Hi there, Adventurers! We are speeding through this campaign and have less than 5.5 short days left before we wrap these pins up and kick off production! I'm so grateful for all the support of my work that you've shown so far and am SO excited to bring more bards to life ๐๐
I am hoping to wrap up the gargoyle design later this evening and the wolpertinger shortly after that, but I thought I'd check in with a little peek behind-the-scenes into my process and share another poll for more possible bards since we are so close to unlocking our fifth bard friend.
Process photo of the haunted dragon pin, from sketch through early vector shapes to the finished design.
Because I'm a traditional artist first and foremost (I tend to actually work in physical mediums with charcoal on paper, primarily, over digital mediums), I start with a quick sketch to understand the layout a little better in my head and do some initial problem solving. Then I dive right into building a vector image by creating basic shapes and squiggly points in my layout that I can then refine and layer to build the final design - which is why this in-process pic of the gargoyle looks like it's rocking a squiggly side ponytail where a horn is now ๐
Earlier work-in-progress (WIP) image of the gargoyle pin, featuring a backdrop of mossy hornfel rocks, a stony lithophone, and a wee bit of coleus for decoration.
For those unfamiliar, vectors are usually described as art made with math rather than a brush or a pencil. Practically, it essentially means that I'm creating the image out of a bunch of shapes, points, and lines that I can move around and resize easily without losing any definition or quality - and it translates really well into pin art! I'll note that there are a ton of other ways to create these designs and vectors, but this sort of shape building is my preferred process for these and it works well for me ๐
I'll be diving back into my vectoring later today - the gargoyle has been coming along so nicely and I can't wait to share the finished design with you. In the meantime, please vote in the poll to let me know what additional bards you'd like to see next, and definitely leave a comment if there's something you'd love (either a mythical creature or an instrument/other method of storytelling) that isn't present in the poll!
