Trollvelopment Diary #3
ANCESTOR COMPLETE: TIRRAZIA, THE GRAND MATRON
Before I sat down to write this, I was thinking about my process for doing everything I do for the games I'm working on, and how I want to do a better job at documenting this journey. Pictures or it didn't happen comes to mind, and because I do most of my work on the go, it might be fun to give people a glimpse of where I am when I sit down to work on a piece. Documenting the process can be a little mundane, but who knows maybe at the very least it will help me see the progress I made along the way. Tirrazia comes to mind because I started her sketch in one city and finished her in another one. Until I have my own office and do everything from a single location, all my work has a small journey and story associated with it. With all that being said, here is Tirrazia in all her matronly glory.
The Power of Wisdom
Tirrazia is one of three troll ancestors that have a single alignment. She is the ancestor of wisdom and she was a great leader of the troll clans. It was through her wise leadership that the trolls remained as present as they have in Immacus. I wanted the trolls to be lead by wisdom instead of rage, so Tirrazia's lore background is one of thoughtful restraint.
The Initial Sketch
When I started drawing Tirrazia, I wanted to move away from the head shape I used with Ceskae, which you can see below.
Not too much had changed from the initial sketch to the final design as you can see with the exception of her headdress. As I was making the headdress in Illustrator, it was clear that it was not visually appealing. My original intention was something floral, but it didn't look like a headpiece a leader would wear. I changed the shape and made the design inside it more detailed.
Pretty in Pink
The Wisdom Icon happened to become this pink/purple hybrid due to a lack of color choices once I had chosen the colors for the 6 troll clans. There was also colorblind considerations that I took into account. I wanted the three trolls that were of one alignment share the color palette of the alignment they belonged to, so Tirrazia became pink/purple. I really like the way the colors turned out. I think her strong head shape and features paired with the pinks and purples offers a nice juxtaposition.
Magic Mushroom Mayhem
I always loved the woods at night, though I don't get to go often enough. It always felt magical and mysterious to me, so I wanted to capture that in the background. I guess magic mushrooms is a go to for imagery, but it stuck. I had a friend that took a fungi class in college where she would go around and forage for mushrooms, and there was something old-world charming about that. I suppose I pictured the mushroom woods to look something like this if it had a touch of fantasy. Since Tirrazia looked so serious, I wanted to add some lightness paired with a little mystery for her background.
Final Thoughts
Tirrazia was a lot of fun to do, and she really got me excited about working on the next ancestors. My goal is to get some play tests in as I work on the ancestors, but we'll see what time permits. I already have some great ideas for game development, and I'm excited to share those ideas once I get a little further along in the game.