Art Post: Reindeer Magic

 Once in a lifetime, each hero gets the opportunity to work for Santa Clause himself. This was your year. It is a long, grueling night. Your job is to make sure that nothing bad happens to the figure of Christmas Cheer. You spent the magically elongated night fending off dangerous beasts, keeping an eye out for super villains, and helping the old man keep up with his magical list. Why go through all this? No one gives gifts like Santa. Upon the conclusion of the night, Santa comes to you and asks what you want the most. You ask him to do your job even better. He gives you a smile and touches his nose. Suddenly you feel a new energy filling you. Santa didn't just give you a new power, he enhanced the powers you already have. You could fly before, now you can fly near the speed of light. You have uncanny agility. And, strangely enough, you can light up your nose to help you see even on the foggiest night. Perhaps next year, if the weather is bad, Santa will call upon you again....to lead the sleigh.

Reindeer Magic was a second thought. I was asked to create some new art and cards for the Christmas events. I set out to do three images, one for attack, one for defense, and one for movement. I completed the attack and defense first. When it came time to do the movement art and card I had to think hard about what I wanted to do. Creating new powers that are unique, and in this case seasonal, isn't always the easiest task. After some time my first thoughts went to Santa. I did a picture of Santa running across rooftops. I liked it and it was going to be the card. However, as I gave it some thought, I decided I wanted to have a female hero on one of the cards. I began a sketch of a flying woman and that turned into Reindeer Magic. I loved it and really wanted to feature it more prominently, so I made it the third of the trio. (You might note that Running Santa made it into the game as well, in the card called Santa's Agility. But, that's another post.)

About the art. As I said, this started out as a simple sketch. The original pencil sketch was rather generic. I didn't know if I was going to make it a Christmas themed card, or just work it up for a future card. After a little work on the sketch I liked how it was coming and I was inspired to make it a Christmas theme. This gave me the obvious color scheme. Her outfit is supposed to look heavy for a hero, not entirely skin tight. She is flying in cold conditions, so her outfit should look warm. However, her outfit should also still lend itself to speed. Next came the thematic elements. The antlers were harder than they appear. Putting reindeer antlers on a person needs to look natural while still appearing right. I had to do a bit of research to make sure that female reindeer have antlers just like males, so it would be appropriate for her to have them. Next, her glowing nose. That was a last thought on her. I didn't want it to be too comical in appearance, the rest of the art was rather dramatic, something silly could ruin the whole piece. I painted a bright glow on her nose and felt that it doesn't come across as silly. I liked it. Not only does it look good, it really ties the image into the narrative of the art itself. Finally, the background was the easiest part. I wanted her flying where it looked cold, dramatic, and beautiful. I couldn't put her flying over homes, that would require adding other reindeer and perhaps even the sleigh. I wanted it to be natural. Aurora Borealis seemed a good compliment to the image. The soft blue of the northern lights gave me a great, gentle light source for her. The contrasting darker colors of the sky and water help set her off.

I hope you enjoy the art and the card. Be careful around that sexy reindeer, Santa is watching.