Loxodon Sojourner

Here's a new piece I did for the most recent Magic set.  It's called "Loxodon Sojourner."  First, the sketch:

©Wizards of the Coast

As you can see, there's a bit of rudimentary digital painting done on the sketch.  I do this from time to time in order to add clarity for myself or the art director...or both.  This one has fairly little digital work done to it, they sometimes are a lot more fleshed out tonally.

©Wizards of the Coast

Despite what's indicated in the sketch, I knew fairly early on what I wanted the lighting to be.  I really liked the idea of his turning his back to the light somehow.  It also allowed for one of my favorite gags, being the light showing through fabric.

I remember this piece going surprisingly quickly.  A lot of the loxodon's face and chest were done in the first pass over the painting.  I cleaned it up with a second pass, but the raw ingredients were there after just one.  If I recall, the light breaking over the loxodon't back and how it hit the cloth there proved to be the most time consuming.  All in all, I'm happy with how it turned out.