Kai Lord
Hero
Clyde Caldwell was one of TSR's premiere fantasy artists during the 80's and 90's and one of the primary designers of the Dragonlance campaign world.
I recently commissioned him to illustrate Elijayess Moonshadow, my Wild Elf Barbarian Archer, whom I've played for many years and written several short stories about. When I envisioned Elijayess, I sought to create a character that was a unique archetype, an elf who was muscular and dark-skinned with black hair kept in a tight thick braid, sort of a elven cross between Conan and Tarzan.
I really admired the work of Clyde Caldwell and Larry Elmore while growing up, and dreamed of one day seeing my character's likeness with their signature style. I had the pleasure of meeting Larry Elmore five years ago, and he did a very nice rough sketch of Elijayess, but this Caldwell piece is much more detailed and really nails the look of the character. We corresponded over email for over four months before the following piece was finished and sent to me.
Its a pencil drawing, and the original is actually more detailed than the scan. I used to look to fantasy art for inspiration of what character's to create, and thought it would be neat to create a striking enough character that might inspire others.
Through Clyde's fantastic collaboration, I think that's definitely now a possibility. Even though I commissioned Clyde to do the work according to my specifications and I own the original art, please note that he kept the distribution rights to the piece, so if anyone copies this image and posts it on another site, please obey whatever copyright laws are in effect.
The female character is Brandella, Elijayess' human love interest. I wasn't sure if I should post this due to the nudity, so if anyone is offended I apologize.
I'm very, very pleased with Clyde's work, and think a plug for his website is in order: www.clydecaldwell.com. There you can view other paintings and pencil drawings, as well as order his sketchbooks, Savage Hearts 1 & 2. Clyde stated that Elijayess and Brandella will probably appear in Savage Hearts 3.
If anyone has any questions about Clyde, the characters, or the piece, I'd be more than happy to answer.
I recently commissioned him to illustrate Elijayess Moonshadow, my Wild Elf Barbarian Archer, whom I've played for many years and written several short stories about. When I envisioned Elijayess, I sought to create a character that was a unique archetype, an elf who was muscular and dark-skinned with black hair kept in a tight thick braid, sort of a elven cross between Conan and Tarzan.
I really admired the work of Clyde Caldwell and Larry Elmore while growing up, and dreamed of one day seeing my character's likeness with their signature style. I had the pleasure of meeting Larry Elmore five years ago, and he did a very nice rough sketch of Elijayess, but this Caldwell piece is much more detailed and really nails the look of the character. We corresponded over email for over four months before the following piece was finished and sent to me.
Its a pencil drawing, and the original is actually more detailed than the scan. I used to look to fantasy art for inspiration of what character's to create, and thought it would be neat to create a striking enough character that might inspire others.
Through Clyde's fantastic collaboration, I think that's definitely now a possibility. Even though I commissioned Clyde to do the work according to my specifications and I own the original art, please note that he kept the distribution rights to the piece, so if anyone copies this image and posts it on another site, please obey whatever copyright laws are in effect.
The female character is Brandella, Elijayess' human love interest. I wasn't sure if I should post this due to the nudity, so if anyone is offended I apologize.
I'm very, very pleased with Clyde's work, and think a plug for his website is in order: www.clydecaldwell.com. There you can view other paintings and pencil drawings, as well as order his sketchbooks, Savage Hearts 1 & 2. Clyde stated that Elijayess and Brandella will probably appear in Savage Hearts 3.
If anyone has any questions about Clyde, the characters, or the piece, I'd be more than happy to answer.
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