Cosmere Fanart - Sketches and Works-in-Progress

[Argent he/him]

You are so hot right now

 

@Argent: Again, thanks for the detailed responses... I've been keeping your feedback in mind when doing more Shardplate drawings and casting a wider net when it comes to reference (including more futuristic stuff, Samus included). And I would love to see those examples from the Rothfuss hangout if you still have the link on hand

 

I never had the link handy, but I am pretty sure I can find it. If work is slow this week I'll do it in the next couple of days. If not, the weekend.

 

Re: Art

Pretty much every one of the characters has a sprite that looks either creepy, funny, or disturbing. Adolin's #2, for example, makes me think of those "Where will you be when diarrhea strikes?" memes. All in good humor, of course, I like them all I'll need to revisit Elhokar's descriptions, however, this is not at all how I pictured him. I think I've been casting him as a blond in my head (which I know to be wrong), but I want to make sure that it's me who is being silly about this. As my last line of defense, I think he should look a little more... mouse-y. Shifty. Paranoid. Worried. Jumpy. 

 

I assume the two sets of brothers are Gavilar & Dalinar and Kaladin & Tien? If so, Gavilar & Dalinar look really good.

 

The WIP Shardbearer has a very unique Blade design

 

Elend and Vin are adorbs, of course.

 

Aaand now I want to see you draw Shallan in her winter clothes. With Puppy Pattern, because it'd be fun to see how you imagine the unimaginable geometries of her spren.

[Argent he/him]

Double post, because this is a whole new topic. Video games.

 

It very much depends on what kind of game all of you have in mind. Minds. Whatever. Obviously those are not spires for something like Mass Effect 3. Are you thinking Pokemon*? Card game? Exploration game? RPG? Because some of those can be developed by a relative amateur - I once coded up a basic Tower Defense game in a grand total of a few days worth of work. Anyone dedicated, even inexperienced, could have a working something in a few months.

 

 * Sprenmon? Pokespren? Gotta bind 'em all?

[WeiryWriter he/him]

Double post, because this is a whole new topic. Video games.

 

It very much depends on what kind of game all of you have in mind. Minds. Whatever. Obviously those are not spires for something like Mass Effect 3. Are you thinking Pokemon*? Card game? Exploration game? RPG? Because some of those can be developed by a relative amateur - I once coded up a basic Tower Defense game in a grand total of a few days worth of work. Anyone dedicated, even inexperienced, could have a working something in a few months.

 

 * Sprenmon? Pokespren? Gotta bind 'em all?

 

PokeSpren!!!  With Axies Ketchum!  Back when I was working on the SprenDex (my name for the spren article on the coppermind, and yes, it is a PokeDex reference) a couple of us in the chat were very excitedly coming up with spren and pokemon crossover stuff.  But seriously if there is ever a Stormlight RPG or something, there needs to be a sub-quest or something that consists of discovering all the spren.

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Exmachina, you are amazing!!! I'm so glad you've been posting all these!

[ExMachina she/her]

@Feather: Aw, thank you! Seriously though, your responses to my art on tumblr (and the amazing tags on reblog) make my day. :>

 

 

@Chaos: Glad that you like the SA sprites and the Mistborn pic!  @ecksmachina is my (sadly rarely used) Twitter.

 

 

@Joe: Thanks~ And judging by your response to Wax on tumblr... methinks I shall draw more Alloy of Law stuff, hehe.

 

 

@WeiryWriter: Glad to be a welcome sight on your dash! I am probably going to steal your idea of Axies Ketchum and draw that at some point, heh. Been meaning to give the interlude characters some love and that'd be a fun way to start. PokeSpren would be cool too but I don't know anything about Pokemon beyond Gen 2... :X 

 

 

@Argent: Yeah, was going for silly expressions when I put together those sprite sheets, heh. Might as well have fun with 'em!

