If you were around on Monday, you might have seen our gag about Bewere Bears: The Guardians of the Lumibug Forest.  Now, a lot of people who knew about little goof have been clamoring to make that real.  A parody of the Care Bears where the characters are tough as nails and ready to throw down?  I can see the appeal!

But, it’s important to know where we started from before we get out of control here.  We were lucky enough to have a chance to collaborate with Luigiix, who gave us some beautiful concepts that I then went and defaced all in the name of humor.  The original characters are so much cooler than my little edits.  Let’s take a look…

Luigi started us off with a sketch of the male werebear.  Even at the onset, we knew this guy was gonna be a big tough guy.  Look at the size of that axe!

The lineart showed some more detail, including a few of the scratches this guy has had to endure in his time out in the wilderness.

By the time the piece was completed, I was pretty sure this guy could hold up against any of the other characters Luigi had done for us.  I feel like he could give the rhinotaur a run for his money!

Shifting over to the female werebear, I felt like they almost had a nordic vibe.  They seem sort of like vikings, don’t they?

I’m not sure why, but I think it’s the ponytail that helps me have that norse feel to them.  That or the two big axes she’s wielding!

Here we can see she’s fully colored.  I love the smirk and the war paint.  This piece just really pops, doesn’t it?

Finally, you have both of our formidable werebear emissaries.  I’m so impressed by Luigi’s work, and I’m excited for an opportunity to work with him again.

And hey, maybe with enough attention, we can make Bewere Bears a real thing.  Stay tuned for more info on that little parody project!

The post Art – Werebear Concepts appeared first on Tellest.

Starting with the male, you can already see certain things that weren’t written into my book.  I definitely am okay with this though… Tellest is a huge world, after all, and variety makes the world that much more interesting.  These naga are definitely more aquatic than the ones introduced in Lord of Thunder.  The gills, the face, and the fins on the head all kind of give them an ocean-y kind of feel.

Now that we have a color scheme overlaid as well, it lends credence to the idea of them being aquatic even more. The mountain/snow naga from Lord of Thunder were kind of half and half: Their top half was definitely more human in appearance, while their bottom was more snakelike. This naga here looks almost all the way through snake or eel-like. Definitely two different paths of evolution.

A little bit more color and shading really brings our male naga to life.  I feel like those wrist guards probably pack a mean punch, and the fins on his elbows make for a good weapon if loses hold of his spear.  Plus, can you imagine getting whipped by that tail?

Moving onto the female, you can see she too has the fins that kind of makes her appear more aquatic.  Her weapon isn’t present here, but she is holding onto a small serpent here.

The line art does a better job of showing you the character. She’s got some real presence—she would definitely catch your attention, I’m sure you’d agree.  Luigi changed the orientation of the tail a little bit, and gave her a nice priestess staff, as well as adding some jewelry to her repertoire.

Just as with the male, the color and shading adds a whole new level of character to the piece.  I like to think of the darker purple as armor, and you might not notice it at first, but she also has hair running down behind her shoulders.  Pretty interesting!

Here you’ll see both of our naga together.  This was the last race concept that we commissioned Luigiix for in quite a while, but we’re going to begin on another collaboration very soon.  Keep your eyes peeled!

The post Concept Art – Naga appeared first on Tellest.

Let’s start off with the female rhinotaur this time around.

We started off with a nice little sketch.  Rhinotaurs of both gender are typically pretty strong, so that hefty weapon would be like child’s play for our lady here.

After that, Luigiix added some clothing to her that made her look a little more civilized.  The typical rhinotaur is a little daft, mostly because they don’t have a lot of social interaction.  This female rhinotaur looks like she’s a little better off than most, so there’s a good chance she comes from a bigger town filled with others of her own race.

Here you can see the complete version of the character.  I’m a big fan of the color choices Luigiix made, and I like the cool tattoo/brand she has on her arm.  The little flourishes in her outfit and on the axe are pretty awesome too.

Moving on to the male rhinotaur…

Our initial sketch here shows that the rhinotaur male is a pretty hulking specimen.  He might be a little less socialized, but he makes up for it with an even bigger weapon!

The line art cleans up the rhinotaur a little bit, and gives his weapon a more three dimensional feel.  This looks like it’d be fun to color!

Turns out, it does look pretty cool all colored up!  Luigiix made this one look just as cool as the other one.  Again, I really like the outfit and the weapon, and the brand on his shoulder as well.

Finally, here you can see them both together.  Luigiix always impresses, and I’m very happy with the work he did on these!  Stay tuned in the next couple of weeks for another of his concepts!

