Final Project Artist Statement - Dixon

Final Project Artist Statement - Level Up

Over the years that I've drawn, I've definitely kept into my comfort zone of drawing portraits which are usually straight-on or 3/4 to the left. I've looked at other artists who create incredible scenes of fantasy/sci-fi battles with amazing angles and obvious motion. No matter how hard I tried, my own work just never came out the way I saw it in my head. I was always left feeling like I wasn't getting any closer to where I wanted to be as an artist.

For this project, I kept jumping from idea to idea; originally I had wanted to do something related to Little Red Riding Hood, then with a TV show, and then during one of our days in class, I realized that it was an opportunity to draw something that I love. I sat and thought about the things that interest me most: shows, books, music, games, etc. I thought of drawing something from Minecraft, but then I thought more and landed on TERA Online (The Exiled Realm of Arborea) which is an online game that I've been playing for over a year, and still love it just as much, if not more so, than when I first logged on. 

The thing that drew me to this game at first was the amazing art and race designs. When I started actually playing it, I was in awe of the landscapes and creatures. Everything was just so beautiful! When you play, the camera (or POV) is above and behind your character which allows you to see the action in battle. Some of the creates are called BAM's which means "big ass monster" which is so accurate. The BAM in my image is called a Basilisk and is one of the first you meet. Seeing these huge creatures makes everything else seem that much wilder. I feel a sense of intimidation then, knowing that another huge monster could be over the next hill.

Thinking about this game as well as my dream of creating a fighting scene, I decided to use my highest level character: a level 39 female Castanic sorcerer. I imagined her wearing the level 60 armor that I have dreamed up since day one. In order to get the detail, as well as challenge myself with trying to accurately show the colors in the game, I went with painting my idea digitally in PhotoShop Elements11. In the first week or two of painting this, I kept re-sizing the Basilisk and moved my character over due to perspective errors. I was also getting frustrated with how to pose her to portray the fighting style in the game, but also keep her looking graceful. This whole project was just one big puddle of experimentation. I attempted a new genre of image, a new amount of figures, lighting effects, and just plain ol' gettin' something finished. This took somewhere around 10 or 11 hours of work, and yeah, I could add more things, but I'm honestly really happy with the result. I feel like I've gotten one step closer to being the artist that I want to be. I feel like I sorta kinda leveled-up just like my character.