Projects
Huh. I didn’t have a plan for this scene other than wanting to experiment with isometric perspective. It began as an outdoor scene in Grothmar Valley, then turned into an indoor scene in Blood Keep - I even made the triple bunk beds, but the room felt too cluttered. Eventually I arrived at this surreal floaty space thing. Don’t ask me what it means, but I kinda like it. Hope you do too.
3D Art — February 11, 2020
My first fully sculpted charr bust, of my ex-Olmakhan Blood Legion druid Jaom. There’s a lot more detail I could have worked on, but I’d rather finish this and get some more basic sculpting practice first. Just to be clear, the ice texture here is not sculpted - it’s a shader I’ve made for my practice sculpts, so they don’t look quite so boring even if they’re still a little low on detail. (Fake it till you make it, cough cough.)
3D Art — February 3, 2020
Motivational warrior is here to save another Monday! Say what you want about the whole Jormag thing, the Shiverpeaks are great for staying in shape: Take a quick jog through the mountains, watch an amazing sunrise, and be back just in time for breakfast. Fun fact: Charr anatomy was not made for push-ups. Not that they lack the strength, but their neck is so long that they’d constantly boop the ground with their nose. That’s why Kianga is doing this casual one-handed push-up here. And because he can, of course.
3D Art — January 27, 2020
baomooshka asked via Tumblr: “What is storms favorite element? What is his favorite mix of elements? Does he have any favorite practices to hone his elemental powers?” Storm: “I’m a weaver, and that means I can’t play favorites with the elements—I have to keep them all in balance to be effective. Requires lots of practice and meditation. At least that’s the theory. But you know what? Efficiency isn’t everything. There’s a reason why both FIRE and FUN start with an F.”
3D Art — January 24, 2020
Kianga just learned the hard way that you don’t start a water fight with an elementalist. They cheat. I just opened Blender and started playing with the fluid simulation features, and it somehow turned into this silly scene. No serious backstory behind it, just two charr having fun. Well, one of them more than the other…
3D Art — January 23, 2020
“When Kralkatorrik murdered Soul Warband, he made the mistake of leaving one survivor. General Soulkeeper did not rest until the dragon was dead and her warband was avenged. “Whoever did this made an even greater mistake: The Pact was Almorra’s new warband. We are still alive, and we are coming for you.”
3D Art — January 6, 2020
Kianga: “Storm, we need some fire.” Storm: “How much? Want an inferno, or maybe a cozy wildf—” Kianga: “It has to be green.” Storm: “… what?” Kianga: “It’s for Fenrar. It’s his favorite color.” Storm: “My fire isn’t green. I’d look like a necromancer!” Skarr: “Oi, what’s wrong with necromancers?” Storm: sigh… Just a little thank you for a guildmate because he’s awesome.
3D Art — November 13, 2019
“For a long time I was angry with her warband for not having her back when she was killed in that pointless bar fight, but in recent months I’ve come to realize that life is too short to waste our time with old grudges. It’s not helping her, it’s not helping them or me - time to move on. “Remember the past, but look to the future.” And this concludes this year’s Charrtober! I hope you’ve enjoyed this month as much as I did - thank you for all your support and encouragement! <3
3D Art, Writing — October 31, 2019
Here’s an unexpected side project I got: Our guild leader Minarr is doing a charity stream for ArenaNet’s Extra Life event and asked me if it was possible to use one of my charr models together with FaceRig. Basically it uses a webcam to translate your head movements to a 3D model, so you can appear on stream as a charr! Setting this up was… interesting. I had to take some shortcuts and couldn’t transfer all of the textures, but we got it done just in time.
3D Art — October 30, 2019
“Our orders were to destroy a Flame Legion camp near the Black Citadel. We were quick and efficient, it was over in a matter of seconds. “Only they weren’t soldiers. They were defectors. Centurion Duskmane had told me this quite plainly—and then gave the order to leave no survivors.
3D Art, Writing — October 24, 2019
Despite having attended every single Metal Legion concert, the warband still hasn’t agreed on which song is the best. Ark’s crazy about “Bound by Blood” (best legion!), Skarr loves “Fear the Metal Legion” (great lyrics!), but Kianga prefers the “Ballad of Soulkeeper” (because the only thing better than a great song is a great song where you also get to smash things to pieces).
