"The Eldren who become members of the Czarina Pyetra are extraordinary. They are taken from their families at an early age, typically 5-6, and then subjected to an intensive regime of schooling, training and indoctrination, sometimes by the Czarina herself but more usually by her steppegoblin and spirit allies and older Death Guards. They must learn the courtly arts, to speak French and critique art, but they must also kill a man before they are 10 and master at least three weapons before their eleventh birthday. They must learn the six silent speeches, to communicate with wolves and spirits, and their lives will rest on these skills. They will be hurled into pits full of hungry wolves before their eleventh birthday, and must emerge accepted as a pack alpha. They will be abandoned in the midst of a Siberian winter, when not even their survival skills will help them unless they can appease the spirits of the steppe and the tundra and win their help. For every ten children chosen, six will die, three will fail and be allowed to join other magical or military units and one will join the Czarina Pyetra. Some of the successful candidates have become grim, dedicated agents of the state, devoted to nothing beyond their work. Many others, though, revel in their triumph and glory in their personal prowess.
A whole body of soldiers’ myth has grown up around them, of naked, feral Eldren women laughing as they tear a soldier’s throat out without even touching him, of riders howling through the air on the wings of a sudden blizzard, of bullets being slapped from the air. Worse yet, many of these stories are true."
First of all I need to thank Squib, Matt and Henning for their input on this piece which drove me nearly insane.
I really need to get off my lazy bum and practice more involved paintings with backdrops. This is only my second attempt in that area. I am also still trying to find a good middleway between detailing and stylizing.
This is half of the actual double spread page painting.
You can see the whole composition here: http://www.tascha.ch/artwork/pyetra_final.jpg
the right side as standalone:
http://www.tascha.ch/artwork/pyetra_backdrop.jpg
I had a lot of problems with the ice color scheme and the fact that I had to paint white clothing with a lot of gold embroiderings on top.
The clothing and color scheme have been predefined by the client as most elements in the painting. As always I designed the look and made sketches for approval before I took it into Photoshop.
Anyway, thanks for watching and I'll post some close-ups tomorrow. I need to break down now
Oh one last thing - I didn't use any references for this except some similar reference poses of myself in crappy light.
Copyright Heresy Gaming 2006
About the image:
This are supposed to be Russian Fighter Elves called Pyetra, cruel, deadly but beautiful beyond words.
This is supposed to be a double page spread. Both sides should be able to be used seperately as well as together (thus the composition decisions).
If used as a whole double spread, the right side is going to be covered with some text.
I am aware that some parts are still a bit slobby but I really needed to wrap this up.
