Aurian Dragon Concept Commission 🐉 (Dragonoodity) (Patreon)

Hey guys! Happy Friday! Sorry for the lack of posting over the last few days! I've been working on this Dragon guy, Aurian behind the scenes with ReisHusky, and I wanted to do a final push to get him all done before the challenge 😂 Working with Reis was an absolute blast for this one, a large part of it due to the both of us basically being in total sync for the entirety of the process 😂 I don't want to get too in depth for this guy's lore, (I want to leave that honour to Reis) so what I'll do instead is share a lot of the inspiration for this guy 👍

We pulled inspo from a lot of places for this guy; Arcane, World of Warcraft, Darksouls (and Soulsborne games in general) just to name a few. Mel, from Arcane was partly the inspiration for the golden markings, (design-wise and also and indication of some magic usage, hence the glow) however we wanted to make them more unique and personalized to this guy's anatomy. The markings were therefore made more like molten gold poured between his scales. We also didn't want to make them too busy in terms of design, so there's a mix of more complicated patterning in certain areas with longer more simple lines, so that the patterns guide the eye across the body, giving a sort of flow to them.

In terms of colour and design, we really wanted it to contrast with his nature. Basically, this guy isn't evil, but he kind of needs to look like he is. We went with darker values and colours so that he'd resemble the look of cooled lava, (Further reflected in the textures of his horns and sword) and I made sure to include lots of "sharpness" in the design (ie, spikes and horns in different places) Not too much though, as we didn't want it to not functionally work with the armour. His eyes though, are the contrast point. He's meant to be stoic and his past is filled with pain, so we went with piercing icy blue eyes to counteract that dark and fiery look about him. (The blue is also complimentary with the gold colours)

For his armour, we took some of inspiration from Maliketh's armour from Eldenring, in terms of colour, Artorias's Armour form Darksouls for the ages texture and component's (Frayed flowing fabric mixed with tarnished and rusted metals). Some inspiration even came from the Nazguls from Lord of the Rings. Initially, there was an idea to give him a cloak, however we ultimately decided against it as it may functionally interfere with his wings. Instead what we did is sort of "break up" the silhouette of the cloak into more functional pieces; The neck wrap for the upper part, and then the draped fabric on the thighs combined give that sort of long "flowy" look of a cloak, while not interfering with his wings and anatomy.

For his sword, it's meant to be a sort of "heirloom" but has also been cursed and twisted over time. We took inspiration from Maliketh's sword for that more exotic shape and rough texture, but still making it his own to fit within his lore. The blade itself looks as though it was dipped in lava and then cooled into a twisted, bulky and jagged shape. However, cracks and creased still allow for that golden light and magic to shine through. The hilt may have once been beautiful and golden, but is now aged, broken and dull in colour, and partially concealed by it's frayed fabric wrapping.

As a last note... the spines on his head can stand up straight or be pressed more flat (Like in the profile head shot). This is mostly just for added body language to convey emotion 😂

But yeah, that's pretty much the gist of his design elements and inspiration! Thanks again for your guys's patience, and I hope you guys like him!

Special thanks to ReisHusky! Once again, it was an honour getting to help design this guy with you! I really appreciate the opportunity! 😊🙏

Thanks again, and Enjoy!

(Timelapse is below)