This illustration was done as a private commission.
The client wanted a picture based on the climatic scene in Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King where the lead characters (Sam and Frodo) and their antagonist (Gollum) arrive at Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring.
The client wanted a picture based on the climatic scene in Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King where the lead characters (Sam and Frodo) and their antagonist (Gollum) arrive at Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring.
After a few sketches we managed to agree on an option and then, after a couple of sketches to find the right stances for the characters, it was off to the drawing board (or, in this case, screen).
The lineart and flat colors were done without much hassle, and the bulk of the work in this stage was getting the lights right. After that, to give the illustration more of a poster kind of look, a frame and the movie logo were added.
The initial sketches were done traditionally, with paper and ballpoint pens. The art was done on the Procreate app for Ipad Pro, and a few final adjustments were done using Adobe Photoshop.