ArchiveHey there everyone~

As of late, I've been wanting to start an art project that's both relevant to the game and to the RP community. To that end, I'm presenting you all with this idea of mine that I've been tinkering around in my head for some time now.

My idea is to create a zodiac wheel and an accompanying calendar depicting the Twelve taking on the general image of their assigned player characters. The cover of the calendar would consist of the zodiac wheel composed of three rings, while each individual god/goddess would be accompanied by their symbol on the most inner wheel. The middle wheel would contain a cropped image of each deity, while each individual calendar page would have the full size art for each god/goddess as the month's art piece. The third outer wheel on the cover would consist of words describing that god/goddess written in Eorzean stylized font, creating a ring around the entire wheel itself. Not sure if this idea has been presented for this community in particular before or not, but I haven't seen anything like it done for this game yet.

In terms of art styles, I'm going for something more art nouveau compared to my other work. The style is going to be influenced heavily by the work of Alphonse Mucha as well as Akihiko Yoshida.

Examples of Alphonse Mucha's work:

Examples of Akihiko Yoshida's work:

Inspiration for the Zodiac theme: Final Fantasy Tactics - The Zodiac Braves


What I need:

I'm in need of models for adventurers! Any race will do. I only have room for 14, and I need 7 males and 7 females. Please send your requests as well as reference pics/details by PM. Any requests made on this thread will be ignored!

List of Adventurers:

Females:
1. Xenedra Ambreaus
2. Rhostel Donlan
3. Nel Celestine
4. Nanami Takanaru
5. Shiv
6. Ellie
7. Abaigeal

Males:
1. Moltove Mon`tova
2. Zesiro Ghalib
3. Gerik Aston
4. Myllor Aurelion
5. Teveriel
6. pending
7.


Female:
Azeyma, the Warden - filled by Nahaara Khetas
Menphina, the Lover - filled by Manari Onai
Halone, the Fury - filled by Deirdre Ta'ea
Nophica, the Matron - filled by Eva Ianeira
Llymlaen, the Navigator - filled by Aysun Demiir
Nymeia, the Spinner - filled by Leanna Milose

Male:
Thaliak, the Scholar - filled by Gospel Gestalt
Byregot, the Builder - filled by Nahue Tanner
Nald'thal, the Traders - filled by Yssen & Ysa
Rhalgr, the Destroyer - filled by Kylin Mavanix
Oschon, the Wanderer - filled by Endemerrin Rosethorne
Althyk, the Keeper - filled by Shippuu Hecatonchires

If I get too many of any single race, I'll make the adjustments needed to make it balanced. Ideally, I'd like two of every race, but first come first serve unless I hit a cap.

You can read up here for detailed information about the deities themselves.

Update - 1/20: All slots for the Twelve have been filled! Thank you everyone who has volunteered!


Calendar Order Reference
First Moon - Halone
Second Moon - Menphina
Third Moon - Thaliak
Fourth Moon - Nymeia
Fifth Moon - Llymlaen
Sixth Moon - Oschon
Seventh Moon - Byregot
Eighth Moon - Rhalgr
Ninth Moon - Azeyma
Tenth Moon - Nald'thal
Eleventh Moon - Nophica
Twelfth Moon - Althyk

I'll be updating this post with the weekly progress. I have a feeling this will be a long project, but hopefully I can get it done before ARR releases!

Updates:

Brainstorming the structure of the wheel:
*Please note that the roman numerals and the symbols are in incorrect positions for the time being.*

1/18 Eva/Nophica, the Matron - Rough Draft
For this one I'm going with a similar theme to the official art of Nophica released awhile ago, but have a much more nature feel rather than a war time sentiment. Inspiration for this image comes from this particular piece of Alphonse Mucha.

2/3 Eva/Nophica, the Matron - Finished


2/10 Eva/Nophica, the Matron - Final Revision


1/18 Deirdre/Halone, the Fury - Rough Draft
Deirdre was interesting. There were a couple different goddesses that I had in mind that Deir would portray, Halone being the second or third one on my list I think. I really didn't want her to wield a shield, so I gave her a trident (Halone's symbol is three spears) and tried to come up with something that made her more aggressive looking while still divine and graceful. Still, I wanted to incorporate the shield somehow. The background is supposed to be a giant ice wall formed around a decorative tower shield. Inspiration for the pose comes from this piece by Alphonse Mucha.

2/6 Deirdre/Halone, the Fury - Finished


1/19 Manari/Menphina, the Lover - Rough Draft
I spent a bit more time doodling out ideas and sketching out pose compositions based on the reference images (ref 1), (ref 2) I was looking at before I started Manari. I wanted to make a night time scene to get the two moons in the picture and I wanted to incorporate Menphina's element of ice differently from how I did Halone's. The scene is suppose to be set by a frozen pond on a clear night with frozen flowers surrounding the goddess.

