Coloured Sketch: Lady A

Drawn By: WrittenDusk

A simple portrait composition piece. It's been a while since I did a portrait like drawing. 

I just wanted a little break from experimenting and learning new things, haha.

But even though I said this is a break, I still took this chances to put what I have learned these years to use. The style I choose to draw in, the colouring I still fumble with, and the lighting I just realized about. It's always cool to compare my current works to my earlier ones, and seeing the concrete evidence of my growth. 

Also in addition to putting my current skills to work, I also took this opportunity to experiment with some different techniques and stylistic choices professional artists use and make. The first thing I experimented with is the fullness of the face. You may have noticed that my drawing style lately has a purposefully flat edged face. I thought my style doesn't do well with a fuller face edge, but I guess not anymore, haha. I'm not completely confident with it yet though.

The second is the shading. There are two aspects. The extra tones and the more gradient shading. The gradient, or traditional, and cel-shading combo started since my Character Concept: Amidst the Battlefield Ver. 1, but was applied in a more stylized direction. It is not until my Final Fantasy XV fan art that I decided to take advantage of it in a more traditional way, giving the character another layer of depth beyond the cel-shaded areas. This drawing is an extension of that experimentation. The extra cel-shading tones is a stylistic technique I've been wanting to try after seeing artworks of the newest Atelier game; Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book. Seeing how great it looks to have one value of shade for natural lighting and a darker one for cast shadows, l just had to try it out once.

It all turned out really nice, so I'm hoping to use this style on my next drawings.

This turned out way longer than I intended, haha. Hopefully those who read this far enjoyed reading my discovery and learning processes. For those who wonder why "Lady A"... tune into the next chapter of "Someone"! 

Oh, and I learned to do a new type of ambient(?) background.

Clothing Reference from YesStyle: 
http://www.yesstyle.ca/en/romantica-pleated-chiffon-long-sleeve-dress-purple-2xl/info.html/pid.1048664790