Guild Wars 2

Hi folks,

here comes new artwork from the dephts of Maguuma. Tried to capture the spirit of the enchanted forests, steaming jungles and murky waterways within the Sylvari domain. Also established the ranger Llamaria Purpurea as well as her panthers Aranw and Cruáchain.

Enjoy

Stalking the Canyons

Maguuma Magic

I´m fascinated by the bioluminescence of the Caledon night. Hope to do more like this in the future.

Very nice. I too LOVE the glowy bits. Have 3 planty character all with culture armor just so I can hang out in the night map and glow. lol.

Thank you very much Aerin :-)

Raptor Pack

That’s one of my favourites. Maguuma exudes some sort of prehistoric fascination which always draws me back there, no matter how many hostile hylek, raptors or worse might be lurking in the shadows.

sry, i was feeling extra dorky today..
these are really good, that second one should be a loading screen

^^ Thanks!

It´s raptors like the falling fellow who wish evolution to speed up in order to grow wings ;-)

I love your artwork. You might as well create a comic of your adventures

Thank you, Nabuko! Here you can see more of my work…

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/community/fangen/Norn-Artwork/first#post4174823

Comic: interesting suggestion. Would be great. Maybe one day, when i run out of real-life hobbies ^^

Best regards

Ben

The Tengu-Wall

Llamaria and her companions explore the crumbling remainings of what was once the great Tengu-Wall. Guess they´re not the only ones curious about what lays behind… And yes, those are pterosaurs in the background ;-)

Sweets. Never done silhouette paintings but the lighting and details here are so amazing.

Thanks Aerin,

Tengu-stuff was fun to do. Maybe more sunset pics in the future ^^

Caledon Forest

Started as a quick colour study to get a better grasp of the greenish hues of Caledon but somehow kept growing to what you see below…

Undead Abominations

Searching her quiver for an arrow with poison potent enough to bring down such a beast…

Nightmare Court

A ghastly vision from the torture chambers of the Nightmare Court. The sadistic Cruelágh is in charge of this place and some say one day she might challenge Faolain herself for domination at the Court.
Thoughts after a night of drawing and immersing myself in sinister artwork: The fallen Sylvaris` lair is a damp, dark grotto full of thorns and twisted, strangling vines. Its cankerous pink bioluminescence doesn´t really want to mingle with the sickly green glow, adding to the disturbing effect. The floor is slick with venoms and acids and poisonous vapors waft above the treacherous ground. It echoes with the cruel laughter of Nightmare Defilers and the horrified screams of their victims.

Nightmare Sylvari

Purple-feathered Death

Llamaria is an exceptional archer.
Ripping a poisoned arrow out of the quiver, knocking, drawing and sending it towards one of the jungle´s many beasts is as natural to her as breathing. Her sleek tribal longbow is made of Ekku-hardwood and adorned with the purple feathers of prehistoric Moas. Once the razor-sharp obsidian tip of an arrow punches home in enemy´s flesh, he´s got but seconds before convulsing in pain. Llamaria is said to know every poison in existence – from shadow aloe and lung strangler to hideous mixtures made of poison dart frogs.

these are all very cool.
i like the Tengu all painting the most i think.
the wall looks so massive.
I think i prefer the scenery pictures over the portraits… the Faces look a bit too washed out, in my opinion contouring them a bit more would make them look more exciting, but that is probably also a question of personal taste.

Hi Oreithyia!

Nice to receive some feedback ;-) Thanks for the praise and the artistic considerations!
Like the Tengu wall, too. Think i´m going to do more drawings of it in the future. One with Llamaria climbing the ruins yet already spotted by vigilant, exotic-looking Tengu sentries… or one with the first vista of beyond the wall opening up to us.
I´m really exited about this race and would have loved to see them introduced into the game via HoT… On the other hand we´ll come into contact with these new Hylek and Mursaat so i´m happy with it ^^

Kind regards
Ben

Tengus are awesome. I hope we get more contact with them, but i like the Mursaat and the hylek as well so i think it will be fun even when e don’t see much of our favorite birdies.
looking forward to see more pictures like that.

