Stormlight Archive Portrait Series

[Lyraina]

Hi!
I've been posting some Stormlight Archive fanart on my blog and on deviantart, where I then was encouraged to come and post it here as well (where I was so far only lurking and silently reading without an account). So here I am!

I wanted to work on my portrait painting skills, so I decided to paint some of my favourite characters of my favourite series - not only incorporating the visual descriptions, but also mood, and the way I feel about the characters. Quite a challenge for me, but also a very enjoyable project so far I appreciate any feedback, both on technical aspects as well as if I get some of the visual depictions wrong.

I will update this thread when I have more, although that will probably take some time as I can only work on those in my spare time between studies and client work. Are you interested in seeing work in progress pieces as well?

Thank you for looking, hope you enjoy!
Lyra
 

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My interpretation of Shallan, as I see her in The Way of Kings. While Shallan has some very dark sides to her personality (and past), she is very good at hiding those – and I also think that a certain amount of cheerfulness is part of her as well. This is the side I wanted to portray here, the joy she feels when studying, observing, researching. It was so hard to get her eyes right - kind of asian and still blue - and I'm still not 100% satisfied with the result...

Here is a closeup: link

 

 

Jasnah:

 

Edited June 7, 2014 by Lyraina

[Argent]

Well, I've already expressed my excitement over both, especially Jasnah. I'll try to come back with some feedback later because it's hard to come up with anything other than "perfect" right now.

 

And scrap & WIPs, I know I would love to see them.

[Aleksiel]

Shallan reminds me of Alyssa Sutherland. I really like Jasnah's soulcaster. Both are great, but so different than Shallan and Jasnah in my mind, that I'm gonna need some time to fully appreciate them. Thanks for sharing!

Edited June 7, 2014 by Aleksiel

[Swimmingly]

First of all, love it.

Second - sorry for the critism - Shallan's freehand arm looks kind of - bent, like in a 3D model where the joints are twisting oddly. The faces, lighting, composition, lighting, colour, and detail are spectacular, though. I'm probably just grouchy cause I'm sick.

[Chrono]

Dang that Shallan looks good! As for Jasnah, I think you got her skin a little too dark and I'm pretty sure that her hair is straight, but don't mind me- I really love how it looks! I'm always appreciative of other people's interpretations of characters.

[Delightful]

ooh Soulcaster!

These are absolutely gorgeous!!    

 Jasnah looks a little more African and a tiny bit younger than I had imagined her, but that's just me.

Shallan's hair, Jasnah's eyes, the backgrounds....these are seriously amazing!

Edited June 8, 2014 by Delightful

[Chaos]

That Jasnah is amazing.

May I feature these on the main page? I'd like to start a featured fan art thing.

[Atilium]

Oooh, these are beautiful! Jasnah is amazing! I love seeing how different everyone's characters are, especially Shallan. I love Jasnah's wavy hair - I always imagined her with straight her, but she looks great with curly hair too. Keep it up!  

\

EDIT: Btw, Jasnah's soulcatser is PERFECT! Just.... amazing in every way. And I love the glyphs on her dress. 

Edited June 8, 2014 by Atilium

[MozytheHealer]

To everyone who says they imagined Jasnah with straight hair: She does have straight hair, but it's described quite a few times as being tightly curled. :{D

 

I love Jasnah. It makes me really happy to see a version of her that isn't stereotypically feminine in the face structure. The high cheekbones and broad jaw is really super cool. I wish I could look like this drawing when I cosplay her because seriously. That looks so much more awesome than I do. :{D 

[Zea mays]

These are fantastic.

Love your take on Jasnah.

[Lyraina]

Wow, thanks for all the feedback guys!

Argent: Alright, will post some if I have more.

Aleksiel: Yeah, that is always a big issue, and a reason why I was a bit hesitant/nervous to even post here, because everybody pictures characters in very different ways. This is especially true as I myself most of the time don't even have a clear picture of the figures in my head, but I 'feel' the characters.

Swimmingly: Thank you, not grouchy at all! I appreciate the feedback, have been practicing arms lately.. need to do more, they just have so many curves that one can get wrong!

