As they have now been released, I thought I'd share some of the concept art I've done for the FA7 - Evil Adventurers mini-range from Otherworld miniatures.
Before pencil was put to paper, had an initial discussion on direction with Richard Scott at Otherworld, this included referencing some classic fantasy and Dungeons & Dragons references you might recognise in the final pieces, and a list of race-class combinations in traditional Dungeons & Dragons style. The general idea was to produce an Evil adventuring party that a group of adventurers might meet, or as miniatures to represent an Evil aligned player character option. Obviously the miniatures have to be in keeping with the current Otherworld Adventurers ranges - in ready and marching poses, rather than mid-action, and with backpacks and adventuring gear, as befits a dungeon explorer on the tabletop. Whilst the characters were to be of evil alignment, eschew the excessive skulls, and spikey khaös deth mutant grimdark dungeonpunk goth tropes, but rather steer more towards the classic 80s Dungeons & Dragons look that is the hallmark of the Otherworld range.
So the general approach set and character list I started on some rough sketch work, keeping things fast, loose and small. A couple of examples, sketchbook pages for the Evil Dwarf and Evil Fighter:
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| Evil Dwarf Concept Sketches |
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| Evil Fighter Concept Sketches |
These drawings aren't really fit for human consumption, they're not 'cooked'. They are working drawings defining the character and concept and a way of quickly refining a myriad of ideas towards a final outcome, in true 'back of a napkin' style. Each of the drawings are about 1" tall and for helping make broad-brush decisions about the character silhouette, basic pose, shapes and key features.
One of the design options for each character was elected from rough sketches to go forward to the next stage, with any further direction or options carried through to the pencil drawings, which I then inked by hand before being scanned and passed over to the sculptor, in this case Drew Williams of
Satyr Art Studios to base the sculpt the of the final miniature on.
FA71 – Evil Fighter in Plate Armour
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| Evil Fighter Concept Art |
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| Evil Fighter Miniature |
FA72 – Evil Cleric with Staff & Mace
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| Evil Cleric Concept Art |
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| Evil Cleric Miniature |
FA73 – Evil Magic User with Staff
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| Evil Wizard Concept Art |
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| Evil Wizard Miniature |
FA74 – Evil Necromancer with Staff
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| Evil Necromancer Concept Art |
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| Evil Necromancer Miniature |
FA75 – Evil Dwarf Fighter with Battleaxe
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| Evil Dwarf Fighter Concept Art |
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| Evil Dwarf Fighter Miniature |
FA76 – Evil Female Elf Assassin with Sword & Dagger
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| Evil Female Elf Assassin Concept Art |
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| Evil Female Elf Assassin Miniature |
FA77 – Evil Half-orc Barbarian with 2 Axes
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| Evil Half-orc Barbarian Concept Art |
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| Evil Half Orc Barbarian Miniature |
FA78 – Evil Halfling Fighter/thief with Shortsword & Dagger
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| Evil Halfling Concept Art |
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| Evil Halfling Miniature |
As I'm sure you'll agree Drew did an excellent job of translating my two dimensional line art into three dimensional miniatures, making small tweaks here and there for casting and refinement of the design, and I'm really pleased with how well these have turned out.
These models were painted by
Andrew Taylor - and it's great how the colour choices are spot on, some like the Evil Wizard are, of course, perfect and simply couldn't be anything else, in contrast the Evil Elf going full-on Drow, was a complete surprise, and revealed that her to be something of a gender-swapped Drizzt, which is great in itself and also brings to life the Otherworld ethos of taking classic iconography and giving it a fresh twist. The contrast between the cold and warm blacks on the Evil Necromancers layered robes are really quite skill full, and as a set they all look downright dirty and nasty.
