I missed being with you all

How have you all been? I've just come back to life since my computer screen died a couple of weeks ago, and I've had to look for a new screen to continue drawing. The most challenging part has been readjusting to its colors, as it's not exactly a properly calibrated photo editing monitor. It's a simple screen, but it makes me happy because I can keep creating art with it.

And during this time I've been away, I've seen many new cards arrive in Splinterlands, and I'm very excited to paint them. Imagine that when my screen died, 'Rebellion' was just being announced, but by those days, there was already a new character in the game, Inevitable, the massive armor activated with the spirit of Bartle the Omen, the one whom death couldn't stop in his quest to defeat the Chaos Legion."

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Tools:

Gaomon S620
Photoshop
Brushes courtesy of Imad Awan: Download here

🔰Process🔰

_Reference

-Step 1:

As the exact height of the armor isn't clearly specified (though I know the lore mentions that Elewys, the daughter of the late Bartle, only reached up to the armor's knees), I wanted to make the character a bit larger. I really felt like creating a massive automaton capable of demolishing everything with a single blow. Interestingly, I'm not too far from the main story since the building Inevitable destroys is the watchtower mentioned in its lore.

-Step 2:

"According to the design of the card in Splinterlands, the armor is primarily white with a blue shading. Therefore, I wanted to preserve those tones to keep things simple, considering I still need to get used to how colors appear on my new monitor. Immediately after applying the base tone to the armor, I also added the general colors of the landscape, which I divided into various depth planes to enhance the immense height of the giant automaton."

-Step 3:

"I had to make some modifications to the proportions of the armor. I needed the arm that destroys the watchtower to be very imposing and large since I consider it the main weapon. I also changed the perspective of the horns because before, they seemed more like antennas, which wasn't too bad considering that's where the lightning emerges, but, they still didn't align with what I wanted to achieve."

-Step 4:

On the left side of the illustration, I placed an arrow, which I used to always consider the main direction of light since the armor has many pieces that cast shadows on each other. Speaking of these pieces, I had to separate each one into unique layers, turning this illustration into a labor-intensive project. However, it was the best way to achieve a good result. This way, I could paint, move, and use Photoshop's liquify tool without distorting or affecting the rest of Inevitable's components. I ended up with 18 layers, each representing one of the main elements of the armor, not counting the underlying clipping layers used to paint the metal textures.

-Step 5:

But it was time to showcase the true power of Inevitable, to demonstrate that it's a weapon that will never stop until it annihilates the Chaos Legion, that it will never falter in the face of anything, and that a sturdy watchtower can be split in half with one of its strikes. That's why I got to work on painting the smoke and debris arising from the impact of its main weapon. I also wanted to add a motion blur to Inevitable's arm to showcase the strength and speed of its strike, but it didn't turn out as well as I expected. Instead, I proceeded to paint lines that simulated the movement, combining it with the Smudge tool."

And indeed, my intention in this scene was to represent the concept of 'Inevitability' of the character, an armor infused with the vengeance of one fallen in battle, someone who no longer feels pain or fatigue, and whose resurrection has the sole purpose of destroying the Legion of Chaos. That's why, despite delivering a powerful blow to the watchtower, the rest of its body doesn't show this action. Instead, its gaze goes straight to its enemies in the distance, announcing that their destruction is imminent.

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