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Inkthinker — Mistborn - Inquisitor II
Published: 2008-09-02 04:50:40 +0000 UTC; Views: 45669; Favourites: 662; Downloads: 3859
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Based on the novels Mistborn and The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson, check out this page here is you're just tuning in.Couple hours, PS CS3, Cintiq, 600x1100 (Click "download" if you want to see it a little larger).
Went for less detail, more mood. The text in Sanderson's books says that the light from the sky is red, so I went there and then threw in the blue as a bounce for no better reason than that it fell on the opposite side of the spectrum. It seems a little rich, but at small size reminds me loosely of some colors I've seen oil painters pull off, and bringing it down didn't feel right either, so here's where I've let off.
I've picked a subject, and I'm experimenting. Learned a couple new tricks, but I really have no idea what I'm doing beyond a certain point... just making it up as I go. I blew at least as much time trying things that didn't work as I did on the stuff I kept.
"Mistborn" and the Steel Inquisitor are ©2007 Brandon Sanderson .
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Comments: 62
If I had a tablet, I'd actually attempt to do this... But otherwise, I am terrible at this.
Nice work!
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Yeah, he's got a hard path to tread.
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I can't believe I had never found this picture before. I read Mistborn back in 2009 and looked up Steel Inquisitors and never found something close to how I imagined them, but I think this is the closest I'll ever get.
I love how you kept him in dark red lighting making him that much more threatening in appearance. God, I loved this series of books. Can't wait until Sanderson writes some more.
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Thanks! One of the advantages to the Inquisitor design is that it works really well in silhouette. Most everything Brandon builds is fun to draw, which makes working for him a pleasure indeed.
I think the next thing on the schedule is "The Ritmatist", which is a stand-alone YA book, and then the next Cosmere book will probably be the second "Stormlight" novel. Though with Brandon you can never be sure, the man writes ALL the time... he'll have one of those long, international flights and he'll just bang out the first draft of a new book. That's how we got "The Alloy of Law", after all!
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That's wonderful! I have been wanting to read the Stormlight Archives for a while now. I'll have to see what The Ritmatist is about.
Mistborn is the only books of his that I have read, of his but I greatly enjoyed them. I'll have to follow your work for sure.
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Holy cow. This is.... this is practically perfect. If a Mistborn comic was ever drawn, this would be an awesome design to follow.
He's big, intimidating, and mysterious, the cloak does a good job hiding his true profile while not concealing his size, the silver "eyes" and the spike showing... yeah, spot-on. The use of red to provide a sharper contrast and the blue, almost as an opposite of the red, drifting as the mist... really, really effective. Especially given the methods of creating a Steel Inquisitor. *shuts up to avoid spoilers*
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Thanks! If you like, check out the Mistborn RPG coming around later this year, I put a lot of linework illustrations into it. In retrospect, I think my Inquisitors might be a bit too buff, though.
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Not quite as I imagined but excellent nevertheless.
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Fair enough! How were they different in your imagination? (serious question, I got a couple more Inquisitor pieces to do for the RPG).
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Today i finished reading the first book and man i love your picture.
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Chilling atmosphere. For some reason I always thought the Inquisitors were both ver interesting and very terrifying. I like how you portray them, definitely captures the creepiness of them!
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I thought those were sunglasses until I saw the original description...Well done!
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creepy!! i love this. I'm half-way through hero of ages, and the series is great!
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In general, a great picture. One quibble: The spikes come off looking a bit too much like round mirrorshades.
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No, that was the idea... I wanted to draw a bit of a parallel there.
'Course, I might have overdone it a bit.
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It's not a bad picture, mind you. Just more "i'm a cool indie comic book villain" and less "bah! pinhead's a poser".
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I find it very interesting :] the colors look lovely, so much atmosphere
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Love the art, but I can't find the Hero of Ages anywhere! Augh!
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Wow your use of blue and red is really great! Picture is totally amazing. But I wonder what is that white mark?
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The little squiggly thing at the top? That's a loose interpretation of the lightbulb logo I sign so much work with. Same basic thing as my avatar, but more stylized.
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That looks just like how I imagined the steel inquisitors. I can't wait to read Hero of Ages.
