Happy Calibration @paint-lady! I was very excited by your open brief for the God of the Grill. They sound fantastic and I very much got carried away with creating this. If you’re interested in the process and some WIP images, continue reading below the cut. And as always - thank you @shiftingpath for hosting the Exalted Secret Santa art exchange.
So I actually did quite a lot of research to get here. I started off looking for deities I could draw inspiration from. I had Hestia in my brain, as Goddess of the hearth, but I didn’t really want to go the Greek pantheon way this time. I ended up finding Kojin, a Japanese God of the hearth and deity of the cooking range. The sentiment of taking something dangerous like fire, and using it for the good of humanity, felt like such a strong vibe and I wanted to apply it to the God of the Grill. So Kojin was my starting point.
Kojin has 8 heads and 4-6 arms, which looks awesome, but also was something I didn’t want to just copy without there being any meaning behind it. I figured since the God of the Grill isn’t a powerful God, he could stick with 2 arms. As for the number of heads, I liked the idea of 5 - one for each direction of Creation. I reasoned that 4 of those heads could be a more human-look for the God, each reminiscent of one of the 4 threshold directions (and it also leaves the door open for him to have many other faces!). The 5th look I wanted to be his God form, and I wanted to make sure that it used fire in some way.
I tried a few different things with the heads, but I wasn’t liking anything. I ended up putting the other heads on his body as faces, like little gemstones instead of fancy jewelry. This felt like something which fit my style more and less like an existing deity squeezed into this idea. It was during this time as well I wanted to dress the God of the Grill in a South of Creation style, and I looked into the big glam energies of Bollywood for more style inspiration.
Finally, I wanted to add a few less human-like elements as paint-lady mentioned in the journal post that the God should reflect their charge. So details like the coal on the chest and the hair billowing like smoke came in. Being a foodie, I imagined this God would be on the plus side body wise, so I also took a bit of a swerve back into Japanese references and looked at some sumo wrestlers to try and get the bod type I was searching for in a reference.
Now that I’d actually got the character design down - it was time to actually do the piece! I settled on a simple floating pose because I live for those when it comes to beings with essence, and surrounded the God deliciousness.
Here's the WIP images of the final piece:
And that's everything! I hope you like what I did with this character!!
Thanks again for the excuse to draw the Neverborn's favorite deathknight, Flame-Eating Moth, having a peaceful nap.
I had a lot of fun exploring the Labyrinth with them, which I've decided is a place where the colors are made up and the lighting effects don't matter. I was initially looking for a way to hint at their secret back tattoo but by the time I remembered that giant ominous mirrors exist, I'd already committed to the classic 'pyramids of glowing skulls receding into the darkness' background.
My bad habit of sitting down to sketch something out for Exalted Secret Santa and accidentally making the whole thing in a matter of days returns. Oops.
But can you blame me? Gardner is like freakin' Abyssal Stardew Valley, ignoring the big bad evil guy in favor of farming and feeding spirits. Very good character motivations. And a neat excuse to practice skeletal hands and bone masks. Neat-o.
Happy Callibration, Path! And thank you for doing this every year! ❤
shiftingpath replied to your post: sidereal exalted are truly, tragically ACAB...
i know there’s a whole “they don’t deserve a cookie for doing what’s decent” but let’s try to remember and appreciate the ones who abandon their duties and fuck off to Creation. let’s try to remember
listen: i love sidereals so much. but i also love giving them a hard time.
@shiftingpath here’s the references for the Secret Santa thing:
First up is The Saint of Promised Silence, Midnight Caste, Death Nun, Neverborn Worshipper, Kimchi Enthusiast, Team Mom, Occasional Cannibal, Secret Eccentric Dork, Messianic Rabble Rouser. She also goes by Sil.
She fights using Martial Arts, Necromancy, and some of the weirder Abyssal Presence and Performance Charms. Sometimes dresses in more colorful clothing when pretending not to be a Deathknight for various reasons (hanboks, kimonos, peasant’s clothing, etc).
Could be in anything from a horror piece to action to slice of life comedy. Becomes besties/sometimes lovers with the next OC later in life
Next is Enryck, Eclipse Caste, Exiled Prince of the Hrathling Tribe, Northern Horse Archer, Bright-eyed bushy-tailed idealist(by choice, not inexperience), former moustache-wearing pseudo-Rohirrim, Eccentric Dork, Gentleman Adventurer
He fights using Archery, Melee, and a giant wolf spirit who lives in his coat. Clothes above are elaborate, sometimes wears more practical horse nomad garb
a small collection commissions ive done of some peoples beautiful ocs (click to see who’s from who)... i very much love doing these yall have great characters!!
i still have commissions open if you’re interested in sketches like these!
