Magic from the Ether
Fortunately for me Jeremiah was very pleased with the painting of the Silia, and has given me the opportunity to delve further into his creation, the world of Gaeana. This time around I began a more ambitious project, to depict all the various uses of magic, which in Gaeana is quite different than your typical fantasy setting. As I personally love magic I was very excited about starting this project.
Magic in Gaeana is governed by various elements and produces much simpler effects than your traditional fantasy fireball. In order to tap into the world’s magic an Elementalist needs to find a Gaena stone associated with the right element and surgically place it in the back of their hand. In this first piece I depicted an Aether Elementalist using the power of Aether, the element that connects all other elements, to divine the location of an important object.
In each of these elemental magic paintings we agreed to forgo a traditional background, instead showing a visual representation of the raw element swirling behind the mage. To start I wanted to build the background separately since I would be using it in multiple paintings.
After several discussions with Jeremiah, he explained that Aether is clear, prismatic, and slightly smoky in appearance. To me the idea of a prism conjures a pattern to mind. So I started building a prismatic pattern in Photoshop.
Prism Pattern
I then brought it into Painter X and smoothed out the pattern and began adding smoke effects.
Aether Background
I finally brought it back into Photoshop where I completed the smoky look.
Final Aether Background
Earlier I had done a sketch of the Elementalist and got it approved by Jeremiah.
Elementalist Sketch
I scanned it into my computer and worked the under color up in Painter X.
Elementalist Under Painting
Recently I discovered an interesting use for the blending tool in Painter X. I’ve found that if I blend the original drawing with the under painting that it helps create a nice tonal range within the piece.
Blended Elementalist
I then continued building up the painting to completion.
Elementalist Painting
In the end I combined the background with the figure and painted some of the background color into the figure to create a better color harmony throughout the finished painting.
Aether Elementalist Final Painting
I’m quite pleased with the final results, but more importantly Jeremiah loved it!
An Artist's Journey 
cool work you’ve done here