I Remember

I've been drawing my characters more, but I've been writing their stories as well. Each character's story is unique, but Shadow's story is one of the most tragic.

I'm still writing her story, but she witnessed a lot of horrible events that brought out the worst in people, had to change her personality to prove herself, and conditioned herself to see genuine emotion as a weakness... Not exactly sunshine and rainbows, is it?

This is the most serious piece I've done, and it shows. I wanted to capture anger, fear, and insecurity all in one place, and I think I succeeded. I showed how afraid her past self was, her anger in the present, and her insecurities through the text. I think the red gradient highlights this, as it makes the tone more intense.

Design methods aside, I want to discuss the piece as a whole. I designed a set of armor for Shadow last year but it's very different compared to this one. It was made of leather and lacked the glowing gemstones this design has.

This was my first time drawing young Shadow as well. I had four ideas for her; give her shorter hair/bangs, show her shirt intact, explain why she's missing her star, and try to incorporate the color white somehow. I met all the criteria, and I'm satisfied with how she turned out. I plan to keep using that design for when she has to flash back to a past event.

One last note: you're probably seeing this and thinking "Only one drawing for July?!" well, I've been busy this month, and this isn't the only drawing I made in July. If you follow me on Twitter, I mentioned finishing a big project a while back. It wasn't this piece, but there's a reason I haven't shared it yet. I'll post it there soon, but it's not something I'll share here. I also did some fan art for Don't Starve, but I'm not posting it here. This portfolio is for original art, so any fan art I draw stays on my Twitter account.

July 28th, 2021