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ITS DONE
Okay..so ive been working on this for over a week straight..and i kinda dont like it now
Anyway...if you dont wanna read boring artistic descriptions then skip right ahead.

But this was an incredible learning curve for me. Not just in drawing, but in colouring as well. I haven't drawn anything on this 'scale' before. It gave me a huge chance to work with alternate light sources, and texturing (which i hope is obvious)

First of all, i started on the golem. My origional approach was to make him a silvery-type golem. All airbrushing, lots of contrast. But i had him done in around..30 minutes which just didnt feel right. I wanted this to be better than what any new colourist does - which is choose 'grey' for a metal object. SO then i chose a low saturation blue..and used that to blend everywhere. I worked on the golem first, of course...and laid down the base colours, shadows and highlights.

After that, i went on to blend all of these..which turned out to be quite stupid because the texture destroys most of my hardwork. So once he was done i worked on the background..then the flames..and THEN his armguards. Keep in mind, i did the whole golem on the same layer...(except for the textures..thats simply impossible ) So it was a fair bit to juggle with. It also gave me the chance to understand what real life painters need to go through . Then, dreading the fire effects..i tried to do them. At first i didn't do enough highlights..and then i did too many untill i found a nice balance. A shame that the golem is pretty much surrounded in flame..which makes those highlights all over him too.

So much for my hours spend blending

Heh, but that turned out alright..and gave me some more confidence. I was getting a bit tired of this by now..but i worked on the girl. Did ALOT of blending..much much more than i did on the golem - and what happens? Its all destroyed by the fire lighting. I did the cape all on the same layer..and spent alot of time on it. But then i screwed up..and realized that it would cost alot of time (im in school now..so its limited) To fix it completly agian. That sparked a little idea of the cloak being on fire! So that explains that.

I had to play around with the textures for the cloak alot untill i found one that was subtle enough. The hair was next and i had a little fun with it. It was at this time i decided to make her completly drow. I had that idea floating around alot (hence the dark cape and cloak) So this was a chance to really have some fun. (Just imagine...a greedy drow mage finds an ancient summoning scroll but doesnt know how to control the golem she summons. Cool eh? ) Anyway, the hair was relatively simple..the skin i feel i did in a breeze (15 mins, woo). I then worked on the staff and the orb. I wanted to give a cool water sheild effect, or a water blast..but i found that both of those obstructed the image too much and would draw the eye away. I went with a simple water gathering....so YOU decide what will happen to it!

I then worked on the shoes..and my back is hurting. Then i praised the fact it was over!! Im having alot of frustration with school and things..so this was a fantastic output. I give myself a 9/10....a nine because i feel i slacked off on a few parts (which you might be able to spot ) But a higher mark because i think the colouring AND the lineart are both far above my normal standard.

About the leg though...because i think a few will wander why it looks strange. You'll notice that when you raise your arm that much, your hips move in the opposite direction as your shoulders. When i was drawing this, i took that into consideration. But now, ive covered it with a cloak..which is why you cant clearly see her hip movement and why its caused.

Thanks everyone