Dungeons & Dragons

Every two weeks, from the comfort of my home, I embark on grand adventures with a group of friends. We battle, we bicker, and we - ultimately - use our powers for evil. I'm talking, of course, about D&D. Our glorious DM has created an insanely vivid, detailed world for us to play in, and I find it an endless source of inspiration for illustrations.

The bleak city of Dubaldarin was conjured up in the imagination of our DM (that's Dungeon Master, for all you non-nerds out there), and I created a map showing all of the key areas, buildings, baddies and scenery. Highlights include 'The Jade Monkey' where our party all hang out, Good Barrel & Green Bottles where the bouncer is definitely not two lads in a trenchcoat, and Higald's Crag - which we are yet to explore the mysteries of in-game.

This was the longest project I have ever worked on in my life, and I say that without a shadow of doubt. It took 50 hours to do the first draft, and then I realised I had set the canvas and the colour settings up incorrectly, teaching me a valuable, valuable lesson. I had to start from scratch, which added another 30 hours. But, after 80 hours, it was ready.

I had it secretly printed and sent to everyone in the D&D group with instructions to not open the package until they were told. Our DM, during a session, pushed us into meeting a strange character in-game. This turned out to be Feltzfred, the finest (and only) cartographer in Dubaldarin, and after a brief shake-down, he gave us all a map. This is when everyone was asked to open their packages, and I was so happy with the reveal. I'm honestly so happy that they all now have this framed on their walls, and I hope it brought the city to life a little.

This is inspired by an old Western-themed cigarette card, which I re-imagined as a D&D piece. An intrepid warrior has stumbled upon a terrifying mother guarding their nest. Will he survive? Probably not.

Another Western-inspired cigarette card, modified to fit our D&D campaign. This shows our D&D group/characters sat around having a meeting in the Jade Monkey, the tavern we frequent (you can see it on the map above too). The background is packed full of in-game references, which only 5 people in the world will understand, including an advert for the 'Shoot the Moon' festival, the map of the city itself, and an ad for 'Arsche', the local beer.