Selected compositional sketch

I often use myself as a reference model early on. Since I have some idea of the mood I want to convey in each pose, I can inhabit the characters myself without having to direct a model who doesn't have a full understanding of my goals.

My art director wasn't sold on the initial pose I had sketched for the Altmer character, so I ended up generating several rounds of alternative pose options relatively late in the process in an effort to address his concerns. Most of these aren't good.

Searching to find a pose for the Altmer that appealed to my AD, I executed three fully-finished line drawings of the figure. Although I preferred the one on the left, he decided to go with the pose on the right.

Completed linework

Flat material color groups

Light Source Blocking

Ambient Occlusion pass

Shaded Diffuse Color

Light Source Toning

Composite Underpainting

Completed dragon skeleton