Spirit of the Dragon

I first created a Jade Empire inspired artwork like this back in 2011 but I wasn’t completely satisfied with it. Now I have gone back and created this new (and final?) redux version. I tried to keep the same green and golden solemn tones and general theme but changed the central figure (the warrior) and enhanced everything I could with all the latest techniques I’ve learned. It may have taken a while to create an artwork that I’m totally pleased with (as much as I can be about one of my own artworks) but this one was well worth the wait.

The realistic lighting used in this scene is actually a quite simple IDL setup with a gold colored IDL sphere, one edge blend light, and one specular light. That’s it! There truly is beauty in simplicity. Since the first version of this scene, I updated several materials with SSS-enhanced shaders including the woman and the dragon. I also created a new procedural stone material for the background Fu Dog statues and updated the katana with raytraced reflections. The warrior’s gown-like kimono is a dynamic cloth model with my own textures/materials. In postwork I adjusted the colors and contrast plus added a vignette and depth of field effect.

Most of these items are available from the Renderosity Marketplace (unless otherwise noted):

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