So...this is what a critique will do to you! This is so different from the first version that I can't even look at them side by side because my brain explodes. Just to be clear, though, the big changes that came from the critique were the darkening of the mountains and the tweaking of the composition. Everything else is a result of working on it more. Is it the final version yet? Probably not.

New stuff--whoo!  I spent the last 2 months alternately being sick and slacking off, and I apologize. BUT by slacking, I mean of course doing awesome stuff like sword training, trapeze, reading and writing!  Well, ok--I played some video games, too.

At any rate, first off:

 "Koi-Ai"

Finished this just recently--those scales took me quite a while. I'm calling it a digital illustration because it's inspired from a short story (think fairy tale) I wrote recently. I suppose that, technically speaking, it's not an illustration, though, because it's not illustrating a particular scene. Whatever. In any case, hoping to get it published at some point...

Next off, my big project: a mini fantasy comic. I've decided it's HIGH TIME to get serious and really move forward with focus. Doing various personal paintings is interesting for me, of course, and I do learn a lot, but it's probably not the best way to market myself in the concept art arena, which is what I'm going to target.  So:

Panel 1 Progress

Panel 1 Final (?)

I put a question mark because I was setting out for more realism, but it ended up like this--was it meant to be? I sort of suspect that by the time I get to the final panel, I'll have learned so much and my style will have developed more, so I might have to come back and redo this. Oh, well. This is the first "environment" I've ever painted!

For anyone wondering--the Leviathan Queen is still in progress and probably will be for some time, especially in light of my new project.

Anyway. Stay tuned.