1/19 Gospel/Thaliak, the Scholar - Rough Draft
I decided to take a break from the list of women to sketch out a few ideas for the male gods. I started with Oschon but ended up pausing midway when the idea for Thaliak hit me. I wanted to have him walking down a river bed with the water magically pulled up to the sides like curtains as he strolled down with his books and staff in hand.

1/20 Nahaara/Azeyma, the Warden - Rough Draft
For Azeyma, I wanted to really play on the whole thing of her being depicted as a noble, so I decided to make her look more like royalty by placing her on a throne with her golden fan. The backdrop is meant to be in a throne room with an open archway exposed to the bright sunlight outside and bowls of fire lit within the room itself. I had a couple more references this time around because I wasn't sure how to position her in the chair itself. (ref 1)(ref 2)

1/20 Aysun/Llymlaen, the Navigator - Rough Draft
I was stuck on this one for awhile. I meant to draw out Llymlaen after I sketched out Halone, but I kept hitting a block each time. I finally decided to go with a somewhat nautical theme (shells, compass, ship like themes) and also incorporate the element of wind which Llymlaen is suppose to represent. I wanted her dress to have the look of sails on a ship, hence the long and draping parts and I wanted to play around with the whole 'Navigator's Veil' thing. The scene is meant to have Llymlaen descending down to upon a cloud surrounded by a flock of seagulls (I got lazy and didn't want to sketch them all). I'm not entirely happy with the pose, but I'll come back and fix it later. I just wanted to clear this art block finally!

1/22 Aysun/Llymlaen, the Navigator - Semi-Rough Draft
I decided to redo the pose and adjust the dress so it wasn't so heavy looking. I'll add the birds in again once I get to the actual line art and coloring stage.

1/21 Endemerrin/Oschon, the Wanderer - Rough Draft
So it's currently 2:30 in the morning and I'm sitting here at work behind my desk doodling away on my laptop. I had been trying to think of ways to represent Oschon for the past few nights and had a general idea what I wanted but was caught up in all my ideas, I didn't know where to start. My thought process pretty much went like this - Oschon....his title is the Wanderer....and wanderer are usually vagrants....hermits are kinda like vagrants....And they live in forest like areas like rangers....and rangers are associated with mountains....and birds are usually associated with mountains...which is usually a good representation of wind...HMMMM. I ended up trying to incorporate all of those elements into the image to also represent the element of wind much like I did with Llymlaen. Much of the inspiration for his outfit comes from Conner from Asssassins Creed 3. I really like the cowled open jacket he had going on and felt it a good design for a mountain ranger. I'm not entirely pleased with it and I'll likely end up changing out the boots and the undershirt for something more unique in the final line art as well as refining the overcoat to make it more in line with the art style of FFXIV. It just helps to have a place holder to get the idea across for the time being. My reference pics for this one - (ref 1) (ref 2)

1/21 Nahue/Byregot, the Builder - Rough Draft
It's now 5:30 in the AM and I'm still doodling away at work. I tend to work best when I'm not home (not)surprisingly. I always end up falling asleep when I'm at working at home, hence why I was only getting two rough sketches out a day. lol. Nahu presented a bit of a challenge for me. Upon discovering that the character was only 15, I was immediately asking myself, "how am I gonna make a 15 year old look like a powerful god?" My solution came in the form of aging Nahue slightly by about 4-5 years putting him in the age range of a young adult, which is what I'm more used to and comfortable drawing physique and proportions wise. I toned him out a little since the reference pics of Nahu were all very slight and lithe in figure, and since Byregot is the god of the forge and construction, it would make sense for him to have some muscle (okay, a lot of muscle) to wield that giant two handed hammer. I ended up going with a very Nomura-esque frame in the manner of Cloud, Squall, Noctis, etc, minus all the buckles and zippers of course. I decided to use the Armorer gear from ARR as a base for his clothing. The scene depicted below is the Builder standing by his forge while a thunder storm rages on in the background. If you're asking yourself..."Isn't that the smelter from Skyrim?" Why yes, yes it is.

1/21 Kylin/Rhalgr, the Destroyer - Rough Draft
I decided to put a little Ramuh influence into Rhalgr since they're both based off of lightning. I wanted to also portray Kylin in a way that I felt (based on his wiki) would depict him. I used the Coliseum gear as a base and expanded upon it. The scene is meant to be set in a setting much like Rivenroad (the Darnus fight) i.e. floating rocks being lifted by lightning and magic with meteors streaking in the background.