More vacation sketches!

Sketches of some of my original characters: Opal, Mia, and Vladimir.

Again, I am trying to use more of the SSS effect in order to make the skin of my characters more vibrant and alive.

This is Mia, an original character I’ve showcased a few times. While most of my drawings of her have taken place early on in the story, this takes place much later.

She (among other characters) undergoes a bit of a change after an extremely critical and devastating turning point in the story. I’m trying to capture that with a costume change, and a very different haircut. 

Another painting of Mia. It’s so easy to draw her looking cute that I tend to fall back to doing so when I really ought to put her in some action scenes. She is an extremely talented water/ice mage after all!

She often looks meek and shy, but once her mind is set, her determination is unwavering through most of Discretional Valor. She suffers most from a naivete born of the rapid growth of her own optimism, but as she faces disappointments  they only make her stronger.

There isn’t any story context to this painting; its just a “salon shot”. It’s a bit unusual to see her without Tanaquil, the little red winged orb that she uses to cast spells with that follows her around… perhaps I will add it in later.

Her watermelon dress is an old favorite design of mine that I’ve drawn a few of my female characters wearing from time to time. Of all these characters, I think it suits Mia’s taste in clothing the best. Even so, she’s pretty reserved about her appearance and would likely be more comfortable in a dress that showed less skin.

It’s been a long time since I’ve charted out my progression in art, and I’ve been so pleased with some of my recent breakthroughs that I decided it was time to take a look.

It’s hard to believe it’s been five years! And these still aren’t the earliest drawings of Mia; they are just the earliest colored ones.

I feel like I’ve made incredible steps forward over the course of 2011 through the end of 2012. Much of this is due to portrait and background training I have been doing. And of course, just trial and error.

I feel that I have grown the most with colors and anatomy, but I can see that my biggest weakness is still backgrounds. I have to focus harder on improving them. Maybe that will be my new years resolution! 

Painting of Mia from Discretional Valor. I like some of the colors and values in her hair, but I’m not so happy about the face. Maybe I should practice more references…

Edit: I fixed a lot of things I didn’t like about her face, and I used smoother brushes to make it look softer. 

Two of the characters from my novel, Silas and Mia, watching the sun set on the Ogmian countryside from the Limestar Cliffs near Celedale. 

I tried to put all of my recent painting practice from portrait speedpaints and also some of my recent landscape practice to use. Everything here was drawn without a reference, which I painted over in PaintToolSAI.

I know I can do better than this, and possibly faster. I need to try another!

A sketch of Mia. Of all the major characters in DV, she probably has the greatest setbacks she must overcome throughout the story.

The prejudice she deals with as a cambion (a half-demon, half-human) forces her to grow very strong against those that look down upon her.

She finds friendship, and her life turns around for the best. Unfortunately, her new-found optimism will be tested by her own naïveté, and by unexpected tragedies.

I’ve been busy with Borderlands 2, Chinese classes, and a lot of family stuff lately, but here’s a rough sketch of Mia that’s been sitting around for a while. I should have some bigger projects to show later, but I’ll try to through in a sketch once and a while in the meantime.

I just HAD to draw some kind of western dude this time. I think I must have been listening to one of the Wild ARMS soundtracks earlier… also Mia with a wonky hand.

Silas and Mia in alternate winter outfits! Wow!

And that other guy on the left is Sigfried. He’s kind of a jerk.

Discretional Valor character and weapon sketches. Did this one a while back, forgot to post it here!

Some of these character designs are subject to change…

Ive been playing around with brush types in SAI. Here are Mia and Sir Hotspur, the commander of her brigade, Crimson Lotus. Mia is definitely petite, but that only accentuates the fact that Hotspur is a hulking brute of a man! Because Crimson Lotus focuses primarily on brute force to get things done, Mia balances the brigade perfectly with her healing magic. Mia’s relationship with the Hotspur is purely professional and static, but until the story gets underway, it is often the only bond she has.

Hotspur frequently butts heads with Sir Vladimir, one of the major heroes in this story.  

Discretional Valor sketches! Maybe I will ink the one of Vladimir and Silas together later?

Experiments I had previously abandoned, but I found recently on my hard drive. Vladimir and Mia from my original work, Discretional Valor. This is what the green knight I keep drawing looks like underneath the helmet, and Mia’s outfit is an idea for a ballgown. She’s half Daecubbae, which is a demonic humanoid race in a nether plane connected to the world of Discretional Valor. I am always trying to differentiate the style of the Daecubbae clothing from the humans, and hence this slightly weird outfit.