"A radiating burst of crimson energy that heightens the user's physical abilities, and capable of drastically increasing their strength by tenfold."
This was meant to originally be a painting that simply depicted Zephyr posing in an angle with the Sanguine manifesting in her hand. Then I felt that this alone was not doing her justice, and I decided to whip up some kind of background behind her. At first, I was going for the lazy gray background that darkens at the edges, or something. But I started toying with the idea of a landscape (despite me saying I'd take a break from making them 😆)... A dark landscape, in particular, something like a crystalline cavern.
In the end, I decided to use this opportunity to feature another prominent location in the Aether and Radisrol. These plains are the Auric Steppes in the Aethersphere, on the main island of Aurum. The city in the distance is the capital kingdom of Caladria, particularly its castle.
A lot of lighting study went into this painting, the most obvious of which you can tell from the ambient light caused by the Sanguine reflecting on various surfaces. I had an especially good time trying to also mold the Sanguine's wispy shape, and I think I did a good job portraying how untamed it truly is. I was also looking at stock photos of starry night skies and used them as bases for the one I painted in my illustration.
This is, I believe, my first time painting a concept art of a character with a full-on, from-scratch, and equally concept-arty landscape. Alone, Zephyr herself wouldn't really pop out; she'd still look cool, but the appeal would have just fallen flat. With the landscape, though... Together, they just mesh so well. I'm rather pleased I didn't just give up on this piece halfway despite my initial misgivings, because now it looks twice as better than what it originally could have been. ✌
