Aes Sedai: Cadsuane Melaidhrin

I've always wanted to paint that scenario in Winter's Heart where Rand was being protected as he did his thing, but the cut scenes make it quite hard to compose into a single piece, even for the imagination.

Anyway, I gave it a try, and came up with the main person providing protection, Cadsuane.

Here she's using one of her ornaments to help her while she keeps a shield up, while using another to detect the One Power being used. I suppose most ornaments were in 'full gear' during the battle, but I wanted to highlight the two she used the most during the time, the shrike and the swallow. (Yes, they don't glow, but I wanted to show them 'active') By the way, you can also call her Cadsuane Squarepants - I'm not a fan of divided riding skirts, but I discovered that light passing through her legs gave her a ... stronger stance.

Also, I imagined the 'beacon' of saidar would be something focused, like Nynaeve shining like the round sun. The 'inconceivable amount' is such a convenient measure for RJ - inconvenient for artists! So to add some drama, I made the light bigger, taller and denser, like something you would see even if you're on the other side of the mountains - if you could channel.

Tried a new color scheme, so that I veer away from my usual brown. Oh, and Far Madding golden hand earrings!

Cadsuane using her ter'angreal near Shadar Logoth

I didn't post the step-by-step process this time, as I realize that searching the character names on google, also turns up the unfinished pieces!

Aes Sedai: Seaine Herimon, Yukiri, Egwene al'Vere and Saerin Asnobar

SPOILER ALERT!


This is a scene from Towers of Midnight, where Egwene confers with three Aes Sedai atop the Tower. Although it is a blink-and-miss-it, boring scene, I found it quite appealing to me as a testament of loyal, senior Aes Sedai accepting Egwene's authority.

From left to right are, Seaine Herimon, Yukiri and Saerin Asnobar. I wanted to get the ageless look right (unidentifiable age between 25 - 40) in contrast to Egwene's youthful face. Maybe you can zoom in and see if I got some of the agelessness right. Oops, careful the file is big, might get your eyes poked!

Egwene actually is NOT my favorite character. I can simply relate to her more with the experience, status, and over-all character development. Like what Siuan said, I actually don't like her - she reminds me too much of myself!

Seaine Herimon, Yukiri, Egwene al'Vere and Saerin Asnobar

Also, earrings depict nationality! Seaine wears a bull's head design, while Yukiri has thin lacy rose earrings. I was supposed to put leopards in Saerin's earrings, but I found it too cougarish, so I settled for daggers with leopard hilts (not entirely visible). Egwene has reddish eagle earrings, and we all know what that conveys :)

I might release separate portraits of the background characters, as I have their parts complete although made invisible by Egwene's presence. Also, no stole. I kinda forgot about it, but settled with the idea that she doesn't need to wear them all the time - especially in a private windy area :D

A New, but Traditional Style

It's strange that a certain scene in the Wheel of Time series that feels so boring is compelling me to paint it. Maybe it's the characters who do nothing but talk, plan and think on top of a building, but for me it's probably the feeling of 'acceptance' of one character's leadership, despite the age and experience gap.

This blog contains many spoilers, especially for people who have not yet advanced in the books. So I'll leave some details out, but I'd probably name the characters once I finish the piece, or near completing it.

I looked through various painting tutorials, and although they're methodically done, the pieces seem to achieve more than mine could in such a short time. So I tried changing my style, and opened my mind to learn what other digital artists have to offer. Here's a little of the process...

1. I did the traditional way of digital painting (again!), which is completing as much pencil as possible.

2. I colored the parts slowly and flatly. However, I couldn't resist painting faces, so yes I jumped a little back and forth.

3. Found out that painting faces the traditional way was soooo much easier!

4. Added the main character - here you can see I first painted her flat.

5. I learned that to paint correct light, an object must be taken as reference in the light of choice. So in normal light, the least amount would be the darkest shadows. Then second is the brightest highlights.
On average are the lesser shadows and highlights, while the most amount would be the midtone - the flat colors. It was a revelation to me.

6. Being (quickly) satisfied with the faces, I tried to do clothing so I wouldn't get bored. I first practiced with the leftmost character, using my old style. Surprisingly, I wasn't happy anymore. Then I tried the middle character using the new style - I was quickly impressed!

7. It took half the time to finish the middle character's clothes! I think that I should be redoing the older one's but to get my enthusiasm going, I might try the other characters first. I added a blurred background to get the feel of the atmosphere. I will have to paint that last.

Let's see how well this goes!

If you're interested with the major influence of this style, here's the the link to Mominur Rahman. He posts his tutorials on deviantart.com, and here's his website! Thank you so much, Mominur!