Chrono: Thanks - I was really unsure about what is usually referred to as "tan" skin. I was thinking of a naturally darker shade because I thought it is more than just "sun tanned" - might have overdone it a little out of fear of making her to pale! I'll try to do better with future Alethi portraits. The hair thing confuses me though, you're the second one to mention that - I was so sure that she is described with curls that I didn't even look up more than one description. In my notes, it says this: "She wore part of it up, wrapped around a small, scroll-shaped golden ornament with two long hairpins holding it in place. The rest tumbled down behind her neck in small, tight curls. Even twisted and curled as it was, it came down to Jasnah’s shoulders—if left unbound, it would be as long as Shallan’s hair, reaching past the middle of her back."
Does she have a hair straightening fabrial maybe? But well, at least that gives me an excuse to do another portrait of her later on

Delightful: Thanks a lot

Chaos: Thank you, feel free to feature it, I feel very honored!

Atilium: Yeah, it looks like I messed up the hair. I would actually have preferred to give her straight hair. Next time! Glad you like the soulcaster

MozytheHealer: Very happy that you like the face structure - I'm not too good with freehanding those kind of things, but really wanted to get the "squarish face and discriminating pale violet eyes" across. Oooh cosplay .. I remember seeing your images over at deviantart! You have very beautiful black Jasnah hair

Zea mays: Thank you!

[LSU Tiger]

These are fantastic. I also loved "Brother and Sister" 

[Chrono]

Chrono: Thanks - I was really unsure about what is usually referred to as "tan" skin. I was thinking of a naturally darker shade because I thought it is more than just "sun tanned" - might have overdone it a little out of fear of making her to pale! I'll try to do better with future Alethi portraits. The hair thing confuses me though, you're the second one to mention that - I was so sure that she is described with curls that I didn't even look up more than one description. In my notes, it says this: "She wore part of it up, wrapped around a small, scroll-shaped golden ornament with two long hairpins holding it in place. The rest tumbled down behind her neck in small, tight curls. Even twisted and curled as it was, it came down to Jasnah’s shoulders—if left unbound, it would be as long as Shallan’s hair, reaching past the middle of her back."

Does she have a hair straightening fabrial maybe? But well, at least that gives me an excuse to do another portrait of her later on

 

 

Eh, don't mind me. Since most Alethi look ethnically persian, I always imagined them similar to the skin tone that Aladdin has (the Disney version). However, the dark skin certainly looks great! To be honest, I always imagined Rock as black, but when Shallan, who is pale, was described as looking like a Horneater, I had to quickly change my internal description. 

 

As for the hair, I believe that it's mentioned somewhere that she has straight hair, but that she curls it. The quote up there says that "if left unbound, it would be as long as Shallan's hair", which implies that her hair is styled in the curly manner.

 

Either way, your portraits are beautiful. Especially that Shallan one. Wowza! You've captured her perfectly, in my mind. So, don't mind the criticism. You've done an excellent job here!

[Botanica]

These are amazing! I'm thrilled to see them again on 17S =) If possible, really hope to see your take on some male characters!

[Aleksiel]

Aleksiel: Yeah, that is always a big issue, and a reason why I was a bit hesitant/nervous to even post here, because everybody pictures characters in very different ways. This is especially true as I myself most of the time don't even have a clear picture of the figures in my head, but I 'feel' the characters.

 

Both are amazing, I didn't mean to discourage you in any way and I hope I didn't! I just have a strong mental image of Shallan (unlike other characters) and in the first few seconds my mind wandered toward Alyssa Sutherland (I recently watched Vikings, so that might be part of the reason), who's absolutely gorgeous by the way, so please take it as the compliment it was intended to be. I'm looking forward to your next Stormlight Archive drawings and I hope you'll share them here.

[Argent]

I guess I need to add my voice to the "Jasnah is a little too dark" choir - she looks more African than Persian. But hey, artistic freedom* and all that. And there is something about Shallan's face that creeps me out a little bit, but I don't know enough about face geometry to pinpoint it. Regardless, this style of drawing (painting?) appeals to me verily muchly, and those are things I easily overlook. The dresses are absolutely gorgeous too.

 

 * I've been spelling this word as "freedome" for the past few weeks, and I have to correct it. I am broken =\

[-Deleted-]

Your art is amazing. I found your website, and you are extremely talented. Keep up the fantastic work, I can't wait to see what else you've got.

[Lyraina]

With all those kind words I am dearly missing a blushing smiley!

