Fireflies

The last drawing of July, and I'm incredibly proud of it.

Remember Nihilus? I've shown her twice before, but I only captured one side of her personality. Beneath the short-tempered Necromancer lies a bubbly, enthusiastic magician who uses her powers to entertain and inspire those around her. I wanted to capture that innocence, so here we are.

I was listening to old music a while back because I was feeling nostalgic, so when "Fireflies" by Owl City played, I had an idea. Maybe it was the song, maybe it was my nostalgia, but if I wanted to show her kinder side, why not show her enjoying her powers and using them casually? The dream-like atmosphere of the song helped me plan the piece, and everything else came naturally.

As much as I love the design for Nihilus, I'll admit that she's one of the toughest characters for me to draw. It's not because of her hat or scarf, but her dress and the pattern for it. It has more folds and more suits, the last of which I feel increases every time I draw her. It makes drawing her a lot slower, but provides a better result overall.

My last notes for the piece surround its development and ambience. I sketched it a day before writing this (July 30th) and finished it today. I dedicated myself to finishing this idea, but also so I could finish one more piece before the end of July. Despite how it sounds, I didn't rush this at all, and I'm really happy with how it came out; the painted lines turned out great, the layer effects on the gradient are appealing, and the atmosphere is dreamy, just like I planned it to be. I hope you like the drawing, and if you want to understand my thoughts when making this, give the song a listen. It still holds up after twelve years.

July 31st, 2021