EDIT: Jus upped the Resolution and scored in massive improvements,some considerations from some critques and stuff, added more shadows,defined darkness,added the two domain of magic the Dreadlord uses visually,the Blood and the Darkness magicks to his hands,added subtle tendrils of darkness to his feet(he's floating),tighten up his face and almost everything in this piece but i can only show this piece at this size too bad,cant upload anythin higher(would relli love to show u guys), but i have a closeup of the Dreadlord face here~ [link]

Thanks alot for any crits and comms frens~and i wil constantly improve this hell of a character and the rest o the VAmps wil be comin soon~stay tuned! Oh and pls lemme know how the edited one looks,esp for u guys who had seen it b4~thanks~

5-6 hours of corel painting incorporating everything(almost,i hope!) of what i self learned these two years, this artwork, in my opinion, is my best personal painting to date-well i really like it,especially since it manifest from my game idea this is a game portrait(like the ones in Baldur's gate and so on) as well as a concept art did this from scratch on the pc using the colours and toning method without drawing anything,i kinda like this method,something like what Jason Manley offered in his tutorial~hope u like it and the description below will dilvuge more~

Vampire Wars:Birth of Darkness
This character, or rather, one of the vampire lords that you can choose in VAmpire Wars, depicts the fearsome,balanced and all powerful Dreadlord class that players can choose to unleash fury in the gameworld.
Vampire wars is a idea i thought up long ago,and always thinking about, it was inspired by bullfrog's Dungeon keaper series and continues the tradition of playing and reaping the rewards as a dark(or so called evil by the Human Empire) player.

In my game idea, players are able to build their dark empire,choosing what resources and armies to recruit, causing various atrocities such as abducting mass numbers of villagers for experiment,and most of all- lead the war against the East Sacred lands for total dominiation of the fantasy world. The most compelling feature incorporates an extensive RPG and combat system, to quell any action and RPG fan's thirst~players will select the type of Vampire lord they wish to nurture and fight it out in a dynamic combat system which offers a multitude of skills and cool abilities for the player to use against the "Holy nations"....well all this is in my head though~I would call my idea a Role-playing Strategy,with emphasis on the roleplaying and medium focus on the strategic parts, and therefore the choices players make affects directly how their playing style works,combat works etc...
but enough on this, i shall divulge more other times~

The World and Vampires
In the world of Hedral,the lands are divided mainly into two territories;The East Human Empires aka the Sacred Lands and the Western Lands of Vampra.The story begins where Hedral's Major Gods had some indifference and they were split into two factions currently known as the Univa or The Gods of Light whom the humans and other races worship, and of course Vampra and her sides.These gods exists as spirits, as guides in time of crisis, and they complement each other's sides with their domain and effects. While none are considered evil in the first place, humans begin to deem the Vampires, rumored offspring of the dark Goddess Vampra to be evil early on, and from then on the world was thrown into constant conflicts.

Humans were supposedly the descendants and creations of the Univa and they often manifest the qualities of their deities. However their nature were of ambitious and rampant, always looking for lands to conquer and expand, thus were deemed 'rats' by the Vampires of the West.Humans often make war on one another, for dominance and various purposes and this gave rise to the different nations and powers that make up the East. Vampires, on the other hand, do so like the humans,but were slower to anger into conflict between their own kind,instead falling prey to the human crusaders more often than not. Vampires lived jus as humans do, however their superior bodies and intellect granted to them by VAmpra makes them almost immortal;they possess traits deemed superhuman by the Empire such as abilities to regenerate quickly, morphing into various forms, capable of great destruction potential and so on. Thus the flow in Hedral is that humans are trying to kill and extinguish vampires more often than the latter. However the humans understand the dark ones barely little and are often overwhelmed by the prowess of the Vampires.
Due to their habits and way of living, and the fact Vampires consume human blood amongst other creatures, with their affinity to the Undead and bizzare ways, they have been called the Dark ones and Evil,amongst many by the Humans.
However, what they would not know is that Vampires lived in organized castes,have systems of laws and government,just like the humans,albeit maybe more, or even better. In fact, most but a few, branded humans as lower creations and 'little barbaric rats' trying to steal their kingdom. They disliked most human species and thus never really studied them except for a few Senors who felt the need to. The threat the humans possess can often be underestimated; Humans study the lore and magicks of the Univa gods to put good use against them. But more often than not, simple fearless fighters would never win against the dark ones.

