King's Quest is a narrative driven video game where you play as Graham as he embarks on an adventure to become a knight and eventually, king. The original game was developed in 1984 and released in a series of chapters. The series was rebooted in 2015 with modern graphics and ditched the point and click gameplay in favor of a player controlled avatar.
Achaka was a side character who taught the player how to use a bow and arrow. His character model is very tall and stoic, but that hasn't stopped the fan community from developing a following for him. That's one of he reasons I was commissioned to illustrate him.
The Wire Frame
It was requested that I draw Achaka with his hand in his fist across his chest. This gives him a "don't mess with me" attitude. His helmet is rather tall, so I had to take that into considering when drafting his total height. Broad shoulders are also part of his look. He has a rather strong physique.
The Sketch
I used screenshots from the actual game and fan art from other artists to gain an understanding of his design. The armor is unique in that his helmet is feathered on two sides and he wears a short frilly cape over his armor. His chestplate has a very detailed design so I did my best to get it right.
The Line Art
I love the G-pen in Clip Studio Paint for allowing me to create such clean and solid lines for my line art. I used variable stroke widths for this one. Thicker lines for the main outline of the character and thinner strokes for the details. I used the symmetry ruler tool when drawing the frills on his helmet and cape, which helped me save time and effort. I would draw one side and the other side would mirror my strokes. Later I would add more to mix it up so it wasn't completely obvious that both sides were identical.
The Flat Colors
The colors were fairly simple. The actual game screenshots were difficult to nail down specific colors, so this is where other people's interpretations via fan art was really helpful. One thing I forgot to draw was Achaka's bow and arrow. They should be strapped to his back and the quiver at his waist.
The Finished Illustration
I wanted to make his armor really shiny and reflective, but I think the way I drew the highlights resembles the surface of ocean water. Ah well, that's what makes this a learning experience. I used the symmetry ruler again to illustrate the background and then inserted a photo texture over top with the blending mode set to Overlay.
I put a mirrored copy of Achaka underneath his feet to make it look like he's standing on a reflective floor. His shadow is merely a blurred oval shape. I'll admit, that was a time saving shortcut but could have looked much better had I made a more shape-specific shadow. Overall, I'm happy with how it turned out. It could have been better. That's true for everything, right? There's still plenty of room for growth and improvement.