Forest Patrol

Wardens stalking the jungle. I usually depict my Sylvari very lithe and slender and in motion. Their posture should encompass pride (yet they know they´re the masters of the forest), inherent alertness and a tickling sense of danger.

Waterfalls

Here I was indulging myself in the sheer size of the scenery.
To me the Sylvari forest is a huge jungle of unimaginable scope. There are roots which arch and meander for miles, thereby determining the landscape. You can pick your way for hours through the vines and leafs of the rainforest and still be in the shadow of the same giant tree. Green-golden light is seeping through the leaf-canopy, trickling down the wet, moss-covered trunks and finally submerging in the cool, greenish shadows.
And of course the waterfalls: foaming, roaring beauty, several thousand feet in height; an effigy of Caledon´s untamed nature.

Sylvari Faces

I like drawing Sylvari faces. The lines across their forehead and around their large eyes lend them a unique atmosphere. And of course skin texture, plant-inspired hair and other details are an inexhaustible source of possibilities for an artist.
A nice example for already existing characters interpreted in a more detailed way. It goes without saying that attempts to create new stuff owe everything to the original. All of us – submitting little bits and pieces of fan content – are standing on the shoulders of giants like Dociu or Kotaki! So thank you ArenaNet for creating such a masterpiece and giving us even the chance to play around and expand it further!

Into the sunset

The last months had seen Llamaria turning her steps westwards. First it had been occasional forays, then elongated troll-hunts but recently the subliminal migration has become a journey.
In the beginning she didn´t admit it to her self, but something has changed. Deep inside her there´s an urge to go, drawing her like an insect to a venus flytrap. There are rumours amongst the Sylvari rangers that the “poisonborn” finally succumbed to Mordremoth´s call. But only the gods know whether Llamaria is striking the dark path to perdition or if she has decided to fight evil with evil…

nice. These are really cool stuff

Thank you pepper :-)
There´s more to come soon! These days i spent a lot of time with the graphic tablet to pass the time till “Heart of Thorns”. Can´t wait! ^^

Best regards
Ben

Arrival at Drytop

Finally our ranger is closing in on Mordrem-infested areas…

Thank you so much Vitakorpen ;-) Happy to read something like this! There´s more to come soon…

Do you always paint with oil or do you also use other techniques? And do you focus on fantasy exclusively or are you experimenting with other things, too (landscape etc.)?

Best regards and have fun ingame

Ben

This is the post that made me log to the forums today.

Why i never saw this one before is just crazy. Not only shows how badly this section of the forum needs some attention, but also how good GW2 fan art is.

“Waterfalls” is just crazy good. Love all of them, but that one just got downloaded to my PC forever.

Really glad Gaile is trying to bring a most deserved beam of light to our artists. I have seen some really great stuff.

TY and keep them coming.

Outstanding stuff, much more atmospheric and evocative than it feels in game. I like the South American “feel” your jungle pics have as well – gives it an extra air of authenticity

Hey guys!

I´m realy glad and astonished about your kind comments. They make me want to draw something right NOW ;-) Appreciate all sorts of comments and suggestions for the pics or some talk about art/GW2-related environments, character studies etc. Think the community would really benefit from enhanced exchange.
Clerigo, your absolutely right – there´s a lot of great fanart here in the forum. In this context i also want to thank Gaile Gray, in general for promoting contributions to this forum section and personally for the praise. Seeing the red ArenaNet label on my post and then reading the comment made my day! ^^

Best regards

Ben

Silverwaste Colour Studies

Some weekend experiments. Ochre and brownish rock formations in the dry and harsh desert landscape. Like the stark contrasts between baking sand/sunlight and dark shadows.

