68. King Belial (almost done)

[mike_b]

BELIAL.--The Sixty-eighth Spirit is Belial. He is a Mighty and a Powerful King, and was created next after LUCIFER. He appeareth in the Form of Two Beautiful Angels sitting in a Chariot of Fire. He speaketh with a Comely Voice, and declareth that he fell first from among the worthier sort, that were before Michael, and other Heavenly Angels. His Office is to distribute Presentations and Senatorships, etc.; and to cause favour of Friends and of Foes. He giveth excellent Familiars, and governeth 50 Legions of Spirits. Note well that this King Belial. must have Offerings, Sacrifices and Gifts presented unto him by the Exorcist, or else he will not give True Answers unto his Demands. But then he tarrieth not one hour in the Truth, unless he be con. strained by Divine Power. And his Seal is this, which is to be worn as aforesaid, etc.

Some quick roughs to get me started. Already diggin the bottom left tho, so I may explore that a bit more.

Should be fun to explore!

[Novacaptain]

haha I like the bottom left dude too. It has a very pan's labyrinth creepiness about it. I was expecting hot scantily-clad women, leaning on a ferrari from the description.

[mike_b]

yeah, i definitely want to incorporate the "two beautiful angels" somehow

[darkreaver]

i took the description to mean that belial was the chariot itself...maybe two ladies could be sitting in slots in his shoulders. flesh slots =D

[mike_b]

playing around with a couple different layouts.

Not really sure what I want to do yet. I think I'm leaning towards at least SOMETHING like the 2nd and 3rd. Tho I still wanna mess around with that flesh slots idea a bit more. I like the idea of the two angels sort of emerging out of Belial.

[cheesecake-weasel]

yeah i'm liking the chicks coming out of his back, that looks sweet

[mike_b]

I think I've settled on the general idea of what I want.
Here's a still pretty rough look at where I'm at.

Angels on Belial's back will most likely change a bit, but that's more or less the gist of it.

[Gonz]

From the description your guy definitely sounds like a demon who's aware of his place as a king of hell. The fact that it is within his purview to grant positions of status to other beings shows that he's pretty high and mighty. With that in mind, and considering he's a king, I think it would be great if you incorporated some of those crown elements from the thumbnails back into the design. I like how the beauty of the angels plays against his beastliness, but if you can somehow get them to reinforce his regal status, that would be cool. Like maybe their wings can almost form a crown shape around his head, or imply a regal collar or feathery mantle? The shaggy area below the belt strengthens his demonic/animalistic nature, but it might be cool to see a sketch version where he's more finely attired. It's not that he has to wear clothes or armor, but it occurred to me when reading the text that even if he is demonic, the fact that he likes appearing as two pretty angels makes me feel like he might be the type of dude who'd--even if beastly--likes appearing somehow beautiful or refined. So a crown or impressive necklace or loincloth might reinforce that. Just an idea! I think you're already going strong though, so it's probably not necessary.

[mike_b]

Thanks Gonz! You're making all valid points, and now I'm rethinking how to approach it. I'll have to kick it around a few more times and see what I can come up with. I had completely forgotten about the crown, so will definitely have to put that back in.

[mike_b]

So here's where I'm at. Going to leave the name for last. Outside of maybe a few tweaks to the angels, I'm not sure I want to do anything else to it.

[Kaoki]

well that's amazing.

[ceenda]

That is superb! Composition and design is excellent.

[mike_b]

Thanks guys!

I think I'm done with this. I changed the frame to be a little less noisy and not compete so much with the font.

[C.o.S]

well done there man, love the expression on the left angel


edit: is that the demon's tongue comin ou tof his mouth?

[Alexander]

This is really sweet. I love the way you simplified the angels.

Minor nitpick: There's a tangent with his tongue and that light line that defines part of his neck.

[mike_b]

haha. well now that I can't un-see it, I'm going to have to fix it when I get home.

[mike_b]

ok, done now? yes? good.

[Noodle!]

Really cool, man. Kudos for finishing as well, haha. I also like the way you made those angels.

[Katheryn]

i was following your progress throughout and i think the final piece looks great. my only critique is that something with the color choices doesn't quite pop for me. i'm not sure what it is, but it falls just a little flat. also i have to say that i really loved the almost stained glass appearance of your initial sketches. lovely!

[mike_b]

thanks noodle!

@Katheryn: the stained glass thing hadn't even crossed my mind and now I'm wishing I had given that a go!
As for the colors I think i can see where your coming from. Before we all end up turning in final psd's i'll make sure to play around with em a bit more see if I can get em to pop.

[darkreaver]

great final rendition...i love how the angels turned out, how the wings form a symmetry with the demon's head, like they're part of the demon.

can't decide if like the crenelated border or the simple straight border more though...on the one hand, the former draws it's design form the seal, which i like. on the other hand, it does look a bit messy.

i'm not too hot on the text font though. i don't feel the curls at the ends of the letters are consistent with the rest of the design.

[jome]

Agree with Katheryn, it has this overexposed look... I think the black on the left horn helps to lift it off the page, so maybe it just needs some darker strokes and shadows here and there. I'm in two minds about the iconic crown floating above the head - on the one hand it clashes hard, on the other hand I enjoy it. I love the angularity of your style / linework a whole lot, I wonder if it needs to be carried on in his arms as well. /minor thoughts, I like it!

[mike_b]

thanks for the input guys!

I think since most folks arent all too close to finishing ill revisit Belial and make some adjustments.
Definitely gonna try something else with the font. (me and typography aren't the best of friends) and i'd like a more interesting border as well.
So, another update coming soon.

[doomfulstace]

Really awesome progress! I can't really nitpick anything that hasn't already been nitpicked. I'm mostly in love with the contrast of texture you've done between the demon and the angels. Plus the pose of the angel on the right is nice, good to see her shape, hehe.

[darkreaver]

this thing has been almost done for a while now...just finish it offf f f f