Living Posers

-By Jesper Ejsing

Part of Blizzard’s Gamecom2015 poster illustration.

Lately I have been thinking about what makes a good character figure portrait. I have been painting a lot of concept art figures this last year, and have been more or less conscious about what makes a good one. More conscious now, that I think about it retrospectively and less conscious when I drew them. I think, when I look at the ones that work best, the red line is that they all have personality and clear gesture. But they also have a naturalness to the pose and a slightly little gesture or everyday pose, that makes them more believable. The whole hero pose, striking a sword in the air, legs wide and solid, looking mean into the camera is sort of worn out now. At least for me. Searching for that little awkward pose or face expression that makes a character alive is so much more rewarding, but also harder to pull off.

I think searching for these small details adds a whole lot of mood and personality to the figure. I hop ethat if I continue to search and make up these realistic poses, that with the years they will come naturally and without thinking about it.