Working the case, studyng the lore, wanting to bash your head in frustration.
This piece is 100% projecting myself onto Sam (I'm in the midst of my uni exams and well, it's a lot, as usual). Now, some fun facts:
>there's a mix of photobashing and actual painting from reference.
>Sam having earrings is just my personal self indulgence
>I bothered my friends with a very exstensive headcanon about their smoking habits if you're interested :')
>This was supposed to be Stanford era but I changed my mind halfway (see the projecting at the top)
>The papers on the table are literally stuff from my courses lol
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Decided to post the whole thing on Tumblr, since Tumblr is just perfect for longreads.
Here is a small background tutorial I did a few days ago! Hope you guys enjoy it!
I decided to make this tutorial free, but if you wish to leave a small tip you can do it at my BMC page. But basically all I wish for is to share this thing with others, so I would really appreciate some reblogs here!
This tutorial is not for the beginners, it requires some basic knowledge on perspective drawing (but don’t worry, I got you covered: here’s my easy guide to perspective drawing). 3D-modelling skills aren’t necessary though, there are plenty of free models out there that can be used in personal or even commercial projects.
All the architecture and interior element designs/3D models are my own (I use SketchUp for modeling), the pillows and cloth are some random 3D-models used as a base with a bit of overpainting. The background is photobashing (I always use the assets published under Creative Commons license or similar licenses, especially now when I can't buy stock images and packs for photobashing) with some paintover. The nice brushes I used to draw leaves are from LoranDeSore pack (you can find it on her DeviantArt page) and the watercolor texture I used on top of the image are made by Hibbary (check out their DA for texture packs).
There are plenty of nice free assets out there, both for Photoshop and CSP, and I think it is important to share this stuff with others, especially knowing that not everyone can afford paying for brushes, textures and stocks. And if you can't afford PS or CSP either there are a lot of software developers who offer their stuff for free, everyone can download Krita and Gimp or other amazing stuff online.
I find it funny when Ai-bros say that artists are gatekeeping (all while fighting with each other over prompts). Like, it literally have never been easier to find tutorials, assets and instruments for your creations.
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ficlet under the cut to give a bit of context.
The last couple of weeks, they had been gathering information about a possible, definitive, fix for Karlach’s engine heart. The infernal duo had taken to Avernus, leaving Astarion and Tav to look for a solution on the surface.
Reconnaissance had been boring, and neither Tav nor Astarion were big on planning, but when Tav had stormed in Elfsong in the middle of the day while Astarion dwindled the hours away demanding they both left that very second, his affliction be damned, the situation felt more hopeful.
They had all decided that Karlach’s engine took precedence before Astarion’s malaise, as he could cover up from the sun and Karlach very much remained a ticking time bomb. The group split up, Wyll and Karlach looking through Avernus and, Tav and Astarion searching through Faerûn.
Tav had taken them right outside Manorborn Gate, or more accurately to an old forgotten mansion a couple of streets away from the entrance. A big building with extensive decorations littering the entrance with intricate iron designs.
Astarion pulled his cloak tighter, it was high noon, and even with his momentary solution to his sun allergy by Jaehira, his skin felt prickly and stung slightly.
Tav looked back at Astarion as they finally managed to go inside the building.
“Alright, you should be fine now. Take off that thing, I need your eyes peeled and fully able” they said in practiced calm, their eyes flickering left and right, months working in the dark leaving them skittish in broad daylight in comparison to Astarion, who had been in his element after the grief that first night after the Netherbrain lost. “I’m… not entirely sure what we’re looking for…”
The building was beautiful, if a little predictable in layout and decor, whatever the previous tenants had left behind. The immaculate white walls lead to impossibly long looking hallways as the vitraux windows tinted the rooms in an eerie lilac hue. It felt familiar in an unknowable way, but perhaps his many nightly escapades the past two centuries had lead him into similar mansions before. It was difficult to say.
"Faustus said 'you'd know when you see it'" Tav finished quietly as they looked away.
Astarion sighed and walked down the dusty hall, turning around as he took in the room. It felt familiar in a sort of unknowable way, perhaps due to the flurry of mansions he had sneaked in through 200 years of pretending to have romantic rendezvous with Cazador’s preys. The thought brought a chill down his back.
“Well, luckily infernal things reek. We’ll surely find whatever Faustus sent us to fetch quickly enough”, his ego remained as bloated and pompous as always, even without the protection against the blaring sun.
“Astarion. We’re not here for Karlach,” they confessed looking at him intently, something clearly itching to come out of their lips, their eyes bubbling with the unspoken. Tav walked further down the corridor as they spoke, “Let’s split and come back in 10 minutes to touch base. And remember:”.
“Let's do anything hilarious.” They said in unison, the humor not lost to either of them.
The white marble hall echoed around their steps as they rushed through the overgrown manor, it’s decadence hauntingly beautiful in all of its splendor.
Each room resembled the last, covered furniture littered the floors, and had it not been for a bowl of decade old decayed goo, Astarion would have guessed these halls had never been blessed with life. Tav had been gone for a while, their footsteps dissipating in the distance, leaving Astarion alone.
The sudden pitter-patter of small footsteps caught his attention, it could just be an animal, but seeing as he had seen no droppings around the complex it seemed highly unlikely. He readied a knife an
A young boy, couldn’t be a day older than 8, in a corridor looking much too clean for an abandoned mansion. The whole situation was odd, looking much too out of place, but before Astarion could ask the kid what was he doing, a pale and poked out of a doorway, stopping the kid from entering.
“Not now, my little starlight. Mum’s busy.” The voice sounded far, an echo of a past long lost to time, yet warm and inviting.
The boy looked defeated, his toy falling to the ground as he turned running towards Astarion and disappeared as his image collided with his body, revealing an empty hallway with leaves peppering the floor. The cold of the ghostly touch froze him inside out.
“There you are!” Tav reprimanded with a smile. “I thought the earth had swallowed you”. Their face soured when Astarion finally turned towards them, even paler than they thought was possible. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Maybe I have.”
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