Shadows' Angel

Much like my last picture of Mestrelis, I decided to spend a weekend pulling out all the stops to see what kind of picture would result. One of the largest pictures I've done in terms of canvas space, meaning thinner lineart and more detail; it also meant that the lineart took a whole evening and that even the normally straightforward step of coloring took ages, but I am delighted with the result. For the pose, I tried to echo one from the "Sister Friede" boss in Dark Souls III: a ready stance with the scythe locked behind the neck and shoulders. It definitely owes more to the needs of style than practicality and was a nightmare to work out, but then it was good practice and in my opinion there's something undeniably badass about it.

For those who don't know, the character in the picture is Mestrelis, a Toa of Shadow that I'm playing in a Bionicle RPG. The environment is based on a recent battle she took part in; it was broad daylight in the open desert, but she was able to use her control over Shadow to cloak a large section of the battlefield and turn it into her domain. The fight lasted two sessions, but the team emerged victorious and with many trophies from the repelled Skakdi army.