CREATE A FANTASY OIL PAINTING

MILIVOJ ĆERAN demonstrates how to paint a classic high fantasy scene with oil and acrylics, featuring a fearsome dragon and its warrior rider

- MILIVOJ ĆERAN

For this piece of personal work I desired to create an epic, classic high fantasy painting featuring a dragon and a woman warrior. I decided on a setting in the snowy mountains, which is a subject I really love to paint whenever I have a chance. And I wanted to paint it big.

Most of the artworks I paint professionally tend to be a smaller size - between 40-60cm. But this one is painted on a 100 x 80cm canvas (39 inches height, 31 inches width). So this image was more an expression of artistic freedom (painting without a brief, no art directors, branded characters or deadlines), and a flashback to the days spent at the academy of fine arts when we painted really big canvases.

This scene is under painted in acrylic, and painted in oils. In my professional career I paint mostly with acrylics or watercolour/Ecoline. I got used to working with quick drying medium, and a lot of layering. In this case there is still a traditional painting process when it comes to layers, but oil colours dry a LOT slower, so it takes a different kind of painting approach. Here I will break down my methods.

1 Initial, rough sketch

In this first step, I set the composition using quick lines and shapes. This is an essential, fundamental stage, because here everything is placed - the camera angle, characters, background etc. Initially, the dragon rider was holding a lance.

2 Work on the details

This drawing is made on A3 size paper (roughly 16 x 12 inches). I am creating a more detailed sketch of the characters - the riding equipment and bites, scales on the dragon, female warrior character and armour. I decided to change the weapon, so instead of a lance, she is holding a magical sword.

3 Finished detailed sketch