 

I can understand feeling weird about the Elhokar sprite since I had a strange time drawing him.  I settled on making him very similar to my Gavilar but it's hard reconciling his physical description with his personality and actions. Clearly I should just push the paranoid/pouty expressions more if I use his sprite in the future, heh.

 

Yep, the original brothers Kholin and Kal+Tien.

 

The great Shardblade known as Rectangle, quail before it. xD

 

Oh man, I immediately wanted to draw winter!Shallan when I read that excerpt... The first thing that sprang to mind were fur-lined garments, but when further description wasn't forthcoming a ton of questions cropped up: What kind of hat is appropriate for a high-ranking Vorin lady and would go well with their dresses? What materials are commonly used for winter clothing for Lighteyes? Do they even have fur in any reasonable amount on Roshar considering their fauna are mostly crustacean?! etc. etc.

 

...and I would probably cheat and just generate a fractal for Pattern, heh. >.> Digital art a crutch? Preposterous.

 

 

@Malliw: Thank you for viewing them and commenting! :3 Hopefully I'll be able to share more consistently in the future...

 

 

@Satsuoni: Nope, I refuse to believe that you'd be incapable of coding a complete game after seeing that amazing highstorm simulation you posted. (If I may ask, is it something pesky like perfectionism keeping you from finishing a game project? 'Cause I get that, any creator is their own biggest critic and never satisfied with what they make... Just have to keep trucking along work to work and learning as you go.)

 

 

 

Re: Elend and Vin - I'd actually never drawn Elend before (and didn't have a really strong mental image when I started that piece either) so I'm glad that people are digging it. Those 2 are just so sweet together, tempting me to re-read the trilogy...

 

Re: Stormlight video game sprites -

 

Honestly, the comments on these have been welcome but surprising... I felt somewhat insane following my impulse to draw 8 characters each with 20+ different features for no real reason, heh. So thanks for the kind words, guys.

 

If anyone does want to play around with the sprites for whatever purpose, I'd be happy to give you high-res versions. Or if you have any ideas for mockup screenshots, let me know and I can easily throw those together if you want.

[Joe ST he/him]

More is always amazing, thank you so much the sprites are amazing, ALL YOUR ART IS THE MOST AMAZING BESTEST!!! <3

[Natans he/him]

A litlle late for the party but I'm dropping just to say that you are Amazing, I very ansious to see your final take in the Sharplate departament.

Best wishes !!! =)

[Argent he/him]

Re: cheekbones and ethnicity

Turns out the video I was going to show you, @ExMachina, is now private - along with all the other videos from that channel. I've messaged the channel's owner, as it is possible that there was some YouTube mix-up, but if that's not the case, you might end up having to do your own research on the topic...

[ExMachina she/her]

@Natans: Thanks for dropping by! Super late response back... I think I've made some good sketches on most of the parts of Shardplate, so crossing my fingers that I'll be able to do a full drawing of an entire suit soonish. But probably not before WoR hits and I have to read that monster.

 

@Argent: Ah, that's a shame... Thanks for taking the time to look for the vid nonetheless! Depicting different ethnicities is definitely a big interest of mine, I'll keep an eye out in case the footage pops up elsewhere...

 

I haven't been too productive Cosmere-art-wise during my disappearance, but here's a few odds and ends...

 

In a hollow in the stone: 

 

Sketches of Kaladin at various stages of his life and a few related characters: 

And some Shallan + related characters sketches (Kabsal, Yalb): 

 

You can tell how far I was into my WoK re-read for those 2 sketchbook pages... not very.

 

Burning question: how do Brightladies play the zither exactly?

Edited February 28, 2014 by ExMachina

[Argent he/him]

Tien in armor is adorbs

[Natans he/him]

A day with new art are a good day =)

 

I hope that you finish WOR soon, because in this way you will get new inspiration for your art.