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all you have here are professional critiques, and all i can say when i look to this drawing is: Awesome.
Great work with the composition
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the colours here ceritainly do bounce off one another, however, the hazy, purple-ish middle ground and the stark blue eyes do a fine job of introducing them to each other, nullifying the clash. this image also has a great sense of atmosphere. the etherial, almost watery mist on the ground and beams of light give the image a heavy tone that the sillueted figure sits very comfortably in.
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You make it sound like I did it on purpose.
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Very strong composition! The colors are great and the character really freaks me out. It's awesome!
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Awesome color and shadow use. The form is very well represented.
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I like the colours, glad you didn't turn them down.
And the light too. so thick and mysterious... I personally adore the blueish nails in his sockets, never seen aqua look so menacing ;D
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You drawing and description of the Koloss has inspired me to read these books. I ordered Mistborn yesterday from B&N.
After reading Etlantris, This should be great.
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Elantris was pretty good, but the fact that I've been drawing Mistborn stuff should indicate which one I liked more.
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Well my copy came in today, so I'll let you know in a couple of weeks.
Are you doing independent commission stuff now? Or are you just fooling with "Mistborn" for fun?
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I've got a couple publishing jobs on the slate right now, in addition to my full-time animation work. The Mistborn stuff is a little bit of fun mixed with a little bit of work.
I have a Paypal account now, so really the only thing that stops me from taking open commissions is time, and as soon as that becomes available I'll make an announcement in my Journal.
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That will be nice. I'm doing the final edit in my novel, and am told that agents like to have character artwork. I adore your work, so I'll keep you in mind as I get closer. Hopefully by then you'll be doing commissions again.
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Do they? It's something I've heard bounced around a couple times, but I've never taken it too seriously, because I mostly hear it from new authors (that is to say, authors who have only been published for the last five years)... would explain a couple things I've seen lately, though. Maybe it's a newer thing, something that makes visual development easier later on down the line.
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The "Novel & Short Story Writers Market" is a great reference for new authors. It mentions that if you have professional artwork it will get the attention of an agent, and make them want to read about what they're seeing. Apparently, they do judge a book by its cover (hee-hee). It probably also shows that you've put more time into your project.
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If your signature was a little lower it'd look like a confused, demented Sim.
Just so you know, since your first concept art from this book series I've wanted to check them out-- and finally grabbed Mistborn yesterday. I haven't really gotten to any specific descriptions of either the Koloss or Inquisitors, but this picture certainly gives me the same impression that I get when it mentions them in the books.
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I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the books!
You won't get to the koloss until book 2 (The Well of Ascension), and at the same time the Steel Inquisitors take a step back, but in book 3 I'm expecting that they all raise some hell.
Keep reading, and let me know if you spot a detail in the text that I missed!
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Hmm... It might just be me, but the shine of the spike heads in his eye sockets throw the light source into question. I could see that maybe they are receiving reflected light from the ground but it seems a bit too bright...
Regardless, I love all the Mistborn pieces you've been doing. It's become my favorite contemporary fantasy series but it doesn't seem to get enough recognition.
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Yeah, it's reflected light from the ground mist, but it's definitely a bit over the top. I wanted them to command attention, but perhaps it makes them look a bit too shiny. It helps play up the spooky menace (I hope).
I think the series is gaining attention pretty rapidly. As Jordan's final book comes out, Brandon will probably have about as much name recognition as anyone in the fantasy genre, and I expect a lot more people to catch on to the Mistborn series as that time comes around.
In the meantime, we get the pleasure of being ahead of the curve.
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They certainly command attention. But, they also throw the viewer for a bit of a spin, disrupts the whole suspension-of-disbelief thing. They could be commanding and omninous by being darker than his face. Sunken eye-sokets with a glint of steel to reveal the shape of the spikes. The contrast might work if his face is a bit more lit up.
Hooray us! I feel like I'm on the cutting edge of something in our culture at last! I don't have enough money to be on the cutting edge of anything else 
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Your dad had nails pounded through his eye sockets and sticking out of the back of his skull?
Hardcore, dude.
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My dad did the hammering himself. And he used screws. Nails he said, were for sissies.
Loston
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Damn! With inks, this takes on a whole new tone, wonderful work!
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