The artists behind 'Eclipse,' Sergey, is from Ukraine, but currently resides in Russia. Beginning his studies in nuclear physics Sergey switched to digital art by teaching himself. Today he is a freelance artist working on illustrations and concept art for games and also makes illustrations about buddhism and vedic culture for yoga club's films. We were lucky enough to get his full creation process. 

Idea

To develop the character, I started from the answers to the questions: 

"Who will my character be?"

"What is his specialty?"

"What kind of weapon does he use?"

"Which world does he belong?"

"What is his story?"

Since I love mythology, I chose the eternal theme of the war of gods and demons. Thinking about the character's story, I did not want to make it too simple and the idea came to my mind to lead the hero through the rises and falls so that the plot twists would suggest how he should look. Usually, I close my eyes and begin to fantasize, watch imaginary "films," and afterwards, when the idea acquires clearer features, I clothe it in a verbal form ...

So, one ambitious demigod of the solar dynasty in the prayers of people began to receive more and more requests for help. Deciding to find out what the problem was, he went down to the people and saw how the demons began to fill their world. Relying only on his own strength, in an unequal battle he was defeated and had to turn to the Ancient Gods to receive a weapon capable of clearing the world of people from demons. 

Having received as a gift the divine bow, which became part of his body, he went to exterminate the demons. Driven by fury, he cruelly began to destroy all demonic beings even outside the human world. When almost all the demons were exterminated, he came to the Abode of Darkness, where he met the Teacher of Demons on his way to the extermination of those who survived. 

In a fierce battle, the demigod was defeated and struck by a dark force. Only a part of the body, which was covered by a divine weapon, retained divine features. The teacher said: "Moved by pride and hate, you almost exterminated my race, breaking the balance of power in the universe! From now on, you will be one of us and restore what you destroyed! With your arrival, darkness will come to the world even in the daytime!".

Thus, the main idea was that the hero was a god who was struck by a dark force, most of his body was transformed into a terrible demonic form, and a small part of the body, which was shielded with the divine bow, retained attractive god like features. His main weapon is the divine bow, and the secondary weapon is the dark spear. With his right demonic hand, part of which turned into a kind of wing with claws, he can use a spear as an arrow, pulling the string stronger. He is arrogant, vindictive and vain.

Sketches and References

When the idea was formed enough, I proceed to make sketches. At the beginning, they can be quite amorphous and they will be modified finally in the process of drawing. As a rule, I make the first sketches in a sketchbook with a ballpoint pen.

Usually, I collect a lot of references. Some of them can serve as a source of additional ideas (for example, if I found something interesting I would like to create something like that in my work), while others can fill the gaps in my knowledge (for example, in anatomy, textures of materials, design of clothes, etc.) .

Also I made some sketches of head and poses in Photoshop.

References

Stages of Drawing a Character's Concept

1. Photographed the sketch and opened it in Photoshop.

2. Reduced the transparency of the layer and outlined the sketch, making a neat linear drawing. Drew "pixel masks" for the most of elements using Lock transparent pixels and Clipping mask.

Tips: If the line is neat and without holes, you can make a quick mask with the Magic Wand Tool by clicking on the outer area around the object. After that, click Select-> Modify-> Expand ... and set the value to 1-2 pixels. Then do invert selection (Ctrl + I) and fill it (Alt + Backspace) on the new layer below the line art. It’s necessary to clean up the mask in places, where there are sharp corners and small distances between the lines.

3. I continued to draw a black and white sketch, adding a bit of value and working out various elements. I tried to make it so that light and dark spots inside the form would alternate and the accent was not lost in the upper part of the body.

4. I started adding colors using the Multiply layers. Added a background.

5. Also using Multiply layers I add core and cast shadows. Work out the volumes and add more colors and tints. I continued detailing and rendering the materials.

6. Added a rim light to split the silhouette of the figure from the background. I darkened the bottom of the figure so that there was a light accent on the top.

7. Figured out the details, kept working on the tone, added shades. Temporarily, I removed an old bow to work it out and replace with a new one.

8. Polished the details, changed the color of the spear to make it demonic and added a new bow.

A few words about the bow concept:

To develop the design of the bow, I needed the function of converting a layer into a Smart object. The mirror reflection of the symmetrical elements allowed me to see simultaneously the assembled, uncovered bow, as well as its back view. By making corrections to any of the elements of the bow, I could see the changes in each of the views. There was an idea to make a bow also a melee weapon, in case the hero had run out of arrows.

Stages of Creating an Illustration

Thumbnails. First of all, I made a series of small sketches, chose the most suitable sketch and worked on the tone to see where I can make the accents. I wanted to create a eclipse darkness and not lose focus on the main character.

Developing and detailing. I drew a more detailed sketch and added the color using Multiply layers. Little by little, I drew and refined forms, trying to keep right proportions, tone ratios, reflections from the environment and work out the details. Some elements were taken from the already done concept to preserve their details and dimensions. I kept an eye on the overlaps of the elements and guides in the composition, so that the sight will not slip beyond the picture and the main accents were on the face area.

Final Touches

In view of the lack of time, at the end it was only possible to work a little on the facial expressions and emotions of the character, and also to make a few rough sketches of his abilities. Nevertheless, the work on the character was fascinating and I like him - he has a temper, a story and a soul, giving the opportunity to develop and to be realized in some project :)

Thank you all for your attention and I wish you success in realizing your own creative projects and ideas!

Follow Sergey on Facebook or Instagram.

Check out his work on Eclipse here.