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| First group, completed 2014. Click image to see larger! |
Specifically, they wanted me to visually design and illustrate six of their main player characters. They were all Druchii, the Warhammer dark elves, all with very different aspects and histories (as is only right in a decent roleplaying party). I received written descriptions of each character and started my work from there. Eventually, another member of the group liked my progress so much that he commissioned me to design a further four characters! I was so excited to be in such demand!
Unfortunately, that excitement caused me to bite off way more than I could chew. I thought I would be able to complete the project in a manner of months. When all was said and done, it took me almost seven years! I finished the tenth and final character in March of this year. I suppose seven is an auspicious number, and I learned a LOT about a wide variety of things thanks to this project, so in the end, I completed it with positive feelings.
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| Second group, completed 2018. Click image to see larger! |
Aside from technical skill I gained through visually working on these characters, I learned a lot about myself as a professional artist. I learned what I can and can't handle, I got a better idea of how long it takes me to create things, I realized that design work MUST be approached differently than work that already has complete visual reference available. Perhaps most importantly, I understood the true value of my time. As hard as it may be to turn people down or ask for more than I know they can offer, underselling myself just to snag the job does no one any good. I end up losing money, motivation, and confidence, while the client loses faith and patience while wondering if they will ever see their dream brought to life. If nothing else, I'm extremely thankful for this commission because it made me a better artist, both technically and professionally.
If you'd like to engage my services for a character design project like this (I give you my word I won't take seven years to complete it 😉) feel free to email me at Denise.Mikarts@gmail.com!
Click here to see larger images of all the Druchii characters from this project as well as my other previous commission work!
And this link will bring you to a list of all the videos of my livestreamed work on the final characters in this project.
