“I have lived my life as best I could, not knowing its purpose, but drawn forward like a moth to a distant moon; and here at last, I discover a strange truth. That I am only a conduit, for a message that eludes my understanding." ―Ezio Auditore da Firenze on his role as “the Prophet”, 1512.

Ezio is arguably the most popular character in the entire Assassin’s Creed series. Starting his life as a spoilt Italian youth, he dedicated his life to the Brotherhood and achieved greatness. I decided to pay homage to this legendary assassin by drawing this picture.

Creating such a piece presented some very unique challenges. Rendering materials is very different from rendering the skin texture. And when it comes to renaissance era Italian nobleman, what we get is an explosion of textures. To begin with, there is the base canvas-like texture of the cloth. Then there is metallic gloss of the spaulder along with the leathery straps. If we were dealing with a peasant or a minor noble, that would be it. But since Ezio is almost a royal, I also had to render the ornate belt buckle that holds knives and sheath. If the soft silk cape hadn’t been part of the picture, the belt piece and arm bracers would have easily been the most difficult parts.