Hey there, everyone. I hope you're having a wonderful time. It's around that time of the week again - my entry for the Splinterlands Art Contest.
This week, I wanted to try my hand at drawing someone completely new - well, in other words, someone I had never drawn before, that's why I ended up choosing Olivia of the Brook for this round. I did leave her pet companion out of the picture this time, so that if (or more accurately when) I come back to her again, there's something new to add to the drawing as spice - a tiger, at that.
Anyway, this was the overview for this week's fan art. With that out of the way, let's dive right into the process of drawing and get ourselves dirty with the nitty-gritty details of it...
The Process
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/797211284185415742/1405923470289666160/IMG_5932.PNG?ex=68a097c4&is=689f4644&hm=fee6a6b046815ab8d252e394317f889423e62121d07a823de48090e86dc336db
As always, I started off with the flat colors for the subject.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/797211284185415742/1405923474773639178/IMG_5931.PNG?ex=68a097c5&is=689f4645&hm=9fd74b01914e757896df9204b24f4762dc7a4a46e64ac52f0a5b6e8f162f96af
After having the base colors down and everything filled, it was time to think of something for the background. Given the Nature affinity of her, the pet, and her color scheme, I think it was a safe choice to go for a natural green.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/797211284185415742/1405923550178705448/IMG_5946.PNG?ex=68a097d7&is=689f4657&hm=fcdd32f29b1ea4cb6d8ab3bf1f31d930abe50df02284e42d7178936fd491ed8a
With the basic coloring out of the way, it was finally time to add the details. I started that process by giving the drawing more highlights and depth to finally take it out of the 2D world and make her look more real. Now that her accessories and clothes were starting to take shape...
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/797211284185415742/1405923686929928222/IMG_5947.PNG?ex=68a097f7&is=689f4677&hm=7593b2ac6f8634af88730f3fdb3755846208e56657b37c230d5a33b65bbff462
It was finally time to correct her skin tone and hair color. Giving her face a nice human-like color with blushes on her cheeks helped give the whole piece more life. And even tho her hair was already highlighted, it didn't look as good when her skin color was not right. I also cast the lighting and shadow from the environment and her accessories onto her face, and that might've been another one of the reasons that she finally started to look more human.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/797211284185415742/1405923808627654737/IMG_5948.PNG?ex=68a09814&is=689f4694&hm=17de6a821394228ef58b2d7326750e42000b049408faa5b23925f24727a1f963
Now that everything was set in place (well, the initial step, cuz then we did need to get back to the subject and have some overall particle adjustments until she was ready for the final step), we had to go back and add the details to the background.
I added some hollow leaf shadows in the background. I did leave some parts in the back empty for any urgent, random ideas that might've hit me in the process, but it would've been too risky to add something so random out of nowhere, so I drafted the idea.
Another reason I thought the current setup was right and enough was because of the good harmony of the subjects present in the drawing, and adding more items to the final piece might have made the drawing look too unorganized and littered with unnecessary details.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/797211284185415742/1405924039469564036/IMG_5949.PNG?ex=68a0984b&is=689f46cb&hm=e8dda6f554bacd855ec084f29d50de3232223a6842896353e4fbb07ea1210a2f
The Result
And in the final step, I finally added in the glow around her staff (or spear, now that I think about it). The leaf pattern behind it had to be done, too, and last, but not least, to give her hair some volume and real feel, I added the white hair strands. This time, I didn't use a strong white since I didn't wanna highlight her hair too much and shift more focus than necessary. I think the purple at the end of her staff is mesmerizing and contrasting enough, so I wanted to preserve that. (and honestly, at this point in coloring, I don't think it was a wise decision to make such drastic changes so suddenly)
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/797211284185415742/1405924089889296404/IMG_5950.JPG?ex=68a09857&is=689f46d7&hm=0a6a7a32871d60ce266185867187313649d86de927bafc25ad36e090ae0132d7
Original Game Art
And the card that the drawing was inspired by:
https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/card_art/Olivia%20of%20the%20Brook.jpg