Jaime Lannister on the Iron Throne

[Advertising] Who has watched Game of Thrones? Have you already seen my speedpainting fan art of Jaime Lannister sitting on the Iron Throne? Well, the original video was 8 hours long, but after editing it sized down to 6 minutes. This short amount of time is not sufficient for explaining how this drawing was created. So let me discuss it here.

Finding appropriate references

Jaime Lannister is a proud swordsman of the royal guard, but he is also called the kingslayer. It was quite obvious, that I had to draw him sitting on the Iron Throne, after a good friend of mine requested a poster of him. My illustration shows the version of the TV series, where Jaime Lannister is portrayed by the Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. My references were the first season as DVD and lots of pictures of the actor.

Inking the pencil sketch digitally

It’s a pity, that I lost my pencil sketch of my fan art of Jaime Lannister. I hope that my digitally inked version is good enough to get an impression of the composition and outlines. The lines were digitally inked with a Japanese graphics software called Paint Tool SAI. I found out, that this software is able to rotate the canvas. This is a very nice feature, if you want to avoid drawing all the swords, which were melted into the Iron Throne.

Speaking of these, I did not draw them exactly as on the template. For recognizing the Iron Throne it is essential to catch the composition and the shades. I ensured, that the raven is sitting on the right place and that different types of swords were drawn. The thing, I like the most in this graphics software is the very sharp and precise inking pen. The picture likes look like they were drawn with real ink.

After preparing the background, I made a sketch of Jaime Lannister. I didn’t care much about his facial expression, because I will redraw it anyway.

Painting the background

I switched to another software. The outline is imported as the topmost layer. I set the layer mode to multiply. The background was filled in several shades of grey and bright light scales of yellow. With this, I create the impression of a sunlit cellar. Besides, I have added colourful random noise and distortion. The background looks a bit rougher now.

Drawing the Iron Throne

If you came from traditional art, you may know, that it best practise to paint the background first. After drawing the backmost layer, you work your way to the front. My second layer contains the Iron Throne. Of course, I did not have the patience to draw all these swords. I just filled in some shades of grey corresponding the DVD cover image. Here and then, some lighter or darker shades were thrown in. Nevertheless, it took some time to finish the iron throne.

Fan Art of Jaime Lannister

Jaime Lannister is drawn on another layer of my fan art. I started with his face and worked my way down. I did not go much into detail, because it is better to catch the whole impression. You can do this by analysing the colour hues and shapes.

How to draw realistic portraits?

Thick black lines make portraits look like comics. Therefore, after each step or layer of colour, I increase the transparency of my outlines. My aim is to recreate the image without using the outlines. It is very important, that you avoid using black, because it looks unrealistic. Try other colours, which give you the same feel, and do not think too much about finding the perfect hue. While mixing colours, I always pick some tones of my surroundings. Jaime’s blonde hair is shaded with the same shade of olive which I used for his armour. I highlight with yellowish tones, because they look more sunlit.

How to draw antique gold

How do you make the colour gold? Well, gold is not a colour, it is an illusion. My experience has shown, that gold cannot be drawn with yellow. For the antique gold colour of the armour, I took olive. It looks like brass or gold, if its reflection looks metallic. You can achieve this by using hard contrasts and saturated colours. The more colours are mirrored, the shinier it looks.

How to draw a sword realistically?

During the years, I developed a technique for drawing swords and knives. The blade looks sharper, when you use the selection tool and draw inside your selection with very broad and diffuse brushes. The main colour of the blade is grey, but I work a lot with surrounding colours. This creates a mirror effect.

Drawing the ornaments on the armour

I do not like drawing ornaments, but it is important for showing the wealth of a Lannister. The ornaments were drawn on another layer. I do not care much about the details, I just figure out the shape and patterns. As the armour consists of metal, I use hard contrasts.

The box beneath the throne

If I didn’t have owned the DVD, I would have never noticed that the box beneath the throne is made of wood. At least, the texture and the planks looks like it were so. I did not use any textures, since the planks have a very distinct form.

Drawing the cape

In my fan art the cape layer is located in between the Iron Throne and Jaime. It is made of soft textile, therefore I use unsaturated colours and less contrast. The textile does not mirror the surroundings.

Using light effects

The painting could have been finished by now, but to give it something extraordinary, I decided to apply light effects. Two additional layers were created. One in the addition or negative multiply mode, the other one in expose mode. Understanding these layer modes is not that simple, but they show the best effect, when used with broad soft brushes and light saturated colours. I also use blur these layers heavily.

How to draw reflections

I love digital art for working out new tricks and hints. For the mirror effect on the ground, I just made a screenshot, flipped and deformed it. You can play around with effects to make it even more realistic. This saves a lot of time!

Realistic portraits take a lot of time and effort

If you want to take a closer look into the process, visit my YouTube account or click onto this picture:

Drawing realistic portraits is more about light, reflection and texture then about exactness. I haven’t used any texture for this fan art of Jaime Lannister. I hope that you have learned some tricks of digital art. You can also visit my digital art gallery for similar artworks.

P.S. I do not make money by naming series, products or labels. This post contains my personal opinion and experience.