Redesign of "Executioner Kraan" from Rebellion Set - Splinterlands Fanart

Hello and Welcome to a new Episode of my Splinterlands Fanart Series.

Today i have something special for you"

Splinterlands new "Rebellion Set" will be announced soon and will come out properly already this month!

Let's jump on the hype train and feature one of this new cards.

Screenshot from Splinterfest 2022

To be exact i chose"Executioner Kraan"

The Art Style:

Look at this beautiful artstyle! I love how the style is evolving with nearly every new set. Also the frame of the card has changed. It is now more minimalistic and we can see more of the character design which is really awesome!
"Kraan" wears heavily armored armor and is carrying an executioner's axe.

My goal for this fanart will be to stay as close to the original design as possible.

...Now let`s jump to work!

As a first step, I always make a very rough sketch, which I then work on step by step.

I think I can see from the card picture that "Kraan" is riding a horse. It's been a while since I've drawn horses so I had to look at some reference pictures.

Also since we can't really see his leg armor, I had to improvise it.

Here is a rough summary of my illustration process:

After I have worked out a clean line art which makes the next steps easier, i continue.

Now it's time for adding the shadows in a new painting layer. First working on big shapes then working on smaller ones and blend them all together.
Now its time to add the colour pallet in another layer. At last step the very important highlights and effects are added and everything is polished with much care about details.

Watch the full drawing process on YouTube:

https://youtube.com/shorts/ForImUpdSKE?si=-TUc1nPvlrDdb4Ng