 

Keep going you are awesome =)

Edited March 1, 2014 by Natans

[Botanica she/her]

Wow it seems that I've missed lots of new stuff! I should follow this thread because tumblr is not so dependable for me. =)

Ah are there pencil sketches?! They're amazing! (I'm a sketch holic so seeing other people's artwork is one of my favourite things.) And I must say that Wax piece is super awesome.

Since WoR is so near with so many new inspirations, I'm really looking forward to your new art!

[ExMachina she/her]

Argent: Yes, totes adorbs. and also totes depressing

 

Natans: Thanks again! :3 I definitely have plans to power through WoR as quickly as humanly possible... I can't contain just how excited I am for the release, haha.

 

Botanica: Thank you.  These are indeed pages from a brand new sketchbook. I love seeing other artists' pencil sketches too so I should try to be better about sharing mine. But getting to a scanner is kinda hard for me...

 

I colored one of the Kabsal sketches.

 

And vectored the glyphs from the WoR interior art so I can copy and paste them onto foreheads and uniforms in drawings.

 

One more day till WoR, ahhhhhhhhh!

 

[Botanica she/her]

The vectored glyphs are awesome and very useful! Thanks for creating them =)

Yay sketches! Hope to see more!

(Aw, I can relate to it! I have no scanner so I have to take photo of all the sketches then edit them in PS, which is like a total disaster… )

[ExMachina she/her]

Bota: No problem! ^^ (and yeah, I agree that taking photos of natural media stuff really doesn't cut it... only so much cleaning up one can do in PS with that as a starting point D: )

 

I've finished WoR and have a bunch of sketches, hopefully I'll be able to swing by the library tomorrow to scan 'em. As a forewarning, the pieces I'll be posting from now on may contain WoR spoilers. I'll try to keep any art related to major story beats/twists as links rather than embedding them, but if you haven't finished the book yet it might be best to not take a look at all in the next couple of days.

 

In the meantime, here's a quick digital thing:

 

 

Kaladin + horses = the best.

[Natans he/him]

LOL =)

 

Funny one. Keep shoting new ones

 

Every time that i see your or Botanica art it's a good day to me =)

 

Ex Makina what you thinked about the Official interpretation of the Alenthis in Adolin Folio ?

 

Of all male interpretations yours are the one that looked exactly what i imagined that an male Alenthi would look like and In comparasion with the "official art" I think that your are spot on =)

 

Keep going you are awesome =)

[FeatherWriter she/her]

You made the horse smirk. You beautiful person, Ex, you MADE THE HORSE SMIRK.

[ExMachina she/her]

Natans: Haha, glad you enjoy the drawing with the horse! :3 That chapter was one of my favorites, so funny.

 

RE: the folio page - It was kind of a shock to see such a detailed drawing of a person's face in an interior illustration, but the dude depicted could fit in with how I imagine the Alethi as a race. He looks like he could be based on a Pacific islander (though it's a little hard to distinguish his epicanthic folds in the drawing? that's the one thing that bugs me about the image, the rest of the illustration is ace) which is where I personally start from when drawing any Alethi. Myself being SE Asian I have a bunch of uncles who look a lot like folio guy, heh.

 

It's in such a different style (very realistically rendered) than I usually do and obviously isn't meant to be any of the main characters... honestly I don't see it having any impact on my SA drawings.

 

Brandon's said that he uses a photo of a half-Asian/half-Hawaiian as the model for Kaladin, so I basically extrapolate from real world Pacific islanders/SE Asians for bone/facial structure when it comes to the Alethi and will continue to do so regardless.

 

So yeah, that was probably much too long of an answer but there you have it. ^^; I'll go on drawing Alethi males the way I currently do, no worries.

 

Feather: It absolutely had to be smirking! Those things are evil creatures who are entirely too clever for their own good. xD

 

 

 

Okay, here's some more art to share~

 

Moash trying on his uniform for the first time (aww, he's blushing! so anime!):

 

 

2 more sketchbook pages, but these were during my WoR readthrough:

 

 

Edited March 9, 2014 by ExMachina

[FeatherWriter she/her]

Daaang those sketches are all so wonderful! Shirtless Kaladin AND lots of uniformèd Bridge 4 members? I can't quite handle all of this amazing! Next you'll start drawing more Renarin or something and then I truly will break.

