The Art of CERTibbs
Magical Creature Artist | Illustrator and Sculptor | Dreamer and Storywriter
Concept art is possibly my most common day-to-day art practice. Sketches are relatively fast and easy to create, they're a great way for me to process an idea and design a character, landscape, etc...
Ahltanoran Warrior Armour Design.
The Ahltinor are a race of elves from my original stories, they have a vast military and culture based around a worship of the sun, fire, and their own immense, prestigious wealth and history.
Inspiration for their designs comes from historical armour, primarily Arabian, Ottoman, Russian, Samurai, and Gothic English.
The anatomy of the Ahltinor is elongated; tall and thin, and has a distinct elegance. For this reason their armour is forged to be as thin and as tight-fitting as they can make it while still being practical.
Aside from the metal plate they also wear flowing, silky fabrics, chain mail, and golden masks over their faces. All the foot soldiers/standard warriors have the same face on their mask.
Helmet design concept for the two dragon rider elves who are part of the army. I thought the dragon crest would be fitting and further help to communicate who the wearer is. I love the idea of the armour being specialised for a rank or individual.
Landscapes from The Tales of Middonmira.
The first three images here are concepts for the landscape of The Obsidian Desert, the homeland of the Drokhraran (dark elves). Its mostly volcanic and there are rich mineral deposits in the ground, with a majority being of obsidian.
The volcanic activity influences the atmosphere and causes a thick cloud/smog cover over the land, making the sun appear red.
Here is the Ahltinor palaces. They favour building their structures on hillsides and mountains. As a culture that worships the sun they prefer to have dwellings that can clearly view both sunrise and sunset.
This concept art is for a project I started back in 2019, and has since had its working title renamed to "Dragons of Gemstone Mountain".
The project is a pilot script and test footage for a children's show I'd like to produce, involving real muppet-like dragon puppets and stage sets.
One of my ideas for the show is to make different clans of dragons that live in and around the mountain, all with unique shapes, sizes, colours, etc...