Character & Environment Concept - City Heist
A mockup showing the full spread endpaper illustration of the “City Heist”.
This illustration continues the story from Bazaar of Bargains — the bustling desert market scene from earlier in my portfolio. (You can see my full creation process for the first scene here, including the mock client brief.)
The young man from the market now appears at the top of a tall tower, having received a mysterious map from the genie merchant in the previous illustration. His dragon tattoo has transformed into a living golden dragon, perched beside him, as the two overlook a panoramic view of the city and quietly plan their daring heist.
One of my goals for this piece was to show continuation — the ability to illustrate the same character consistently across multiple artworks. The thief’s profile, clothing style, and overall design remain recognisable, while subtle changes, such as the absence of his tattoo and the presence of the golden dragon, mark the progression of the story.
I painted the scene in warm sunset tones, blending golden light with the cooler, dusky colours of the evening sky. The sandstone buildings of the desert city were kept in a harmonious palette, with small touches of magical glow to hint at the adventure ahead.
A detailed line drawing to establish the composition, perspective, and key storytelling elements before adding colour.
Flat layers of colour to define the palette and set the lighting direction for the scene.
Fully painted details, lighting effects, and textures to bring the city and characters to life.
The completed illustration also presented as a full interior spread within a book, as an alternative to its use as an endpaper.
Timelapse of Illustration Process
Here’s a quick time-lapse capturing the entire illustration process, completed in Procreate.