I used to struggle with my character art, but now I use this checklist

"This piece tells the story of Nix, a deep gnome druid of the Circle of Spores. She was originally a Dungeons & Dragons character that my wife played in one of our party campaigns. Nix is a chaotic soul; she's messy, disorganised, obsessed with mushrooms, and constantly drawn to strange and dangerous places in search of rare fungi. This illustration captures one of those adventurous moments."

"I begin by designing the character, experimenting with the outfit and personality cues. Nix usually wears a fully covered outfit, but I imagined her forgetting her cloak in a rush to chase a particularly rare mushroom. Next I dived into research, studying the Underdark and its inhabitants. Myconids, mushroom-like creatures, felt like the perfect addition, both visually and thematically. From there, I worked through composition, colour palette, lighting, and eventually the final rendering."

"Though the story may seem simple, narrative illustrations are a multi layered challenge. It's not just about creating a beautiful image, it's about telling a story that can be read with just a single glance. I used to struggle with cluttered compositions, weak focal points and narrative threads while learning. But over time, I developed a checklist that helps me stay on track. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced artist, it's easy to get lost in the complexity of narrative artworks."

Nix is a deep gnome druid of the Circle of Spores who is messy, disorganized, and obsessed with finding rare fungi in dangerous places. The character is portrayed forgetting her cloak while chasing a particularly rare mushroom. The creative process combined character design, outfit and personality cues, research into the Underdark and its inhabitants, composition, colour palette, lighting, and final rendering. Myconids were added as mushroom-like companions for visual and thematic cohesion. Narrative illustration requires layered choices to convey a story at a glance, and a practical checklist helps avoid clutter and weak focal points. Photoshop was used for the piece.

Read at Creative Bloq