Artya'il

This project was the result of mentoring during my second semester. My mentor, Ruth Bosch, introduced me to the world of character concept artists and supported me with regular calls and art direction.

I created a concept for a 3rd person souls like boss called Artya'il. Daily anatomy studies and subsequent worldbuilding allowed me to create five passes and finally a final character sheet for the first phase of Artya'il.

For eons there was war between the angels and demons. Some of the angels recognized the hopelessness and so they turned away from the war to start a new life on Erda. They created beings today known as humans. Though, these beings were no longer immortal or had healing abilities like their parents. The creatures of Hellja were a threat to humankind and so the angels wanted to protect their creation and so some returned to the war.

A few centuries passed, humans colonized Erda and some of the demons now also had the idea of leaving the perpetual war. Their arrival on Erda did not stay unnoticed and so, many of them have been pushed back into Hellja. Very few though remained on this new realm and so every once in a while there has been a bond between angel and demon. Though, they and their offspring have been hunted down as these mixed creatures can barely control which side is showing. They are known to wreak havoc and are therefore a threat to humans.

Artiya'il was one of those mixed children. Her father, an oh so angelic noble man, met her mother and their lives became intertwined. Sadly, soon after they were caught and incarcerated. Artiya'il was born in a damp and dark cell between moldy straw and rat droppings. Two years later, her father fled and left her and her mother behind, as well as his scythe.

Another few years passed and one day Artiya'ils mother managed to smuggle her out along with her father's scythe, before getting murdered by the fed up guards. Artiya'il had to stay hidden most of her life, as she would have been chased and killed. Artiya'il began to hate everything and everyone and sought vengeance.

A life in hiding made her a good observer and she has seen the many terrible faces of humanity. Many years have passed and the religious faith of mankind began to wane. Epidemics and diseases started to ravage and soon after, ruptures started to appear everywhere. The end was nigh. Demons emerged from the cracks and slaughtered everything and everyone in sight. Among them was Artiya'il, ready for her long awaited revenge.

During the project I also did some studies on owl wings, armor as well as parts of the spine and old skin and hands.

My findings: I learned how to explain something visually as well as how to depict functionalities of an armor for example. I also learned how to represent something in 2D so that it can then be translated into 3D. Several iterations led to me gradually becoming more practiced and confident with anatomy as well as my lines and shapes. I learned to examine things and their structure very closely.