Character Design Winners Interview — Dragon’s Rise: The Forgotten Realms
1st place Dragon’s Rise: The Forgotten Realms – Character Design: mole wang
Last but certainly not least in our Dragon’s Rise: The Forgotten Realms interview series is a new conversation with 1st and 2nd place Character Design category winners mole wang and Jeanne Plounevez. We chatted with these talented artists about what it was like to push their skills in a fast-paced Challenge.
In case you missed some of our earlier conversations, we’ve also rounded up links to our other Dragon’s Rise interviews at the end of this article.
2nd place Dragon’s Rise: The Forgotten Realms – Character Design: Jeanne Plounevez
Why Did You Decide To Enter the Dragon’s Rise Challenge?
mole: I really like the form of the ArtStation Challenge. Different artists can learn from each other’s ideas through different design processes. I plan to participate in almost every new Challenge, except for times when I am too busy.
Jeanne: I really liked the theme! I enjoy fantasy stuff and drawing dragons so that was a good match! I had time during summer and I wanted to make a cool personal project. That theme was perfect for that!
3rd place Dragon’s Rise: The Forgotten Realms – Character Design: Sang Nguyen
What Was the Inspiration Behind Your Submission?
mole: The inspiration for my creation comes from the confrontation between yin and yang, the confrontation between dragons that spanned thousands of years. The different attitudes of two countries towards dragons determine that the flames of war will never be extinguished. It is this combination of different views on the same thing that forms this world, it constitutes the balance of yin and yang.
Jeanne: I’m working in video games and I wanted to switch things up a bit so I decided to go more for an animated series pre-production project. Trying to go for more of a stylised vibe. I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by a lot of very talented artists whom I could take inspiration from! I also took inspiration from the works of Claire Wendling and Terryl Whitlatch for the creatures.
1st place Dragon’s Rise: The Forgotten Realms – Character Design: mole wang
What’s Something New you Learned During this Challenge?
mole: In this Challenge, I learned the points that need to be paid attention to when designing characters of different camps. Such as, how to separate the visual differences from the motivation of the characters when they belong to the opposite camp, and how to make the characters of the same camp have individual differences while being unified.
Jeanne: It’s not really a new thing but it helped me build confidence. Getting feedback from a lot of people and the emulation of the whole thing helped me let go and enjoy it more. It’s been the most fun I had drawing in a while!
2nd place Dragon’s Rise: The Forgotten Realms – Character Design: Jeanne Plounevez
What Advice Do You Have for Future Challenge Participants?
mole: A character design is not only about appearance, but also requires an interesting background story and perfect concept support.
Jeanne: Go all in! Have fun with it and don’t think too hard. It’s a great opportunity to make a fun personal project to show the world who you are.
3rd place Dragon’s Rise: The Forgotten Realms – Character Design: Sang Nguyen
Did you catch the rest of the interviews in our series? Be sure to read our conversations with the other Dragon’s Rise Challenge category winners:
