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Cosmere Fanart - Sketches and Works-in-Progress


ExMachina

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Thanks, guys! Sorry 'bout the late response, haven't had much time for art lately. D:

 

@Shivertongue: Thank you! I'm glad to be here. :)

 

@Windrunner: I'm probably happiest with Dalinar out of those portraits (pretty sure I spent the most time on it too) so it's cool to hear that it captures the character well. 

 

@Mailliw: My pleasure, thanks for taking the time to stop by and take a peek at my art! Kaladin was another character that I spent a lot of time on trying to nail down.

 

@Feather: Oh no, I don't want to be responsible for making you expire from art-overload! xD And your lock-screen... that is awesome and flattering, dang. :X

 

@Natans: Sweet, as that's the design I'm leaning most towards. :D Except probably with the higher vest neckline of the last 2, since exposing so much of the white shirt looks sparse without a tie of some sort... I definitely want to draw Kaladin in full uniform (perhaps with the rest of Bridge Four...?) at some point.

 

Decided to start on another track of SA art - depicting Shardbearers, including both their blades and full plate. Which is slightly mad because I don't know the first thing about how to put together plate armor and haven't really delved into bladed weapons before. Oh well, that's what research is for...

 

'Ere are some sloppy initial sketches:

 

igXkPFx8jdYzy.jpg

 

Hopefully I'll have more and better stuff to share sooner rather than later.

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I think you've made the Shardplate look too much like ordinary plate armor - which it really shouldn't be. I would probably try to make to make it look a little more like a chainmail (fluid, with uniform texture), quargon has the same issue, I think, in spite of the gorgeous designs and the interesting chest piece. mighty5cent has the right idea though - the entire armor looks futuristic and fluid. If it were real plate armor, it would chafe insanely, but because of its magical nature, none of those pieces bite. My only beef with this design (aside from the fact that Dalinar's armor should be slate grey, which is irrelevant here) is that the whole thing should be much more seamless. Shardplate is not supposed to have so many potential opening where an opponent could slide a blade under the pieces. It should be... well, every two pieces should fit together like bricks in a wall. Touching tightly, but not overlapping. 

 

Maybe I am describing something impossible. I admit, I don't have a clear picture of how the Plate should look like. But I know the word "seamless" should pop into my head when I look at one, and I haven't really seen anything on the Internet that makes me say that. Then again, Shardplate is not concerned with structural stability - all it needs is to cover the Shardbearer, it is not necessary for it to balance mass, or be bothered with softer spots. In a way, it doesn't matter whether the armor fit as tightly as cloth or bulked as much as plate armor.

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@Natans: Sweet, as that's the design I'm leaning most towards. :D Except probably with the higher vest neckline of the last 2, since exposing so much of the white shirt looks sparse without a tie of some sort... I definitely want to draw Kaladin in full uniform (perhaps with the rest of Bridge Four...?) at some point.

 

 

Well, now that I'm here I would ask you autorization to do a Cosplay with this exact concept design( that if you don't create a more amazing that this one in future=P).

 

Next year if god help me I gonna cross the globe and attend to a Sanderson signing(preferable in a Con) and, if everything occur like I'm hoping would be very nice go with the "right look" if you catch my drift =)

 

So pretty,pretty please with sugar on top do you let me ? =)

 

 

 

I think you've made the Shardplate look too much like ordinary plate armor - which it really shouldn't be. I would probably try to make to make it look a little more like a chainmail (fluid, with uniform texture), quargon has the same issue, I think, in spite of the gorgeous designs and the interesting chest piece. mighty5cent has the right idea though - the entire armor looks futuristic and fluid. If it were real plate armor, it would chafe insanely, but because of its magical nature, none of those pieces bite. My only beef with this design (aside from the fact that Dalinar's armor should be slate grey, which is irrelevant here) is that the whole thing should be much more seamless. Shardplate is not supposed to have so many potential opening where an opponent could slide a blade under the pieces. It should be... well, every two pieces should fit together like bricks in a wall. Touching tightly, but not overlapping. 

 

Maybe I am describing something impossible. I admit, I don't have a clear picture of how the Plate should look like. But I know the word "seamless" should pop into my head when I look at one, and I haven't really seen anything on the Internet that makes me say that. Then again, Shardplate is not concerned with structural stability - all it needs is to cover the Shardbearer, it is not necessary for it to balance mass, or be bothered with softer spots. In a way, it doesn't matter whether the armor fit as tightly as cloth or bulked as much as plate armor.

 

 

 

If I can sugest something about the matter, try adopt some "style" in the design, all sharbears add ornamente(wing like adorn, fire like design like eshonai) that could give "fantasy vibe" to the armor. Other than the you are amazing, I look forward to see what you gonna draw =)

Edited by Natans
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Wow, it's totally awesome!!! Wish to see the final version of the Plates and Blades! I would say they're probably the most difficult things to depict so far (except for those alien creatures)… I couldn't imagine them well in my mind. Innovative design beyond the traditional style, quite a challenge! Your take is worth to be seen! I also like your SA portraits, great work! =)

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@Natans: Whoa, seriously? Of course you have my permission if you ever want to base a cosplay on my design, it would be an incredible honor to see it brought to life! :D I do want to get more details down for the uniform and expand on it, so I'll be sure to post any updates on that.

 

I will definitely put in ornamentation on the Shardplate once I nail down the forms of each piece to my satisfaction. That'll be the fun part, hehe.

 

@Mailliw: All of my art is sloppy, I can just hide it thanks to the joys of digital editing usually. ;) Thanks again~

 

@Argent: Yeah, the many tiny plates fitting into each other without gaps is a really difficult thing to visualize... I thought about how a seamless, uniform, fluid layer of plating would work and all I could come up with was a scalelike configuration of diamond-shaped pieces (I've included a bit of that in the sketch below). Thanks for sharing mighty5cent's artwork, I hadn't seen it before and that does seem like a closer fit than other depictions I've seen.

