The Midas Touch

A concept piece that is a part of a set of 3 done for independent study at Digipen. The three pieces are themed towards mythology involving gold, as tombs or decrepit ancient locations which hold a sense of wonder, terror, and tell a story. They show a quest for a famed gauntlet that can let the user turn anything they touch into gold. This third one is based off the Greek myth of King Midas, who could turn anything he touched to gold, but ended up even turning those he loved to gold. This painting shows the aftermath of a conflict between pirates and conquistadors who finally found the gauntlet, only for both sides to remain locked in a macabre state for all eternity. Pirates turned into the thing they loved the most, and the conquistadors learning the permanence of death from greed. This series of paintings were done with an initial concept sketch, blocked out in 3D inside zBrush, then rendered in Marmoset for lighting, and painted over with some photobash elements in Photoshop.