Bust Shot - Sharon Medley

My first digital drawing with my Wacom Intuos tablet!

Can't believe it's been almost a year since I last submitted a colored drawing... another Sharon pic, because I feel like don't pay enough attention to her, and I didn't want to wait another three years to make a colored pic.

You know what else I can't believe? That this was supposed to be a very simple drawing - the original intention was to make a simple bust shot and add some minor elements to make it look like a fancy playing card (and idea I got from, of all things, a laughably bad video game). Unfortunately, I didn't like how that came out, but the bust shot felt empty and bland without any real elements to it, so I decided to add a border and a fancy section for her name... but it still felt empty and bland. Rather than trash the border, I decided to keep adding to it bit by bit and eventually I wound up with... this. It's definitely been a long time since I made an attempt at a "real" background of sorts (during which I remembered just how much I hate drawing trees). When designing the background elements, I wanted to try and show off aspects of Sharon's homeland - she lives the forests, of course, but that forest has more than just mighty pine trees and flowers. It's also inhabited by distinct amber-colored mushroom trees (that idea didn't come about until last year, when I was modifying Sharon's design). They aren't true mushrooms, per se - the caps are actually made of a solid substance that Sharon's people mine and then melt into distinct shapes or coat certain materials with to give them a distinct finish. The mined materials grow back, so they have an endless supply and is a major export in certain parts of Sharon's homeland.

I also kind of went all-out with textures here, during which I realized I don't know how to draw tree bark nor do I know how to give my mushroom caps a semi-crystalline surface. That said, I may have gone overboard in applying textures elsewhere, especially the border which looks like it had a few run-ins with fine sandpaper. I just felt like everything was too flat otherwise... I'm also unhappy with how the mushroom trees came out - they really should have a more amber-like appearance, but I just couldn't make it work. I'm not gonna lie, that background in general was a nightmare to draw... I wound up redrawing that damn thing three times, and I'm not even sure if it was worth it in the end.

Also, it's those maps again, which I drew several years ago! It's almost become a bit of an in-joke at this point, to use them as backgrounds for my characters in some way, hasn't it? Granted, I'm the only one in on it, but I really should take another swing at drawing Melee and Sharon's homelands again, shouldn't I?

Truth be told, I did not enjoy drawing this. It was supposed to be a simple project that would've allowed me to finish it quickly and get me back into the habit of drawing, but it wound up becoming a complicated mess that became less and less fun to draw until I couldn't even enjoy the craft anymore. It took a lot out of me, and ultimately left me feeling highly discouraged to keep going. But I did (albeit very slowly) and you know what? As much as I disliked working on this, I would be lying if I said I wasn't finally happy to finish this damned thing. With this down, I can finally move on to something new. Something fresh. If you've been following me on Twitter, then you might know what I'll likely be looking into next (whether it goes anywhere is another question). Until then, enjoy... I guess.

Sharon is property of , AKA myself.