 

@Bota: Thank you! It's really awesome to see you on 17s, by the way. :) Figuring out how to draw the plate and blades, that's going to be a long road... the fact that no one seems to have a very distinct picture of them is kind of why I wanted to take them on. :P

 

Here's a couple of quick sketches of Adolin in plate. Still trying to figure out how the pieces most snug to the body could fit while the larger stuff on top (pauldron, tasset, grieves, etc.) can be easily toggled on/off or modified. I'll likely be iterating on these sketches, messing around with the arrangement and seams a lot. O.x

 

jy4mAbpsmWcH4_e.jpg

 

Also, I just got a new brushpen... and one of the first things I drew was Kaladin in uniform.

jy5YsnVlPTHnm_e.jpg

Sans brand for now since I'm still not sure what it looks like and it'd be done in permanent ink!

Edited by ExMachina
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Hmm. This feels much better. I think - and keep in mind, I am no artist! - that the next step should be to make the "seams" between the "scales" very difficult to see. It feels like I should be able to see not the "seams" but the change in the Plate's curvature caused by them. I can't find an example (and to be honest, I can really visualize what I am saying...), so let me back off for a moment and say this. I very much like the mesh and the solid pieces work together - mesh for the mobile parts (e.g. elbow), solids for the stationary ones (e.g. forearm). It's good (though maaaybe there is too much of it). But then, oddly, I like the first design too - I look at it, and it speaks mobility and flexibility. But it also looks like cloth, and I believe a Shardplate is supposed to be flexible and bulky. It makes me think a little bit of Samus... 

 

sigh

 

I ramble. This feels much more like brainstorming than feedback. I think I'll need to reread a couple of scenes before I can make sense of all this. But I do like the mesh.

 

On a side note, I am happy with this Kaladin. His... features feel right. I had to look twice to make sure they match his racial stereotype - which means that he didn't feel out of place, his face is not Asian, it just has some features. Which is awesome. Though you keep drawing him with straight hair :P

 

Finally, a question. Did you know that cheekbones (and more specifically, how high or low they are) very strongly define the race we attribute to people? I can't tell from Kaladin's sketch (because it's a sketch, durrr), but if I recall correctly the farther East you go, the higher cheekbones you will see. I don't know much about this, but I was watching an open hangout with Pat Rothfuss a couple of months back, and the artist he was talking with mentioned it and showed a few examples. I could dig it out for you if that's something new / interesting / useful to you.

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@Natans: Whoa, seriously? Of course you have my permission if you ever want to base a cosplay on my design, it would be an incredible honor to see it brought to life! :D I do want to get more details down for the uniform and expand on it, so I'll be sure to post any updates on that.
 
I will definitely put in ornamentation on the Shardplate once I nail down the forms of each piece to my satisfaction. That'll be the fun part, hehe.
 
@Mailliw: All of my art is sloppy, I can just hide it thanks to the joys of digital editing usually. ;) Thanks again~
 
@Argent: Yeah, the many tiny plates fitting into each other without gaps is a really difficult thing to visualize... I thought about how a seamless, uniform, fluid layer of plating would work and all I could come up with was a scalelike configuration of diamond-shaped pieces (I've included a bit of that in the sketch below). Thanks for sharing mighty5cent's artwork, I hadn't seen it before and that does seem like a closer fit than other depictions I've seen.
 
@Bota: Thank you! It's really awesome to see you on 17s, by the way. :) Figuring out how to draw the plate and blades, that's going to be a long road... the fact that no one seems to have a very distinct picture of them is kind of why I wanted to take them on. :P
 
Here's a couple of quick sketches of Adolin in plate. Still trying to figure out how the pieces most snug to the body could fit while the larger stuff on top (pauldron, tasset, grieves, etc.) can be easily toggled on/off or modified. I'll likely be iterating on these sketches, messing around with the arrangement and seams a lot. O.x
 
jy4mAbpsmWcH4_e.jpg
 
Also, I just got a new brushpen... and one of the first things I drew was Kaladin in uniform.
jy5YsnVlPTHnm_e.jpg
Sans brand for now since I'm still not sure what it looks like and it'd be done in permanent ink!

 

 

Thanks a lotttttt=) If everything happens like I'm planning, I will send you some pictures of the costume next year tks again =)

 

(Costume autorization ok. Now, need get a nice tan, and build up more muscle to look correctly, bye junk food, hi gym)

 

Wow, new drawings, and Botanica joining the forum, good week indeed =)

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I already squeed over the tumblr post of that Kaladin, but DANG. He may be starting to give Renarin a run for his money... Best thing Dalinar ever did: Insisting everyone wear uniforms all the time. Thank you, Dalinar. 

 

That Shardplate is looking awesome! Great job with that! I can't wait to see what you come up with for a more final design!

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  • 1 month later...

Holy freaking crap, ExMachina. Amazing.

That one with Elhokar talking makes me want a Stormlight video game where that's the art style. Like, seriously, that image is dialogue in some game. It is that good. Like, Stormlight visual novel or something.

EDIT: Also omigod Elend and Vin is so adorable there.

EDIT 2: Do you have a Twitter that I can plug, when I tweet this amazingness from 17th Shard?

Edited by Chaos
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That one with Elhokar talking makes me want a Stormlight video game where that's the art style. Like, seriously, that image is dialogue in some game. It is that good. Like, Stormlight visual novel or something.

 

I'm pretty sure that's what she was going for. They're talk sprites! There's more over here!

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