To start this post, I want to comment a little on the inspiration for this piece. I really like goblins, so I’ve been researching on the topic and taking all sorts of references to create interesting concepts and characters. One of such references comes from animals
This portrait of a goblin is inspired by the face of a bat. In this case, more than the motives of the bat, the expression is what caught my attention. Photo by Jose Gabriel Martinez-Fonseca, check his amazing work at jgmartinez-fonseca.smugmug.com
The thing I liked the most about this study was the color of the skin. Goblins are usually portrait with green skin, so I wanted to try something a bit different. I also wanted to give him a different origin, not necessarily the dump savage goblin but one with a sort of mystical undertone.
For the character concept of the Goblin Shaman, as he is not necessarily the warrior type, his clothes do not include any type of armor but light fabrics and straps. I think of some tribal jewels and body paint, and light cloths and wrappings, basic but ceremonial
Next I made the sketch for the illustration. This is a scan form my sketchbook, I like the way the actual pencil and paper look. I imagine him hanging, maybe he heard someone lurking in their lair and he is trying to take a look from a high place. After that I made some lighting sketches and color samples to try different moods for the scene.
For the final image, the background change to be a cavern. I added the eye banners to signal a more ritualistic environment following the design of the face paint of the Shaman Goblin.
