Black Library: Armageddon by ukitakumuki Artist’s commentThis is my rendition of Grimaldu

Black Library: Armageddon by ukitakumuki Artist’s commentThis is my rendition of Grimaldus of the Black Templars alongside a Celestial Lion champion, locked in a desparate last stand against waves of orcs, literally down to the last bolter round. I wanted to explore that idea of ‘battle brothers’ by making them look like they are fighting for each other, reacting to each others actions and truly fighting as one; the Lion unsheathing his knife mid-tactical reload, as an Ork lunges from behind some rubble at Grimaldus, who is in his zone, keeping the waves at bay. I also thought it was more intimate to position the camera as though we were one of the orks so we might also feel that maybe that uphill charge wasn’t the best idea of the day.For me, the single most terrifying thing about working for a property like 40K is trying to not piss off the hardcore fans at the very least . And because I keep receiving art briefs that involve multiple, often colourful chapters that I clearly don’t know enough about, as an illustrator its often hard to balance the research/lore, storytelling and the idealised 'poster pic impact’ that a cover artwork often represents. Long story short, this one was waaaay out of my comfort zone, yet somehow I was inspired to just push even farther out of my comfort zone (since I was in the deep end anyway) and paint a non-grimdark 40k piece. Broad daylight, gold, bright paint and fabrics, dark metal, ork skin, blood and sand, gore on the lens, bittersweet heroic atmosphere, focusing on balancing the sea of colours and story. It turned out to be one of my favourite images that I’ve done, forcing me to be more mindful of the many fundamental aspects of rendering that I take for granted and getting me to evolve my painting process along the way. For that I’m thankful  And I sincerely hope the 40K fans amongst you enjoy it as much as I did making it. -- source link

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