Dragon Mask

Reference Before the Roar

This piece started with a mood board pulling from a mix of influences, including graphic novel character work, stylized portraiture, and other oni and demon mask illustrations, to land on a look that felt fierce but still painterly. From there I moved into loose thumbnail sketches, working out the placement of the horns, the twist of the hair, and how much of the face the mask itself should cover before committing to a final line.

From Grayscale to Growl

Once the linework was locked in, I built out the piece in flat grayscale first, establishing value and lighting before introducing any color, which made it easier to keep the horns, mask, and hair reading as separate materials once color was added. The final palette leaned into deep reds and warm skin tones against dark, wind-swept hair, with gold linework on the horns and mask adding a decorative, almost ceremonial detail that ties the whole character together.