, but I can give you all the visual resources you need to tell one of your own and more than enough inspiration to draw on. 95% of this is pure stock art. All the images will be given stand alone in a zip file as well as featured in the PDF Artbook proper. What isn't art is brief descriptions of the characters, the events that shape them and the story, and the various influences and symbolism to be found in the pieces that give context of what I had dreamed up and mixed with the rich tapestry of existing lore.
The graphic novel called for not only a compelling story (even if it is nothing more then pretty fan fiction), but also compelling art and design work. As someone who is a trained concept artist and illustrator, I confess this was always one of the great pleasures of the project. Fleshing out the realm in a way you normally only see in high-budget film projects. I tied in many parallels with past realms lore (such as to the Crown Wars) to further explore the history of the Elves of Cormanthyr well before the current date. What this project is, is a glimpse of the Elven people throughout the ages and told in a fashion that they themselves would tell it. Furthermore, this project was incredibly well researched thanks to the help of many scribes here, from around the community, and from a few authors taking their time to answer every question I had regarding their creations and how to be respectful in how to use their characters in my story. From an art standpoint, I had to design a whole new architectural style for places like Myth Drannor (one that looked very distinct from every other 'Elven' style out there, such as Lord of the Rings), Elven fashions and armor and foods and everything else in between that needed developing. I spent weeks reading through every Forgotten Realms material that so much as mentioned Myth Drannor or Cormanthor while I had a sketchbook next to me for note taking. I had considerable help from dozens of test readers, lore and fact checkers, and even creative contributions (our own Irennen was the creative mind behind the Eilastraeen Drow, and loyal friend of Prince Miritar, the project featured). The scope of the project was daunting, even in it's current form, the artbook still shares that honor. It is unlike anything I've ever experienced or seen before - but ultimately, it is currently an art resource; A foundation for the community to build on as they see fit. Take what parts you like and will fit your story. I hope it spawns many great things and is put to good use. At the end of the day, the amount of visual fleshing out proved too much for any one story anyways - no matter how ambitious that tale was to begin with.
How much will this artbook cost you ask? I don't know yet, and I'm in no rush to price it. I started this project as a way to update my portfolio in regards to fantasy storytelling and showcase my abilities as both an artist and as a narrative storyteller. It has since evolved into a project that has gifted me many wonderful friendships and put me in touch with some amazing peers of the realm and talented storytellers. Again, out of all the riches Cormanthor has in it's vaults, friendship is the most valuable among them, and that's what working on this project has rewarded me with and continues to do so. Alot of those other projects I'm working on from around the community spawned from trying to make the projects interconnected in various ways. I love the community all, and it makes my day without fail when I hear how my art has helped bring a corner of the realms to life. This project is it's own reward in many ways.
When will it be ready? Late 2017, assuming Shar doesn't end the world before then. I'm sure you can tell by the precise numbers I'm quoting that I know exactly what each illustration is, how large it is, and even am well into this project already. This isn't some vague dream that's nice to think about, this has been happening for a while now, albeit not always in the form of an artbook until the past month. I am seeking ways (this thread if you don't mind following alot of links to images, facebook groups, other forums devoted to DMGuild materials, blogposts, etc) to showcase the artwork much sooner before the final release. Furthermore, if you have a project that uses the Elves or the Shadovar or any number of the widespread visual resources presented, I'll be happy to forward those pieces to you to use as they are finished. Just let me know. I'm happy to share the resources, assets, ideas, characters, and research notes of this project.
I've been working on this since January and more and more often I'm getting someone asking about it or finding it brought up in reference to what art I'm doing. It's time it finally had it's own thread to be discussed proper.
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Professional illustrator and comic book artist.
Portfolio |
Edited by - Adhriva on 21 Jul 2016 16:21:56
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Gary Dallison
Great Reader
United Kingdom
6354 Posts |
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Brimstone
Great Reader
USA
3286 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jul 2016 : 12:39:51
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| Sounds interesting. I look forward to checking it out. |
"These things also I have observed: that knowledge of our world is
to be nurtured like a precious flower, for it is the most precious
thing we have. Wherefore guard the word written and heed
words unwritten and set them down ere they fade . . . Learn
then, well, the arts of reading, writing, and listening true, and they
will lead you to the greatest art of all: understanding."
Alaundo of Candlekeep |
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BenN
Senior Scribe
Japan
382 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jul 2016 : 13:52:28
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| This sounds awesome. |
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6651 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jul 2016 : 14:10:48
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I'll definitely pick it up and for the sake of the gods, charge something for your labours.
-- George Krashos |
"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
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KanzenAU
Senior Scribe
Australia
763 Posts |
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Adhriva
Learned Scribe
USA
147 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jul 2016 : 14:45:15
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| I'm very thrilled at the responses to this! |
Professional illustrator and comic book artist.
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Irennan
Great Reader
Italy
3802 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jul 2016 : 16:24:52
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| I would surely buy it, as I really enjoy what I have seen of your works. |
Mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things. |
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CorellonsDevout
Great Reader
USA
2708 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jul 2016 : 18:36:28
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| Is the artwork going to be in chronological order of events, so it kind of "reads" like a narrative/graphic novel? |
Sweet water and light laughter |
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Adhriva
Learned Scribe
USA
147 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jul 2016 : 19:23:00
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quote:
Originally posted by CorellonsDevout
Is the artwork going to be in chronological order of events, so it kind of "reads" like a narrative/graphic novel?
No, it will be ordered by subject matter. Main characters, Villains, events, maps, organizations, and so on. Most people have not read the script, nor will/can they, so a chronilogical order would make little since to them when looking through the book. Between a detailed timeline provided, the atlases, and the commentary, the flow of events should be easy to discern while maintaining the priority of it being an artbook instead of a narrative. |
Professional illustrator and comic book artist.
Portfolio |
Edited by - Adhriva on 21 Jul 2016 19:26:20 |
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CorellonsDevout
Great Reader
USA
2708 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jul 2016 : 19:31:49
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| Gotcha |
Sweet water and light laughter |
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ElaineCunningham
Forgotten Realms Author
2396 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jul 2016 : 23:41:59
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Wow! Ambitious project! :)
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11724 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jul 2016 : 23:58:57
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| Wow! Definitely, when its released make sure to announce it here again. Hmmm, maps too, very nice. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Adhriva
Learned Scribe
USA
147 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jul 2016 : 02:45:09
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I most certainly will, but I also plan to showcase quite a few images as they are developed. My progress on this will be shared. :)
I also have another project regarding realms art, but that one goes into much lesser detail regarding each Realm it covers because it's all the preproduction sketches of the art I'm doing for other people's projects. |
Professional illustrator and comic book artist.
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Eclipsed Empire: Artbook
