A very merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all of you! (Belated though these wishes are.) Things have been so busy that I cannot even believe how quickly the time has flown past. Work, combined with orchestral performances (I play the violoncello for my church orchestra), combined with writing my own novel and researching publishing options, combined with trying to make ends meet, has led to a dearth of time to create artwork that takes longer than a few minutes to sketch out. However, prior to Christmas, I did have the chance to do a couple pieces, though one is still a work in progress.
This one was part of my brother’s Christmas gift:
It features Vivi Orunitia, a black mage from Final Fantasy IX (intellectual and creative property of Square Enix; I made no profit from this) working some of his elemental magic. He was one of my brother’s favorite characters, growing up.
This second one is a redesign of another character:
Zidane Tribal is another character from Final Fantasy IX and is, in fact, my brother’s favorite. This quick bit was just me playing around with his character design, seeing what elements I could incorporate from his original costume while making something different (sometimes completely divergent) from the original. Zidane is a thief by trade. The first image was a play on that idea, but with a few more pouches for his spoils and a couple more visible trophies of his conquests. The second is more a street urchin/traveler look; note the fraying at the hems of his pants and the backpack strapped to his back. The third is definitely an “adventurer” theme, what with the sturdy boots and clothing, the many pockets, the knife in his bracer, and the satchel, though I have to admit that I did not originally intend for his vest to resemble that of Prince Adam of Eternia so closely (of Masters of the Universe fame, copyright Mattel circa 1983-ish). That was entirely coincidental… and I’m showing how nerdy I am.
What do you guys think? Is my art as good as my writing is, or should I keep my pen for words instead of lines? 😉
Much love,
Amanda