Escape from the Temple

July 18, 2021

This is my second entry to the Sword and Sorcery render contest held by Daz Studio. For more information about the contest and my initial thoughts, make sure to check my first entry, “Enchanting the Sword.”

My Personal Challenge

For this one, I had the thought that I would do it completely with Daz’s props and figures. No external resources at all, no HDRIs, textures, or anything imported. And no Marvelous Designer for the clothes. It was a blast working with this restriction!

The Idea

For this second entry, I wanted to go a little more classical with the inspiration. Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo are two of my favorite fantasy artists, and their compositions heavily inspired this piece.

I knew I wanted to have a big, muscular warrior reminiscent of the barbarians depicted in Frazetta’s and Vallejo’s work. But I wanted to switch the trope of the “defenseless woman” usually accompanying such strong figure, with a somewhat defenseless male figure. I wanted to show the fierce warrior facing some peril, while a scared male companion is just there to look horrified.

For the figures, then, I wanted a muscular warrior so Scar 8 from the Daz Store was a pretty easy choice. For the young scared man, I wanted a figure that was slimmer and youthful-looking. Fabian HD fit the bill perfectly.

I also needed a peril for the hero to face. In order to stay within the Sword and Sorcery theme, I wanted a creature that wasn’t totally from our world, but that it would fit naturally in a fantasy setting. The Reptilian 6 was my first try and I really liked how it looked.

Of course, the hero had to wield a sword. I know it doesn’t have to be a sword to fit the theme, but I happen to like swords a lot. I considered using the same sword I used in my first entry, to perhaps make it into a trilogy with my next entry, all three having the same sword in common. But that sword didn’t seem to fit the idea I had in my head. So I opted for a weapon that still looks pretty fantastical, but a bit more toned down.

Finally, for the composition, I knew I wanted to go with something triangular again. And I knew I wanted the warrior protecting the defenseless young man. So the warrior had to be in front, the young man behind him, and the peril in front of them. I placed the camera behind the Lizardfolk so the reptiles would help frame the whole composition, and I’m quite happy with the result.

The Post Process

For this one, I didn’t need to add any effects to the post-process, so I only used Photoshop to do some tone mapping and add a little bit of dust and texture to the image, to give it more depth.