If for some reason you cannot reach me on here, send me a message on deviant art. Deviant ID : ReineStrife
--Reine
The Drawing
This was my original drawing. I borrowed a base from a friendly deviant, let the deviant know and showed them when I finished. I did alter the base to my liking, as you can probably tell. The original had the head facing the side and the hand is facing upward holding the pistol. I like the original pose, I just like what I've done with it more.
Bases are not a bible to go by directly. They're just like recipes. Read what you like, alter what you don't.
The Drawing V2
I was working on this drawing for many days. I got most of it down in the first night, when I scanned the original. I just wasn't pleased. It felt empty. For about a week, I took it to school with me and altered it between classes until I became satisfied, even though I could never get the eyes how I wanted them on paper. Finally, I made an addition: the helmet. It finally felt right.
Going Digital - a bit late
This one is in horrible quality because it was a picture I took with my phone. I apologize. I realized I still had this and forgot. It was after I did my helmet add-in and had finished its lineart in black. I found that I didn't like the braid, so I chopped it off. I had some shading in beforehand that looked a bit like crappy camouflage, but I junked it and replaced it with a smooth color. I redid the lines because I had them originally in black. I found my liking to colored lines and stuck with them.
Digital Evolution - Part 1
This is a cleaned up version of the above picture. I've colored the helmet and redone its lines in color. I also lightened the sword to make it seem more glowy. I also gave her proper eye shadow, just because. Concluding this save with minor shading in the skin and erasure of the lower armor's lines for cleanup.
Digital Evolution - Part 2
I decided that I didn't like the sword. I replaced it, accidentally erasing my original weapons layer. I was okay with that because I didn't like the pistol that I had in place. I did some minor shading and started the glow from the sword. I'm more pleased with how the sword turned out than how it originally looked.
Digital Evolution - Part 3
I finally gave the hair more body. I didn't like how her head looked superfluously tall and uncharacteristically plain. I flattened out the bangs to give it a more controlled look versus the scratched on bangs that she had before. It's more suiting, in my opinion. I added more glow from the sword, though more faint, going down her right leg. I must say, I like the new pistol more too.
Digital Evolution - Part 4
I'm getting so close! I realized that her bangs were a little shorter on one side, so I lengthened them to match the other side. Somehow, I got her hair to go red when I was dodging the layer, but I immediately fell in love with it. I lightened her eyes to match her fiery hair. I shaded the pistol after I corrected the minor detail of the bar in the front of it. Then I went on to finish shading the helmet and adding a little sword glow to it too.
Digital Evolution - Finished Product
I decided to be done with it. She's taken up too much of my time. Between school, trying to keep my room clean, and trying not to get too too TOO excited about Halo 4, I didn't have much more time to devote to this dear Spartan. So, I took a couple hours out of my day today (Halloween 2012) because I had nothing better to do today (no parties because I'm lame like that and too old to trick-or-treat. >=l ) and finished her up to the best of my abilities. *bigsigh* Enjoy! D<