This month I was asked to draw for Aniris! :) This is Samael, who has come across something wonderful in the rocky terrain: a thermal spring, glittering there in a small rainbow of colors!

And this piece is a tragic fail. No really, read on.

This character is awesome. Just awesome!!! I love the design, I LOVE the colors, and I adore the little glow-y markings! I was VERY excited to draw him...and hit a stumbling block in the initial planning phase: this character does not translate well into traditional materials.

I had never given it much thought...but every character has a "perfect medium" that shows them off to their best advantage. Some characters perfectly straddle the medium-spectrum, looking fantastic in every medium they are thrown into...others tend to look a little flat when done digitally but comes across wonderfully detailed when done traditionally, while yet more look vibrant and alive when done in digital mediums but look garish or dull when rendered traditionally.

I'm not even going to broach the subject of the myriad of traditional methods...suffice to say that they are often night and day and what works well for one subject will not for another, truly your mileage may vary!!!

So I was presented with a problem...I wanted to do a wonderful piece for this awesome character, but I wanted to do it in a medium I felt I wanted to work in. If I had months and months to plan, experiment and work with, I would have done glowing effects with shading, but...with less than a month to deadline, I had to plan fast. My ultimate decision: glow-in-the-dark paint. 8D!!!

Not that anyone online will EVER SEE IT, damnit. I touched up this whole piece with glow-paint, and can't seem to get it on film. My plan was this: take a short video of the picture...start with lights on, then switch them off, and omg watch it this come to life!!!!

The glow effects are very visible and VERY COOL, but not bright enough to get caught on film.

Disappointing to say the least!

However, I am pleased with all other aspects of this image...I heavily reffed the hotsprings off of photos from thermal/hotsprings photos taken in Iceland, New Zealand and Yellowstone National Park in the US, and the rocks look worn and semi-smooth as I'd intended so that also pleases me. The pose for Samael was tough but I am overall pleased with the results, I love where his neck and shoulder meet! His color palate is delightful to work with, the watercolor base under this whole image was a joy to paint, and it took the colored pencils and glittering pens (yes this glitters, too, not that the scan will show that) like a champion.

I think, though, to fully appreciate the glow, this needs to be seen in person. Siigh.

However! Samael is awesome, and I hope Aniris likes this! :D