3D Art — October 8, 2019
A Deldrimor Steel Ingot, based on the icon[1] from the game. “Friendly reminder: While “ascended” sounds very lofty, these ingots are forged from fifty iron, steel, and darksteel ingots and do in fact descend very rapidly if you drop them by accident. On your paw, for example. Not that this would happen to me.” hobbles away
3D Art — October 6, 2019
“You think warriors don’t use magic? When you’ve got a blade stuck in your chest or deadly poison gas in your lungs, all your muscles and determination are not going to save you.” That was a lesson I received from our primus during our first warrior training. As a cub I never wanted to deal with magic—didn’t trust it. I’ve always preferred simple, tangible things, but it turns out that even warriors tap into energy that is… beyond. We’re just more subtle about it. My interpretation of the warrior’s healing skill, “To the Limit!”. Perhaps this turned out a little ghostly, but oh well. I had a lot of fun with the lighting here!
3D Art, Writing — October 3, 2019
… of the Ooze Pit “Alright, it’s not the most prestigious title, but the warband’s having a blast there. Someone’s got to show the gladia how it’s done, right? “Just remember: First the ooze pit, then the booze pit. We messed up that order once and… let’s just say, trying to open negotiations with a blob of ooze was not a viable strategy.”
3D Art — October 2, 2019
“Legionnaire.” Kianga’s hand twitched to his dagger, almost spilling his mug of ale. The atmosphere in Blood Keep had been getting more tense every day, but what’s worse: he knew that voice. He turned around towards a massive hulk of a charr. Blood Legion armor, no helm, gray fur, with a deep scar running across her nose and forehead. Her eyes were clear and fierce. “Foeraze.” She raised her right paw—empty—in a gesture of peace. “I’m not here to start trouble.”
3D Art, Writing — October 1, 2019
Garro is back, just in time for a visit to the Blood Lagoon! Which also happens to be Kianga’s favorite spot in Grothmar Valley. And they’re such posers… Ahh, this took me a while but it was worth it. I made lots of changes and refinements to Garro’s model, texture, and rig - big thank you to Tabra for his support and his excellent feedback during the process. The original version of this scene featured Garro alone, but then Tabra suggested that Kianga should have a cameo, and this happened. Not sure who steals the show here - it’s a fierce competition.
3D Art — September 23, 2019
Bao asked via Tumblr: “Kianga - Do they have many fond childhood memories?” Kianga: “When we were a little older, our primus took us to the Loreclaw Expanse, old human ruins south of Ascalon Basin. That was back when the area wasn’t crawling with separatists. He warned us about the traps in those ruins but let us explore freely, so we went looking for ghosts, and treasure! “And it was awesome. In less than an hour, Skarr got his tail fur singed by a flame trap, Ark fell of a cliff, Chui got bitten by a skelk, and I managed to step on a spike trap that went right through my paw. Only Storm missed out on all the fun and was very smug about it.
3D Art, Writing — September 7, 2019
WyvrnDWRipsnarl asked me via Twitter: “How does Kianga looks without/before his eyepatch?” I’ve done a few scenes during Charrtober 2018 that showed him before he got an eye patch, but here is a quick scene with his current model. It doesn’t have an actual scar for his left eye - yet. I’m tempted to do that next time I update his model. I imagine it would look similar to General Martok, in the later seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
3D Art — September 7, 2019
A challenge he never imagined. A primus he never expected. Uh, please excuse the cheesy tagline. This is based on a prompt “Chui as a movie star”, provided by my friend and patron Sidewinder30k. Chui is a martial arts expert, and while I haven’t seen the 2010 remake of the film (I hear the reviews were… mixed), I do like the original poster design. Besides, everything’s better with charr, right?
3D Art — August 27, 2019
“My friend Thel has been giving me lots of useful business advice, and I thought I’d return the favor by giving him some combat lessons - you know, for advanced business negotiations.” “As a warrior I’ve fought with all kinds of weapons: greatswords, maces, axes, daggers, but I must admit, that dagger/coffee combo was new to me. Good thing that mug is made of solid steel.”