 

These are fantastic. I also loved "Brother and Sister" 

Thanks a lot! That piece was an experiment, but I liked how it turned out

 

Eh, don't mind me. Since most Alethi look ethnically persian, I always imagined them similar to the skin tone that Aladdin has (the Disney version). However, the dark skin certainly looks great! To be honest, I always imagined Rock as black, but when Shallan, who is pale, was described as looking like a Horneater, I had to quickly change my internal description. 

 

As for the hair, I believe that it's mentioned somewhere that she has straight hair, but that she curls it. The quote up there says that "if left unbound, it would be as long as Shallan's hair", which implies that her hair is styled in the curly manner.

 

Either way, your portraits are beautiful. Especially that Shallan one. Wowza! You've captured her perfectly, in my mind. So, don't mind the criticism. You've done an excellent job here!

Hmm persian, now that's a keyword I didn't use when looking up references. I was using a mix of asian, hawaiian, and east-india from ...bits and pieces of Brandon interviews I think, but in the end I was like "okay whatever, she's tan, so lets not make her too light" As for Rock - I am still working on my conception of his people eating hornets because of a stupid misreading I did at the beginning

About the hair, I really missed the part that she curls it - I read that as "she pins it up, but if she wouldn't, then it would fall down as long as Shallan's". My bad!

 

These are amazing! I'm thrilled to see them again on 17S =) If possible, really hope to see your take on some male characters!

Thanks so much The next character is indeed male. I hope I won't disappoint because I'm very bad at paintings guys!

 

Both are amazing, I didn't mean to discourage you in any way and I hope I didn't! I just have a strong mental image of Shallan (unlike other characters) and in the first few seconds my mind wandered toward Alyssa Sutherland (I recently watched Vikings, so that might be part of the reason), who's absolutely gorgeous by the way, so please take it as the compliment it was intended to be. I'm looking forward to your next Stormlight Archive drawings and I hope you'll share them here.

Don't worry, I'm not discouraged, I'm happy to hear all the different opinions on my depictions I think it's really interesting to talk about that, although it makes it kind of terrifying posting the images here! (Will still do so!)

 

 

I guess I need to add my voice to the "Jasnah is a little too dark" choir - she looks more African than Persian. But hey, artistic freedom* and all that. And there is something about Shallan's face that creeps me out a little bit, but I don't know enough about face geometry to pinpoint it. Regardless, this style of drawing (painting?) appeals to me verily muchly, and those are things I easily overlook. The dresses are absolutely gorgeous too.

 

 * I've been spelling this word as "freedome" for the past few weeks, and I have to correct it. I am broken =\

I see what you mean with the creepyness, I think it is because of the comparably broad smile, which doesn't really reach her eyes because then it didn't look asian anymore, or she started looking too old because of the wrinkles. I repainted those parts several times until I decided to move on, but I agree that she does look somewhat creepy (and not as pretty as I would like her to be).

 

Your art is amazing. I found your website, and you are extremely talented. Keep up the fantastic work, I can't wait to see what else you've got.

Thank you very much!

[Swimmingly]

On the other hand, a seemingly cheerful Shallan with the smile not quite reaching her eyes, a sort of mask is quite in character for her.

[Lyraina]

On the other hand, a seemingly cheerful Shallan with the smile not quite reaching her eyes, a sort of mask is quite in character for her.

Now that you mention it, this was of course absolutely what I intended to convey

 

Next portait will take a while, but here's a small interlude. I wanted to try out a new technique (using micro scale photo textures to depict something of a bigger scale), and thought that would be a good opportunity to paint the chasms. I didn't follow the description too closely, so this is probably some passage that doesn't get flooded very often (but still is quite high - I think most of them aren't that huge?). I was very impressed by how differently I perceived the chasms from the moment when someone mentioned that they are actually quite interesting (scientifically) and also beautiful.

 

[Argent]

Oh, that's neat!

[Chaos]

Wow, that is incredible.

[Atilium]

That's amazing! Woah! My chasms in my head were always so bland and boring literally just rock with a few random plants... I love fanart that expands my imagination (:

[Swimmingly]

Yeah, in my head the wonder was more geological than biological, with huge chasm walls sweeping up into the sky and crustings of crem and plant life among the bones below, with much more even floors - this is much more spectacular, though - wonderful!

[Mailliw73]

I love that chasm, but I've always pictured it more of a Southern-Utah, slot canyon or Arches type of canyons.