"Drow" by Lloyd Dennis Zacarias

Wow... just wow... the drawing is amazing... and something about how it's shaded makes me think of drow infra-vision... it just seems like you can see the glow of his body heat, especially with how the background darkens the further it gets from him.

Lloyd Dennis Zacarias replies: "Thank you Guxx. I'm glad you noticed the glow around him as I was trying to put in the fairie fire magic drow seem to have in D&D."

Hey, I am digging your drow! Your detail on the armor is absolutely astounding! I just can't get over how much time you must have put into getting it to look that perfect! I have another comment about what might be improved upon. I think the skin tone should be darker. I know it's scary to darken the skin because well, black (in the sense of graphite) is always kind of scary! (Hard to erase if you mess up.) Otherwise one might think this is actually a regular elf. Still, I enjoy looking at this one! GO YOU!

Lloyd Dennis Zacarias replies: "Thanks Pita! I so agree with you that I should have made the skin darker and that I was very intimidated and very nervous about darkening it especialy since I work with graohite. Hopefully i'll get it right next time as i've gained a whole new level of confidence within the past few years. I'm seriously thinking about giving the Drow race another try and so far i've gotten as far as the pose layout. Thank you again for the great comment and wish me luck (i'm gonna need it)."

LOVE it! Keep everything the same, but if you end up coloring it, try making his hair black with a pale blue stripe or two. WHY in the WORLDS did you think this was a bad drawing??!!? It's FANTASTIC!!!!

Lloyd Dennis Zacarias replies: "Hi Vici, well I guess its not a total failure but my anatomy was way off and the shading was far from what I had invisioned it was going to look like. Thanks again and hopefully my next drow pic (in progress at the moment) will turn out better."

Well, I think it's bad ass Lloyd. The armor design definately screams drow. The only thing if any that I'd say could be different is that to me (notice it's an opinionative statement) drows seem to be a slimmer more lythe(sp?) type of race. As for the muscle bulk, you could take it down some. To me dark elf says: slender, sinister, angular, and of course dark. Also you could throw in a luscent quality to them... kinda like the glow in the dark poisonous fungis probably found in there homes. Tried 3 times already to submit this comment so sorry if it shows up all 3 times lol

Lloyd Dennis Zacarias replies: "Not to worry as the comment only came up once. Its happened to me on several occasions where I kept pressing (Save Comment) and the darn comment was posted 5 times in a row, lol. Now about your comment, I afree completely with your description of drows and I do recall when I drew this I was going through a weird big muscle stage in my drawings. Not the best time to have been drawing an elf I guess. I've been working off and on another drow pic but its been a year and i'm still working on it. Maybe i'll finish it this year."

Hey I really like this!!! I think you did an excellent job!! I think it’s GREAT!! I think you should do MORE!!!!

Lloyd Dennis Zacarias replies: "Thank you! I have been planning for a long time now to draw another drow but somehow I keep getting sidetracked."

Very good work. Carefull and detailed. Subtle details on the muscles and vivid details on his gear.Great.

Lloyd Dennis Zacarias replies: "I’m happy you liked this one. Thank you."

I think he looks fantastic! I disagree with Jason’s comment - yes, all elves are slim, but if that guy’s been training with those swords for years and years he would’ve built up some muscle; so long as he doesn’t reach Conan/Arnie size it’s fine - he looks like an elf to me! I love his armour and the intense look on his face.

Lloyd Dennis Zacarias replies: "Thank you. I’m very happy you liked this one."

This pic is ****ING awsome. Its awsome!!! Sorry excuse my language. I realy like it but i think you need to darken up on the skin. I’m not much of an artist but i know that it sux workin with graphite on REALY dark stuff. I think maybe his armer should darken up to show his inner drow. I also think that maybe having ork blood or something on the blades with a body of whatever race it is in the background. Other then that i beleave It is amazing. i could create a wonderful story off this one pic thats how great it is. I don’t know why you think its bad. I also think if you colored it it would look great.

Lloyd Dennis Zacarias replies: "Thanks, yeah I didn’t have too much luck with this one. Itried to get black in there but your on the mark when you said dark tones are hard to do with graphite."

actually reminds me of a character from one of R. A. Salvatore’s books in one of the Legacy of the Drow books. can’t remember which book, or the character’s name, but he was a weapon master for one of the leading houses. and yeah, he was big like this guy, and most everyone, including a few priestesses, were afraid of him XD i’ve been browsing your gallery for a while by the way, and i really like your stuff, you’re amazing with a pencil

http://sylver-star-shyne.deviantart.com/

A possible alternative to darkening the skin: in my opinion(granted it’s just opinion) I agree with the comment that you should make the drow a bit more slender. However, I do agree that muscle definition is an important factor in the overall image due to the battle hardened reputation of drow. Hopefully this is received as constructive criticism but my biggest disagreement here is the armor; I feel the drow rely on stealth far too much for this wardrobe. While the armor is not cumbersome allowing for movement, it gives me the impression of a barbarian charging into battle unafraid of enemy weapons and relishing any battle scars he might receive.

A possible solution to the difficulties with darkening the skin tone could potentially be solved by adding a cloak of some sort. I’m not sure how to describe it but you want the feel that this adversary could be lurking in the shadows inches away and you wouldn’t know it.

The cloak itself would need to be dark and in doing so it would further enhance the idea of this being a dark elf. By doing this you allow yourself a little more wiggle room as far as shading the skin and adding definition.