3D Art — August 19, 2019
“Are you sure this is a staff…?” Ark isn’t quite convinced. A staff is more of a support weapon for a revenant, and this thing doesn’t look very supportive to him. (Psst, that’s because it’s not meant for you, Ark.) The model is based on the Reclaimed Staff skin, with a few elements of my own design. The Reclaimed Weapons are another favorite weapon set of mine: Kianga also has a Reclaimed Shield, for the rare occasions when he needs one. (Though usually he’d say that offense is the best defense.)
3D Art — August 15, 2019
“We’ve dealt with Flame Legion, we’ve dealt with Inquest, we’ve dealt with Elder Dragons the size of an island. They didn’t scare me. But ever since we returned from Dragonfall, there have been strange incidents: Reports get lost. Weapons misplaced, and later found where they shouldn’t have been. Strange noises late at night. We’re being followed, and whoever it is wants to be noticed.” A quick little scene to give you a sneak peek at a new weapon I’ve been working on. It’s not completely done yet, but maybe you can guess what it is.
3D Art — August 13, 2019
The warband’s been enjoying their summer holidays, but things are about to get a little heated… This scene went through so many iterations. Originally I planned to have it resemble the Labyrinthine Cliffs, but I wasn’t happy with the color scheme and the mood it set - so in the end I decided to go with a more neutral tropical beach look. Kianga’s awesome Blood Legion beach chair in this scene was generously contributed by my partner Keeya. <3
3D Art — August 9, 2019
“The Blood Legion is my mother. The Blood Legion is my father. We charr are born into battle, we live on the fields of war. And I… I will die fighting.” Rawr! I’ve always loved the rough painterly style of the original Guild Wars 2 cinematics, and this piece was of course inspired by the Blood Legion intro that plays right after character creation. I started with a normal 3D render of Kianga in his battle armor, but then discarded everything but the outline and composited the rest in Affinity Designer. Had a lot of fun with this!
3D Art — August 3, 2019
What do you do when the weather is too hot and you’re all covered in fur? You take it like a charr… and find a box to nap on. Side story: Had a talk with a friend a while ago, and they told me that I wasn’t making progress with my art, that I should try some new things. They were right in some way, but this little comment made me feel so bad about my work that I could no longer get anything done. It all wasn’t good enough.
3D Art — July 25, 2019
‘Scuse me, just vent art. I’ve had no working internet connection since last Friday, and getting this fixed has been nothing but delays after delays after delays. And every day I’ve got the choice between no internet or paying for mobile data which is apparently powered by angel’s tears or something, considering the price. Just grrr.
3D Art — July 10, 2019
I posted one of these art memes on Tumblr and Haruka Emberfall asked: “Draw your OC as a deity, in godlike clothing”. Of course that had to be Storm! I’m always super reluctant to use cloth simulation in Blender because it seems so unpredictable and I usually spend hours tweaking it - but this isn’t too bad, I guess?
3D Art — July 4, 2019
Kianga: “Thunderhead Keep. The assault on Kralkatorrik wasn’t our greatest moment. Not for the Pact, and not for us as warband supporting it. Mistakes were made—unnecessary mistakes—and things were said… it might not have made a difference in the end, but still. Best not to dwell on it.” Another request by Haruka Emberfall on Tumblr: “Draw your OC the maddest they’ve ever been.” This is a rather simple scene really, not much to do besides posing and lighting, but I quite like how it turned out.
3D Art — July 4, 2019
This cake is made with dark chocolate and the finest Elonian coffee beans and– I know that you’re already looking at that coffee mug instead. I thought I’d get you a new one, something worthy of a charr. It’s huge, made of solid Iron Legion steel, and like anything made by charr you can probably use it as a weapon somehow. Happy birthday, Sidewinder30k! <3
3D Art — June 13, 2019
You can’t fight a war without proper supply chains. So during my last visit to Amnoon, I managed to secure a few contracts with my friend Thel (pictured here). You know, medical supplies, weapons, ammunition, um… sugar… vanilla… cocoa beans… Don’t look at me like that! Chocolate cakes are essential for troop morale. The trick is getting that first cake to my centurion before she sees the invoice. A little thank you for my patron Sidewinder30k, for his continued support and for the awesome art he got for me last month. <3
3D Art — June 3, 2019
Would you care to join this handsome gentlecharr for a game of Sandstorm? (You’ll probably leave with significantly less coin, but you’ll have a great time anyway!) Loki needed a more presentable outfit than his old loincloth, so we came up with this fancy suit for him. As you can see, charr can look amazing even when not covered in spikes. (Although I was tempted for a moment to add some, just because.)
