Battle of Nettlebranch Hill

First off I have to thank *ScottPurdy for giving me a lot of pointers about how to approach this painting. It was definitely a challenge for me.

When I went to the VCU Graphics Lab to have the original drawing scanned, the manager really liked it and told me that he wanted to see it when it was finished. When I showed it to him today, he said it was "awesome". He's a big fantasy fan himself.

For the original concept I wanted to really emphasize the contrast between the orcs and the gnolls (which is why the orcs are all clean-shaven). I was also aiming to make the whole scene bloody and brutal, but without muddying the composition. It was difficult to gauge the values on the spatters since Naphthamide Maroon (PR171) and Perylene Maroon (PR179) have such significant drying shifts (they dry a lot lighter than they appear when wet).

Ink, watercolour, casein on Twinrocker 200 lb. CP Watercolour Paper.