Determination
The inspiration for this piece came from the way characters in manga and anime often stand immediately before a battle; particularly in regards to conveying the intensity and determination in Cora’s stance as well as her face.
Cycloth (the creature on her shoulder) can shrink and grow according to convenience, and is intentionally much smaller here than last time I drew them together.
The angled glowing streaks around Cora’s shoulders were inspired by the visible ‘aura’ that is often depicted around characters using magic. The design of the long staff in her hands is intended to reflect the steampunk aesthetic of the rest of her character design. For the circular end I took particular inspiration from the shape of armillary spheres.
The alleyway visible behind Cora was an important part of the background as I felt that it added to the ‘narrative’ of emerging onto a street and getting dragged into an impromptu confrontation. Other than the alleyway, my main intention for the background was to give a sense of dimly lit Victorian city at night as this is a common setting for Candle of Ice.
Below I have included an animated GIF showing the various stages of creating the painting all the way from initial sketch to final artwork.
[Image ID] A GIF animation showing stages of the process of creating the illustration [description end]
I also uploaded a YouTube video showing a timelapse version of the painting process which you can watch below:
-
Time taken: 6 hours
Computer Type: Windows
Program: FireAlpaca
Drawing Tablet: Gaomon M106K
Characters: Cora (human) and Cycloth (creature), from my fantasy novel project – Candle Of Ice
-