Vampire lords are put in charge of each stronghold,making up a part of the Dark Kingdom as they call it, and also in full defense of the keep. They summon the dead,Undead and even creatures and humans whom worship Vampra and her league into positions called captains to minister to the posts.The armies are fearsome and mighty to behold, Undead are literally a big boon from Victarius,the god of death and brother of Vampra, as the Vampires have little friends,much less allies. The Undead are worked by dark mages and therefore require no upkeep and food, providing as cannon fodder for the Kingdom. Believe it or not, the Vampires value life greatly, especially their own kind and therefore will avoid taking risks like the humans in arms do. Other than the variety of undead troops available, they will also befriend Creatures of the Dark and enslave certain powerful beasts such as the Werewolves. But the most powerful of all lies in their own ranks, various figures of poweful knowledge and might combined with Vampra's creatures from the Underworld humans call hell.

The Fearsome and Cunning DreadLord
The Dread lord thrives on Fear; He relinquish the sight of mortals trembling and fainting in utter horror, which he absorbs as part of his energy. Dread lord are a peculiar caste of the Vampires,they tend ot levitate around the battlefield draining the life and souls of the humans as he chased down powerful heroes and warriors crying for help.They can hold their own in fighting,heck,all vampires possess supernatural strength and the Dreadlord is no exception; a smack from their powerful hands sends men sprawling to Ashra(their Goddess of Light). the Dread lord possesses limited summoning powers compared to the Senors/Elders class, but their high affinity to beasts give them command over certain powerful creatures such as the bats of Zethra. The power of a Dreadlord manifest through Deception,illusion and Dead allies,these are skills and spells which allow the Dreadlord to control his opponent at will, attack them with bats, hold the enemies with freakish grasps from the Dead and so on...It is not uncommon for a whole brave platoon to flee in horror at the finesse of the Dreadlord! Other notable difference includes the Dreadlord's ability to drain life from a distance and levitate in the air due to extensive study of the blackarts and natural talent. Dreadlords are also known to speed towards their opponents opponents who are running away, and occasionally relish close combat when opportunity allows. Their levitation skills allows them speedy retreat and into the main fray at times, and their aura boosts the morale of vampire classes with fearlessness.
On the other hand, Dreadlords are known to be cynical and tend to get hurt as they couldnt tear away themselves from the sheer relish of seeing lesser humans tremble.The archenemies of the Dreadlords are the might Priests of Tundrail, often dispelling his magicks and protecting his men with blessings, however, nothing is worse than the Hawkmen of Ayrial, swooping and targetting his kind with fervor.
Nothing can satisfy a Dreadlord more as they turn enemies towards their own kind,with the blood spilled from a distance as he slowly drains their lifeforce. Dreadlord are proud creatures, while not overly arrogant like their brethen of Bane- The Beorulfs.

Whilst not flawed at anything, the Dreadlord is also not particularly skilled with any areas in fighting, earning him the Jack of all trades among his cohorts, but that is good...for the Dreadlord prefers obscurity and mysterious veils clouded over him, for all advantage in the battlefield.

Dreadjim 2005 copyright

SEE THE
Honorable and Mighty Bane Master~ [link]

Artwork original is 3000 pixels over, the one ur viewing is 1200~ may add more on it but i think i betta move on to illustrating the portrait for the next vampire lord~thansk for readin(if u have!) and looking~! Its awesome to have ur support~