Cao Commission: Familial Currency

Commission for

I'm sure he could recount the history better than I could, but this is an illustration of when Mithridates of Pontus, Queen of what is today Turkey, was betrayed by her daughter Pharnaces. Pharnaces turned over her mother to Pompey (of Rome) in order to have the chance to come to power herself.

Cao is really a decent artist in his own right, and his designs tend to be more elaborate and ornate than mine. Mithridates and Pompey are drawn directly from his references, but Pharnaces hadn't been created yet, so I had some artistic freedom with her.

Cao described Pharnaces as militant, but he also wanted sex appeal. She came out much more belly-dancer than what I started with, but I like the overall affect. I wanted to obscure her face to make it obvious that she was doing something underhanded. The sexual overtones of the belly dancer I tried to play against a hardened expression, scars, and a large sword to create the dynamic of: she hasn't been allowed to be her true self or show her true potential, because of her mother's mandates. As a result, she has turned into a sexual albeit cruel and venomous princess.

Normally I don't go too far in to shibari style bondage... if that's even accurate.... but I felt it worked with the overall feel of the piece. Pharnaces isn't just going to bind her mother, she's going to want to obsessively bind her mother after years of being oppressed. And for good reason: just look at Mithridates hand. If she could escape this transaction, the results wouldn't be death but worse than death. The cruelty compounds.

I built the BG first using mostly the shape and pen tools in PS, and pushed the floor down with the perspective tool. I wanted to create a conspiratorial feel (To say, if Mithridates could only ALERT someone to what was happening none of this would have to occur) and so I thought the atmosphere was especially important.

On a related note: I wanted the style to play with the separation of BG elements and figures, like in paper mario img.gamefaqs.net/screens/e/a/5… . Cute style not-with-standing, I enjoy how this method makes me more aware of the space the characters are interacting in, while still keeping the focus on the characters themselves. Overall I'm satisfied with the result so far, but I'd like to get better and make these scenes even more engaging and immersive. I want it to feel like you could step through the screen and be there.

Well this script has been gone on long enough!
Thanks for stopping by.
~HG

Check out Mithridates fav.me/d46k3p5 and Pompey fav.me/d2pcafz at Cao's DA page, but be warned: the content of most of his page is for mature audiences.

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