3D Art — May 30, 2019
After this encounter, scars will be the least of your problems… Patreon reward for Tabra of their fierce charr lady Kazra Scarmaker. This is my first female charr model, and I’m very proud of her! So many new things I’ve done here - including a stylized fluffy tail, smooth shading for the darker parts of the fur, carved horns, and more realistic looking cloth. I hope you like her, and thank you Tabra for your continued support! <3
3D Art — May 28, 2019
And here is Kianga’s new casual outfit! I love having metal elements on clothing, both for charr cultural reasons and because they take on colors of the environment and make the character feel more… real, if that makes sense? Anyway, I’ve tried to make this version look more reinforced, with extra layers of leather attached with steel buttons. I also got rid of the massive Blood Legion logo on the back, and replaced it with a hopefully more elegant design on the front.
3D Art — May 13, 2019
Okay Kianga, you can stop flexing now. Really. Kianga…? Please excuse him, he’s just very happy about his new look. I’ve been working on Kianga’s new model on and off for the last month, but this week I finally decided to get it done. I’ve tried to stay true to his design, and apply everything I’ve learned since his last makeover in December 2018. He’s got a new texture, new paws, a new mane, and even a shiny new eye patch and loincloth!
3D Art — May 12, 2019
Okay Kianga, you can stop flexing now. Really. Kianga…? Please excuse him, he’s just very happy about his new look. I’ve been working on Kianga’s new model on and off for the last month, but this week I finally decided to get it done. I’ve tried to stay true to his design, and apply everything I’ve learned since his last makeover in December 2018. He’s got a new texture, new paws, a new mane, and even a shiny new eye patch and loincloth!
3D Art — May 12, 2019
Brrr, I think I know why they call them the SHIVER-peaks… I traveled to the farthest edge to meet an old kodan, who taught me her secret chocolate cake recipe: This delicacy is made of dark chocolate, fresh cream, frozen winterberry jam, and blue ice crystals. Since it has to be kept at freezing temperatures I added a little charr ingenuity: a heating system to keep the cake (and its recipient) at just the right temperature.
3D Art — May 8, 2019
With a sharp hiss, the flame vanished. The room went dark. There was a moment of silence, then the ground began to shake. From outside the chamber, Ark could hear rubble falling. Storm! Ark ran out of the chamber, half stumbling over an old vine that had grown across the doorway. Stones, leaves, and dust were falling all around him. The earth rumbled, like he was stuck in the belly of a great beast. Ignoring it all, he ran towards the place where Storm was lying and tried to shield him as best he could.
3D Art — May 1, 2019
Ark stood in the doorway, looking back at Storm. “I’ll be back, I promise…” The chamber beyond was brightly lit. A large golden brazier stood in the center, burning so brightly that Ark had to shield his eyes. Coming closer, he could make out another doorway on the other side of the room, but it was blocked by solid stone. The was no other way out than the one he had come from.
3D Art, Writing — April 30, 2019
Last December, my friend Loki commissioned TideKeeper to draw our two charr having a quiet moment together. This is my interpretation of the same scene in 3D. Thank you again Loki for the gift, and TideKeeper for the sweet art! <3 I’ve used a different lighting setup here and some post-processing to get something closer to the original art style. I like the result, and I might experiment more in that direction!
3D Art — April 29, 2019
Tabra had the idea to let Garro do the Hollow Victory meme that’s been making the rounds on Twitter, and this was a welcome opportunity for me to experiment with a multi-panel comic layout in 3D! Usually one of the first things I do when working on a new scene is to jump into the game and take screenshots of the relevant location, both for reference and to use as a background. So I did that jumping puzzle. Lots of fun (“fun”), and I even helped a nice mesmer get up to the final chest. Proud warrior!
3D Art — April 28, 2019