Paint an ice queen

Pauline Voß reveals how she illustrates a proud queen, using virtual reality to create and light a 3D base, before painting her in Procreate

I created this image as an entry for the Gwent art contest run by CD Projekt Red. The task was to illustrate a character from The Witcher that hadn’t appeared in the Gwent card game. I had played the game and read the books, and couldn’t wait to get stuck in.

Because I love strong, female characters, I decided to paint Queen Calanthe when she had to rule a kingdom at the age of 15. At this point I only had 22 hours left to enter the competition.

I feel that I’m painting at my best when there are no uncertainties in my planned composition. Doubts over a character’s anatomy or a vague lighting setup slow me down significantly. That’s why I need to have solid references to hand. For this scene I built a 3D base in virtual reality, using Gravity Sketch and Tilt Brush. This meant I had a custom reference for the composition with consistent, accurate lighting. I use personal projects like these to experiment with new media. VR is like entering a whole new world where creation is simply magical!

So now with a decent reference in place, and with the clock ticking, I had to paint my ice queen in Procreate as quickly as possible…