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Dark Circus | Demonheart Illustration

A dark circus-themed illustration made for Demonheart, a Daggerheart narrative-driven campaign created by Dream Realm Storytellers / DRS Publishing. Thank you Deniz and team! 🍷

Daggerheart is a TTRPG created by Darrington Press, while Demonheart is a campaign where players take on the roles of damned souls who have died and awakened in an infernal world.

DRS Publishing

DEMONHEART – The Vile Codex for Daggerheart | Kickstarter

Demonheart | Backerkit

Software: Clip Studio Paint and Blender.

black and white digital drawing imitating traditional pencils. A long cobblestone road leads towards a large circus tent with multiple, twisting dark towers and flags. There's a multitude of characters and chariots descending this road, from demons and succubi to prisoners, slaves, and priests. Near the POV, there's a clown with hollow eyes and a hole where the mouth and nose would be. It wears a suit with humanoid skin and body parts stitched together. The creature holds a chain in their hand and extends it towards you, as if leading the viewer down the road.

Collaborating with Demonheart was a pleasure! For this artwork I tried to bring dark moods and atmospheres from retro gaming and movies that left a lingering impression on me, such as the unforgettable Ash zombies in Elder Scrolls: Morrowind, and the Gotham city concept art for Tim Burton’s Batman.

Clown concepts

Sketches of 4 characters wearing different types of creepy, strange clown suits, from stitched skin to many layers of fabric and frills.
We experimented with different costumes for the main clown, from “tame” and conventional attires to macabre skinsuits and features.

Details & WIPs

black and white digital drawing imitating traditional pencils. Close-up of a juggler. Their entire face became a hole.
The clown faces with holes were inspired by Ash Zombies, or the “Squall is dead” Final Fantasy 8 creepypasta. I still can’t look at these enemies or Squall’s empty face frame without feeling uneasy, and I wanted to bring this same discomfort to my Demonheart piece. As for the Gotham concept art, I wanted to emulate a similar sense of scale, detail and layers, with multiple paths and characters around the tent.
black and white digital drawing imitating traditional pencils. A long cobblestone road leads towards a large circus tent with multiple, twisting dark towers and flags. There's a multitude of characters and chariots descending this road, from demons and succubi to prisoners, slaves, and priests. Near the POV, there's a clown with hollow eyes and a hole where the mouth and nose would be. It wears a suit with humanoid skin and body parts stitched together. The creature holds a chain in their hand and extends it towards you, as if leading the viewer down the road.
I worked digitally and mimicked traditional pencils and very fine lines, which allowed me to replicate small details like the body parts, stitches, and even peeling skin on the nail.
WIP of the circus scene
WIP with the base lineart still visible in the tent and road areas.
Rough sketch of the circus scene
One of my initial sketches, when figuring composition details and what the clown guy would look like.

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