Isolated

An attempt at an actual thought-out, composition-like work that I may attempt to do a small poster run of.

I wanted to revisit Tenla as a character and reevaluate really what she's all about. While going in she was meant to be the fanservicey dimwit, I really feel like J kinda has that covered on multiple fronts for now, among other people, while Tenla has turned more and more into a character who's motivations and past I, if nobody else, care to explore and elaborate upon. Some of this process happened naturally in the comic already, like the limitations on the Gem Sho and some vague allusions to her origins. She's a deeper character than I'd anticipated, but I think in the long run it'll make her more interesting, and I wanted to rework her a little to express that.

While physically it's pretty minor in difference(she's been naturally leaning towards a more athletic look over time, while J's taken up the curvy front, in an odd, midgety way), her eyes have been altered to better reflect her inner self and true character. (This is actually one of my main focal points in designing a character - eyes express a lot more than people realize beyond just the emotion of the moment, at least imo). I also caved, looked up a legit braid, and did my best to recreate that instead of the weird fakeweave thing she had going on before, because I think it's about time I learned how to draw such a thing honestly.

The scene itself is meant to seem a little cold and windy, with the lantern being a source of heat, both literally and in palette, and despite my efforts to wield color theory appropriately I question my end results. I also dabbled in custom brushwork for the tree's texture, and the rain is auto-generated, with some minor work done after, though the droplets on the leaves are all hand-done with a bit of blur slapped on since I can't seem to get brushes soft enough for this sort of thing.

Out of all of this, I'm most proud of her little bag. I love the colors and texture on that thing to an extent that is blatantly unreasonable.

In short: Used a few new tools, tried a few new things, pretty happy with the turn-out overall.

Done in Manga studio slowly off and on over several weeks in my down time. Tenla, HamstaPowah / Shadows Over Trelldain ©Samuel "Zaron X" Boyd [link]