Svyatopolk, the Voice of Winter
Svyatopolk, the Voice of Winter. Childe of Cappadocius and sire of Kazimiera Sadowska. Herald of Marzanna and her High Priest. Ally of the Tzimisce and enemy of the Ventrue. He does not like Christians, has a very nice voice, a master necromancer, very wise and observant, likes to create things and he may or may not have inspired the story of Koschei the Deathless. More than a few of his childer are beautiful women turned Rusalki.
This turned out to be quite a project. I restarted his portrait multitude of times, was nearly done with a design sheet but scrapped a few of the ideas in there in my final portrait. The most obvious thing is the hat. I was also in the middle of a full body illustration but the likelihood I finish that one is slim, because of the few design things that have changed. That does not mean he won't have a full body illustration at some point.
detail 1, kaptorga
detail 2, Marzanna amulet
Closeup face
A sketch of the final portrait iteration
Unfinished Fullbody
A portrait that was basically done and may have become the final, but I felt it was missing the 'life aspect' that is important to Marzanna as well. And it was not grand enough.
Another wip portrait. I liked the vibe of the colours, but I felt the pose is too direct. Having the body or head angled to the side expresses a more observant and cunning nature, that he knows hidden things he may or may not tell. Fits him better.
The very first sketch of the character.
Set 1. Here I am sketching outfits. Before I start with this portrait I wanted to have a clear idea of what he wears.
Set 2. For old Slavs the colour black is associated the primal earth and wisdom. In turn that echoes with Veles, who is, among other things, the god of the Underworld. Appropriate. Red and White also have spiritual associations.
Set 3. I picked 10. Honestly I really like 12 too and it may be something he wore in life, but it feels too 'Life' for a guy that got kissed by the Winter Goddess and became a necromancer.
His , now outdated, (and unfinished) character sheet. I will likely create a new one to match the new portrait design details but I suspect I will release that together with a potential new full body illustration.
Hat designing. You may have noticed that the hat went through a journey. From a big metal thing, to something kokoshnik-like, tassels, no tassels, to no hat, to now a firmly shaped simple black hat.
A tattoo reference sheet that I made, that is now outdated because I changed his tats in the new portrait.