Mordremoth´s Call

Llamaria can´t trust her own senses any more, a cruel fate for an experienced ranger.
Suddenly her vision blurs and dark things gather at the corners of her consciousness.
Tormented by unending nightmares and horrible visions of the violence she is about to commit, Llamaria is writhing in pain. Her Panthers watch with growing agitation, unsure of how to treat her diseased pack mate. They sense her pain and suffering, yet are willing to rip her apart if she awakens as dragonspawn.
There are voices, too, scraping like thorns on the inside of her skull. Voices speaking of blood and utter madness. Voices winding their way into Llamarias soul like barbed tendrils, strangling her true self.
Or… revealing it?

This was my very last pre-HoT post! Download-bar at 97% now… ^^

See you ingame, have fun and best regards

Ben

Hi just found these and are amazing i have downloaded every one!

A panther´s fury

It seemed like if the rainforest had swallowed Llamaria. Dreadful silence fell upon the world, only disturbed by the slithering sound of growing tangles and kreeping jungle tendrils. Even the roar of Aranw and Cruáchain died away after everything seemed lost and the ranger was likely to join the jungle dragon´s thorny forces.
But Llamaria is not dead yet. Indeed, she´s back to slay some Mordrem. Here she´s riddling a Breacher with arrows, unleashing all her pent-up anger.
She has the weapons.
She has the companions.
She has the determination.
But first of all she has a panther´s fury!

Hey Gaile,

great that you enjoy the artwork. Thanks for all your work on/with the community! I really believe we all could benefit from enhanced exchange ;-)
And yes, there´s really inspiring stuff to be found in the forums. The playerbase seems to produce a high amount drawings, fanfiction, videos etc. of astonishing quality.
As a personal note I would like you to know that I deeply admire the work of the design-team and the creative heads behind the various environments, races and characters from Tyria. My biggest praise and hats off to the masters of the craft: Dociu, Anderson, Kotaki, Ahn and Bauer in particular (her Nightfall-design was nothing short of amazing!!!)

Best regards
Benjamin

P.S.: There´s more to come soon; as a lizard-fan you really got me with the whole jungle setting and all its Itzel, Nuhoch, dinosaurs and other creatures with this distinct “prehistoric” feeling ^^

So I’m curious, do you hand-draw these, or are they computer assisted drawings? (Not saying that computer assisted drawings are worth less by any means, just curious)

Also, you should seriously consider selling some of these to the community. I for one would love to have one of your pieces of art hanging from my walls. They’re gorgeous.

Edit: Typo

Hi eleshazar!

Usually i do several sketches on paper (quite rough) to sort my ideas and bring everything into place. Then i either scan it and incorporate it as a first layer into photoshop or i´ll redraw it with the graphic tablet (already making first alterations because i want it different/better ^^) The actual colouring i do in photoshop.
Since the single pieces of art are in general very big-sized it´s possible to print them out and have good quality. From time to time i assemble some good stuff (also not GW2-related; private work) and let it print as some kind of hardcover photo- or artbook.
Maybe it would be worth offering commissions some day, thank you so much for the encouragement. For sure i´ll let you know! Which ones do you like best?

kind regards
Benjamin

Mordrem Colour Studies

Still intrigued by the Breacher from the last drawing, I decided to explore the possibilities of that colour scheme a little bit: cold turquoise, teal, bottle green and avocado, all darkened and tarnished and then highlighted with the sickly, pulsating purple of Mordrem vines.

Here´s the outcome…

“Mordrem Husk” and “A terrible tangle”

Oooh, I quite like “A Terrible Tangle.” You did a fantastic job with the ominous colors.

Guess in this case you´ll also like these quick weekend drawings…

Hey Vitakorpen!

Thx for the comment ;-) I´m already busy with new stuff…

Kind regards
Benjamin

The last couple of days i adressed myself to everything Hylek… ^^
Hope you like it!

Kind regards to all players
Ben