LightBlind: Drow vs Mindflayer

My entry for the ArtOrder [link] Drow vs. Mindflayer challenge. We were tasked with coming up with a mock book cover, and given a size, and a template with text on it to show us where the text would go. The wraparound cover had to be planned in such a way that it would work with the book cover graphic elements. You can see what this would look like in a book cover template here: [link]

The brief was pretty simple aside from that: a female drow locked in battle with a mindflayer. It had to be dynamic--no static poses.

I... worked my ass off on this. The chance of getting my work in front of some of the top art directors in the industry was too good to pass up.

I'm a long time D&D fan and for me drow and illithid (mindflayers) are still traditionally denizens of the Underdark--vast caverns deep below the earth where no sunlight penetrates. Drow and Illithid are lightblind (sunlight, fire, blind them)... which poses a problem when you're painting since you kind of need light to... well... show stuff.

My solution was, clearly, to go crazy with phosphorescent mushrooms.

I promise, I was only painting them. Not eating them. I actually think mushrooms are ick.

You do NOT want to know how many mushrooms are in this painting. I know because I counted. Don't ask.

I am really pleased with how this turned out. Even if it doesn't win, I know I really put a lot of effort into it and tried some new things to solve some unusual problems. Also, I got to paint a bunch of stuff I really like: waterfalls, big underground caverns, and chicks kicking ass.

[Edit:] You can view some detail shots here: [link]