 

(Also, I feel like I should warn you that I kind of a little bit linked to the picture that you drew for FNCC last night in the Shallan shipping thread, but it didn't really get much response. These silly Sharders just don't appreciate good ship art the way the tumblr fandom does.)

[Argent he/him]

Is Lopen this young? I was talking with a friend about him, and my gut feeling was that he was in high twenties / low thirties.

[Aleksiel]

Oh, Shallan hugging Wit! And the 'you-me' scene. Awesome! Any chance you will make either of them colored?

The smirking horse is my next favorite. And Shallan demanding the boots + Kal's sock, that's just great.

[ExMachina she/her]

Feather: Bridge 4 is always good times!  Speaking of shirtless!Kaladin, I've joked with a friend that someday I'll draw Bridge 4 carrying on their post-Highstorm showers in Dalinar's camp and all these passers by just craning their heads to watch. xD

 

And... uh, the next page is Kholin-focused, with a lot of Renarin actually. So hopefully I can scan that soon. ^^

 

(It's cool that you linked my Kadolin drawing and it looks like the Shallan discussion overshadowed it in that thread completely anyways, haha. I just haven't posted any FNCC-inspired stuff in here because that art really is more for the tumblr Cosmere community. )

 

Argent: I also think of Lopen as around that age, I just failed to really portray that in the sketch, heh. I should probably define his laugh lines/wrinkles on the edge of his eyes more to age him up visually. Will definitely keep that in mind if I do larger portraits of the Bridge 4 members...

 

Aleksiel: Thank you! The chapter with Wit was such a good one. :3 I'm definitely interested in pulling out those sketches and coloring 'em, illustrating the entire scene.

Edited March 9, 2014 by ExMachina

[Natans he/him]

First tks for the aswer

Second Nice Bridge 4 especially Lopen. After WOR Lopen are likely one of the mosted loved Stormlight archive character and yours are very amuzing.

I'm hoping now that Stormlight are turning more popular others great artist like youself will try a hand in fanart (one of the best part of any fandom to me =P ) -

Also Miss Feather you make a great job in her Adonalsium tumblr gathering so many nice drawing, without you i would lost half of the good thing TKS.

What you will do PlayAlenhti with all Bridge 4? Very salacious of your part.

If you do that remember to be a just person and also draw one of Shallan in Bridge 4 uniform, that one made spill my imaginary cooffee when I was reading to book.

Kaladin are turning out ot be a very salicous person himself. He grabbed Shallan safehand (that must be the Alenthi equilavent of grab a girl breasts). He commented of Shallan dripping dress hugging him, Talked about a good time the had with Tarah, and very promptly asked Shallan if she was drawing the mentioned pictured of herself. Naughty boy.

Your Kadolin drawing are very funny i thinked that they would fight and bang. Suprise suprise !

PS: Hahaha forget about Shallan picture i saw yout tumblr and i'm laughing until now.

Edited March 9, 2014 by Natans

[FeatherWriter she/her]

CUTE RENARIN PITCURES. OH NO MY ONE WEAKNESS. HEEEELP.

[ExMachina she/her]

Natans: Haha, PlayAlethi... that's definitely what I'll call that drawing of Bridge 4 if I ever do it. And yeah, I'm hoping we see a lot more activity fanart-wise now that WoR is out. ^^

 

Feather: I've got 6 Renarin's on this next page alone! *cackles*

 

 

And since Natans mentioned it and it's already been posted in the Shalladin thread here... this is my silly comic about Shallan drawing that salacious picture of herself in a bridgeman outfit (mostly Kaladin's reaction).

 

I felt that the world needed nosebleed!Kaladin.

Edited March 12, 2014 by ExMachina