ESO Community Spotlight – Isriana’s ESO-Inspired Artwork

It's time for another ESO Community Spotlight! In this series, we feature some of The Elder Scrolls Online's amazing community members, and in this edition, we talk to long-time fan Isriana about her unique ESO-themed artwork that includes both beautiful painted work and cheeky cartoons. You can read our interview and check out some of her work below!

How did you get started creating digital art of your favorite video game characters?

I have made drawings and little comics pretty much all my life, many of them inspired by stories from my favorite books and movies. So when I got my very first role-playing game, Neverwinter Nights 2, it was only a matter of time until those virtual adventures would begin to spill out in the form of drawings, comics, and little stories.

At DeviantART I found a community of fellow RPG fans who were always eager to see more artwork and learn about my characters, encouraging me to keep creating and developing my style.

The Elder Scrolls became my major source of inspiration back in 2011, following the launch of Skyrim. Since then, I have created hundreds of pieces inspired by different titles, and the player characters I created for this series are some of the most beloved to me. The Elder Scrolls Online has done a great job keeping that flame alive and well to this day!

What is it about The Elder Scrolls Online that inspires you to create?

Firstly, it's simply a beautiful game. I have a staggering number of screenshots featuring all the pretty places I've run into during my adventures. I hope that one day I get to paint a series of landscapes featuring at least some of my favorite spots in the game. I should also mention the gorgeous official artwork that we get to enjoy in loading screens – just looking at them makes me want to go paint something of my own.

Secondly, what inspires me in The Elder Scrolls series in general is the way the games give you enough room to develop you characters and make up your own stories. In The Elder Scrolls Online this is even more true since One Tamriel. For me at least, it has given me many more option as to how a new character's story unfolds – and naturally, those adventures always spark some ideas for new artwork.

You create both large detailed pieces and smaller, more fun comic scenes. What is it about both these styles that you enjoy creating?

In my paintings, my goal is usually to add a bit of realism to a fictional character or a setting I'm depicting. It's always a fun challenge when you're painting something that is essentially fantastic. Naturally, it's an area where there's always more room for improvement, but I do enjoy practicing and figuring out those subtle little ways that will make the artwork feel more lifelike.

My painting projects usually require quite a bit of time and patience, so I like to balance things out by creating smaller, more relaxed little drawings, too. My comic style is relatively simple and quick for me to draw, and therefore it's ideal for those lighthearted little strips I enjoy making. It's expressive enough without being overly detailed so I don't have to spend endless hours laboring over every single panel just so I could tell a joke. The Elder Scrolls Online has lots of amusing characters and quests, not to mention all the shenanigans players themselves can get into, so there is always a plenty of fuel for new drawings!

What is your process for creating one of the larger, more detailed pieces? How long can it take?

The first step is always gathering references such as screenshots and photos, and spending some time studying the subject I'm about to paint. I prefer to start with a greyscale painting since it allows me focus on getting lights and shades in place before I move onto colors.

From there, I will proceed to adding color overlays and painting over the black and white piece until I have the result I want. I might have to rework parts of a painting several times, and finishing details and working on textures adds its own time as well. Larger paintings might take 10-20 hours to complete – even longer if I'm trying something new.

It's easy the get carried away with fine-tuning, too – one time a painting that started as quick hair study featuring my Vestige ended up becoming over two month long on-and-off -project.

You have drawn a lot of different ESO and Elder Scrolls characters. Do you have a favorite?

I have such a long list of favorites, but as far as The Elder Scrolls Online is concerned I think I have to pick Naryu Virian. I loved every moment of her questline in ESO: Morrowind, and I hope we see more of her in the future... I wouldn't mind if that included a nice tavern, a few bottles of Balmora Blue, and a plenty of stories of her many adventures.

What advice do you have for your fellow digital artists?

For those looking to hone their skills and develop their style, my advice is to practice (as old and tired as it sounds). Use references, study your subjects, experiment, learn the features of the drawing program of choice, and just draw as much and as often as possible.

Don't be discouraged by those days when the inspiration doesn't flow or when it takes thirty tries to draw a single line right. If you get stuck with a project that feels daunting, just leave it be for a moment – let it rest, work on something smaller that you enjoy, and come back to it another day with fresh eyes.

The frustrating thing about progress is that you can't often see the big leaps you've made until much later, when you're looking back at all the art you've created and things you've learned. It never seems like it at the time, but everything you create takes you a bit closer of becoming the artist you want to be.

Where can fans find more of your work?

DeviantART hosts my main gallery where I post most of my finished paintings and comics: www.isriana.deviantart.com.

Tumblr is another site where I post my artwork in addition to many quick doodles, WIPs, sketches and other stuff that may not end up in my main gallery. To anyone who might be interested in seeing this extra material, this is the tag to follow: www.isriana.tumblr.com/tagged/isriana-art.

Finally, my art can also be found on Facebook: www.facebook.com/IsrianaArt and Instagram: www.instagram.com/isriana.

A big thank you to Isriana for taking the time to answer her questions and letting us show off some of her work. Be sure to visit the sites above to check out more. Have you created something from The Elder Scrolls Online? Or have you seen something another community member created that you think should be shared? Let us know about it on Twitter at @TESOnline and Facebook!