Hey dear friends, how are you ?
Hope all of you is doing great like me. š
Recently, I decided to participate in the Splinterlands Art Contest hosted on the Hive blockchain. The challenge was to create an original poster featuring Grim Reaper, one of the iconic characters from the popular blockchain-based game Splinterlands. Since Iām not a professional artist, I relied on accessible digital toolsāCanva and Sketchbookāto bring my vision to life. The entire process took me approximately two hours, from conceptualization to final touches.
Choosing the Right Tools: Canva and Sketchbook
As someone who enjoys graphic design but lacks advanced technical skills, I needed user-friendly applications that could still produce high-quality results. Canva is a fantastic platform for creating posters, social media graphics, and other visual content due to its intuitive interface and extensive library of templates, fonts, and design elements. However, I wanted to add more depth and artistic flair to my Grim Reaper poster, so I also used Sketchbook, a digital drawing app that allows for more detailed hand-drawn effects.
Combining these two tools gave me the flexibility to:
- Use Canva for layout, text placement, and basic design structure.
- Apply Sketchbook for custom shading, lighting effects, and enhancing the Grim Reaperās eerie aesthetic.
Concept and Design Process
The Grim Reaper in Splinterlands is a dark, menacing figure associated with death and decay. To capture this essence, I focused on the following elements:
- Color Palette: I stuck with a dark themeādeep blacks, shadowy grays, and accents of blood red to emphasize the characterās ominous presence.
- Composition: I positioned the Grim Reaper as the central figure, looming over a desolate battlefield (a common setting in Splinterlands). The background included subtle fog and skeletal remains to reinforce the theme of death.
- Text Effects: Since this was a poster, I added bold, gothic-style text with phrases like "Death Awaits" to amplify the menacing tone.
Now the steps by photos to see all the process from the first to the end :
The original character for the game :
Challenges and Adjustments
Even with simple tools, I faced a few challenges:
- Blending Effects: Making the Grim Reaper appear seamlessly integrated into the background required careful layering in Sketchbook.
- Time Management: Since I only spent two hours on this project, I had to prioritize the most impactful detailsāsuch as the scytheās glow and the characterās hollow eyesāwhile keeping other elements minimalistic.
Final Submission and Lessons Learned
After refining the details, I submitted my poster to the Splinterlands Art Contest on Hive. While I may not win against professional digital artists, the experience was incredibly rewarding. Hereās what I took away from this project:
- Creativity Over Complexity: You donāt need expensive software to create compelling artājust a clear vision and the right tools.
- Efficiency Matters: Working within a limited timeframe forced me to focus on the essentials, which improved my decision-making in design.
- Community Engagement: The Hive and Splinterlands communities are very supportive, offering feedback that helps artists grow.
Conclusion
Designing this Grim Reaper poster was a fun and educational experience. Using Canva and Sketchbook, I was able to produce a visually striking piece in just two hours, proving that even amateur designers can participate in competitive art contests. I look forward to improving my skills and experimenting with more advanced techniques in future projects.
Would I do anything differently next time? Perhaps spend more time on intricate details or experiment with animation effects. But for now, Iām proud of what Iāve created and excited to see how the Splinterlands community receives it!
And thank you so much for reading my post.
See in the next week. š„°š
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STOPThanks for sharing! - @cieliss
