Making of Phadius

The Making of Phadius

For the TEDIAD, I had to come up with a portrait of the character, Dr. Phadius Gillenderg. He is a modern-day archaeologist who serves as the framing device of the story. He gives a lengthy introduction but then pops up throughout the book in the form of irrelevant footnotes.

For reference, I gathered lots of pictures of dusty archeologists  & paleontologists in the field. I also took a few photos of myself with a goofy hat on as a lighting reference. I wanted to show him flaunting the discovery of an ancient clay tablet.

I began sketching his face, trying very hard to prevent him from becoming me.

Once I found a sketch to work with, I began layering in some base colors. The sketch was placed on a separate layer and lowered in opacity.

Around here, I wondered if I had made a terrible mistake somewhere in the process.

Even here, I continue to change the shape of the face and its features.

Final touches included: adding some more convincing sky colors, adding seams to the denim, and finally some chromatic aberration.

For more information on The Tediad:
Check out the Trailer:
Check out the Phadius’ Introduction: