As the Wind Blows

I feel extremely blessed to have the opportunity to collaborate with DeviantArt and MSI for this painting! MSI sent me a Creator Z16P, an extremely powerful multitasking 16" laptop. The project also allowed me the freedom to create whatever I wanted, thanks to DeviantArt!
I decided to use this chance to illustrate my original characters, The Concubine, Crimson King, Blacksmith and Blob. It's the first time the 4 major characters in my story appear together in the same painting.
The story has many inspirations from Taiwanese culture (where I am from). In this painting, I particularly wanted to show the temple scene and dragon pillar that Taiwan is famous for, as well as mei hua (梅花), Taiwan's national flower, and tang hu lu (糖葫蘆), a popular night market snack in Taiwan.

Laptop:
The Creator Z16P has 4 models sporting different parts to suit individual's budget and needs. The one I was sent is the B12UGST, which is equipped with Intel Core i7-12700H, NVidia GeForce RTX3070Ti, 1TB SSD + 2x M.2 slots, 16GB RAM (upgradable up to 64GB).
QHD+ 16:10 True Pixel display, 100% DCIP3 color gamut and 165 Hertz refresh rate (my current monitors are 60Hz LOL)
But the part I'm the most impressed by is actually the MSI Pen. I thought it was a gimmick at first to have the pen attached, but the 4k pen pressure, tilt support and a fine tip allows me to use the laptop comfortably like a display tablet.
You can see me work on this painting using the laptop here: DA x MSI Sponsor Stream

Painting:
When I first started on this project, I was quite intimidated. With my art, I don't normally work under a deadline and prefer taking my time. While there was no pressure in art direction whatsoever, I debated on going for something more within my comfort zone vs. something more ambitious. I eventually decided to use this opportunity as a motivator to try something new: paint background + multiple characters. Considering that MSI is a Taiwanese company, it gave me a stronger urge to attempt sharing the culture.
The temples in Taiwan are extremely intricate and beautifully decorated, I had a hard time breaking down the shapes due to the sheer complexity. Yet, I had so much fun researching and looking through different designs, it made me nostalgic.
Example - https://youtu.be/f5LNyqtxw-s