Mirrors of My Mind

The Cast of Obsidian - Digital Painting and sketches

This is a collection of digital designs done in photoshop with a tablet and a lot of filters added. Some of them have been inspired by photographs and real people so you may find them familiar. Some royalty-free backgrounds have been thrown in due to the fact that I have no patience to draw them to save my life. Anyway, here they are:

Nazir is one of my most beloved and mysterious characters in Obsidian and for that he is one of the hardest to visualize and draw. He's calm, pleasant, and mild-tempered but then he can be the hardest  man in the Obsidian universe for the decisions he makes and his status in the khagan. I need him to be soft but hard, not overly beautiful but stunning to look at, and young but mature. In the end I think I'm pretty happy with this result.

If I have to pick a character to fall head over heels for, it would definitely be the Salar of Rasharwi. I love mature male with a little bit of beard and the look that makes you want to kneel and stare at the same time. He's not that hard for me to imagine but super hard to draw. Well, 'aging like wine' is always hard to create. I needed him to be intense, to be someone who shuts up crying babies with a look, to be scary and beautiful and playful at the same time. I'm actually very happy with this achievement and it's one of the drawings that makes me want to write when I look at it.

This image of Hasheem is one of my most favorite. I love drawing him in his adult stage with his warrior braids showing and wearing white. The contrast of his dark skin  and light-colored hair is the most fun to paint and in my mind it really brings out his ghostly gray eyes. Hasheem is actually  the character that created Obsidian. I suddenly came up with an image of him one day that I just can't help but write him a story. I love that he is such a tragic character, a man born beautiful enough to suffer the consequences of that to no ends which makes him deadly because he's broken time and time again throughout his life. He's pure joy to both write and draw.

The process of creating this is also one of my favorite things to look back. Pencil sketch on paper then transfer into photoshop for light painting and retouch. I keep it rough and light because I like the contrast ruggedness and coarseness give to a drawing of beautiful male who's supposed to be perfect but isn't.

Let me know what you think 😉 Do they make you want to read or give up reading? Lol

Another rough sketch of the Sparrow: ❤️

Edit: I have been holding on to these because I don't think they're good enough, but well, why not.

Hasheem in his teen ❤️

And Za'in izr Husari (Djari and Nazir's Daddy)