Critical Role is Geek & Sundry’s live Dungeons & Dragons show, featuring Dungeon Master Matthew Mercer and his troupe of fellow voice actors. Catch them every Thursday night at 7:00 PM PT on the Geek & Sundry Twitch channel and on Alpha.
Ariana Orner is the new official Critical Role artist starting with the second campaign, although she’s not new at all to the show itself. “I got into it back in April 2016 and I haven’t stopped loving it since,” she says. So it’s no surprise that Ariana is thrilled to contribute to the new campaign, and last week we were treated to a quick peek at her official portraits of the new Critical Role crew.
Take a look at the gallery below for a detailed look at the new characters.
Watching the first episode was a delight, she says. “It’s one thing to get a feel for the characters through visual development, and completely another to see them in action. I love each character so much.”
Ariana was first approached by Liam O’Brien to contribute as the campaign’s official artist. “He floated the idea to me and asked if I was willing and free to do it, and of course I said yes!” she says. “He’s been a constant source of enthusiasm and support and I’m enormously honored to be given a chance to work on something I love in an official capacity. It’s still pretty surreal to me.”
Creating the cast’s new official portraits began with Ariana trying a few rough sketches to get an idea of the character they had in mind. She describes her personal art style as semi-realism. “I come from a primarily animanga and comics-influenced background, so I think whatever I do is going to be stylized in some way,” she says.
Each player would check out the sketches, offer their feedback, and she’d incorporate the changes. The process continued until it matched the character in their imagination. “They were a dream to work with,” Ariana says. “They knew exactly what they wanted, and were so incredibly kind and patient with me while I tried to put it down on paper.”
Ariana is eager for the campaign to come. “It’s magical watching this cast play off of each other, and Matt’s storytelling is always a treasure. I’m so excited to see where the story will take them next.”
WANT MORE CRITICAL ROLE?
- Preorder the throwback Critical Role poster to make your game room the coolest ever.
- Watch the new intro on repeat. We won’t judge.
- Download the previous week’s adventures on the Critical Role podcast every Thursday.
- Don’t miss the new campaign of Critical Role, live on Alpha and Twitch Thursdays at 7:00 PM Pacific.
All Images: Geek & Sundry / Ariana Orner