Winter's Peach

Is it the last peach of the season?
Or the first?
Or a rare import?

Whatever it is, it's going to be enjoyed with a side of hand if Ast isn't careful.

***

It's a new year! (Er, as of four months ago Sorry, other projects had to come first.)

I do a new painting of Astrid every new year. My goals are:
*Outdo the previous year's painting
*Set the bar high for next year's painting
*Make something I'm proud of

I struggled with this one, taking two very different concepts very far before I realized I didn't like them. By the time I began this iteration, I was pretty exhausted of elaborate scenes and did something simple instead.

What I've learned since last year:
*The importance of letting go and scrapping failing concepts
*Airbrush mist is a fairly effective way to half-ass a background
*Little painting series like my MLP bettas are a great place to experiment with new techniques
*I really freakin' love misty blue scenes and I should branch out a bit

Goals for next year:
*Try to use colors outside the blue/white/black spectrum
*Paint some actual backgrounds
*Try more challenging perspectives/angles

Also, while the saturation is as-intended on my primary monitor it is BlINDINGLY BLUE on my secondary, so I hope everyone else is seeing the nicely balanced version and not the electric blue version.

Annual Astrid Series:

2012: [link]
2011: [link]
2010: [link]
2009: [link]
2008: [link]
2007: [link]
2006: [link]
2005: [link]


And for fun, here's the first time I ever drew this character, way back in 2003 (back when she was just an Everquest alt - far right):