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Today, we’re pleased to bring you another collaboration we did with Luigiix.  We’ve already seen the kaja and the avarian, so we’ve got feathers and fur.  What do you think about scales?

The lagano is the umbrella term for any of Tellest’s various reptilian races.  The most prevalent of them is the lizardfolk, which you’ll see Luigiix did for us here.

While they’re consistently placed on the “evil” side of the race spectrum, they’re also one of the ones that will usually surprise you. A little more cautious and thoughtful, the lagano can just as easily win out over aggression and come to an accord with just about any race, providing it lines up with their values.  And with their views on religion and nature, they usually have the best interest of Tellest at least on their periphery as well.

Here we have the final version of the lagano male.  You can see he wields a particularly threatening looking weapon.  One of the other things the lagano are known for are their deadly poisons.  This one clearly knows his stuff.

We’ll be back in a few weeks to share a look at his female counterpoint.  In the meantime, relax, have fun, and enjoy all the fantasies your heart desires!

The post Concept Art – Male Lagano appeared first on Tellest.

We wanted to show that the avarians were tough, able to use weapons in the air that even people on land have trouble with.  Our female avarian wields a hefty halberd with ease.

With a little more detail, we opened up a bit more of her armor, specifically the helmet.  Luigi had some trepidation with opening up that visor because he was worried he wouldn’t be able to put together the beak so well, but I think you’ll see in this next shot that he did a pretty decent job.

She’s got very similar features to the male avarian, but we gave her the more interesting attire, for sure.  The texture of her plumage is a little bit more apparent as well.

And here we have both of our airborne warriors together.  Hope you liked this look at one of the races we hope to show you more of in the future!

The post Concept Art – Female Avarian by Luigiix appeared first on Tellest.

He starts us off with a pretty simple sketch.  These winged warriors can utilize shields and swords pretty easily, thanks to their broad wings.  You’ll notice that these guys have full arms in addition to their wings, unlike Tellest’s harpies, where the wings are attached to their arms.

After that initial sketch, a few things were modified.  There’s a little bit more detail in the feathering, and the weapons, and the pose has changed slightly.

After that, we experimented a little bit with color.  Luigiix didn’t like the idea of drawing the beak on the character, so he disguised him behind a pretty cool helmet.

We decided that we didn’t like the darker colors so much, and we gave him a kind of “Golden Eagle” look instead.  There’s a little bit of shine on the sword and the shield and the armor too, and that really makes this guy pop.

In a couple weeks we’ll show you the follow-up: a female avarian.  Until then, have a great New Year!

The post Concept Art – Male Avarian by Luigiix appeared first on Tellest.

When tasked with a race to tackle, our skilled artist chose the kaja. This is party due to the fantastic foundation that was set by Paul, but Luigiix definitely put his own spin on things.

We started off, as always, with a subtle sketch.

From there, we had a good basis of what the characters were going to look like.  What’s more, we made a bargain where we would have the opportunity to see both males and females of the race.

After the initial set up, we took looks at the individuals.  To start, we began work on the male kaja.

You can see that we made him equal parts gladiator and tribal, which translates really well to art.  It’s definitely a different style compared to Paul’s prior work on the race, but it’s still got its own great character.

After that, Luigiix finished the male with some nice coloring.

He definitely had some huge shoes to fill – Paul’s work on Kaiyonani was no joke.  But I think the work that he did on the female kaja shows that even though Paul did such a fantastic job, there’s room for everyone to put their best into these concepts.

This iteration of the kaja definitely had a similar look to the proposed concepts, but things changed a little as time went on.

Our concept piece here definitely had a more regal, composed look to it.  I can just about believe that this could be another interpretation of Kaiyonani.  Luigiix did a great job.

And then he put the two together, for good measure.

We’re looking forward to much more from Luigiix in the future.  If his work on the kaja are a sign of what’s to come, we’re heading toward something great!

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Dirk, our hero’s canine companion… he’s a werewolf.  I know, it’s shocking.  But no less so than the awesome job that our new artist, Luigiix did in capturing his appearance.

As is usually the case, we started with a rough sketch.  You can see Dirk in his bipedal form, complete with his katana, Fenrir.

After that, Luigiix put a more substantial look together.  The shading isn’t exactly there yet, but he’s in one piece, and looking more like a western werewolf than something out of an Egyptian setting.  After that, he put some finishing touches on him.

Dirk has become a fan favorite, and it’s not exactly a surprise why. He’s strong, loyal and dependable, and he’s awesome to boot! Thanks to Luigiix for his awesome interpretation!

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