Definitely unusual but... here comes an "non annual" update
It has been few weeks I wanted to do a Homura (Madoka) signature, but can't exactly find the pictures that would tickle my fancy (that and the usual inspiration block).
That being said, playing Aiyoku no Eustia brought some ideas, which coincidentally happened when... that "same customer" is nudging me with a certain CG to work on.
However, woe is me, considering the initial CG:
Cute? Sure sure, but... I think some people will realize how awful it can be to work on that kind of picture (I'm looking at you, Solace
).
Somehow started to have the idea in mind, although it is yet a "crop job" that needs a overhaul touch to spice things up. The rough idea looked like this:
However, "someone" was unhappy with the fact it was a bit too zoomed in (despite I was actually wondering if I couldn't make another close up, even if it means relinquishing a portion of the wings).
So I had to literally go back to square one, since it wouldn't be possible to zoomed out due to the alterations done already.
And here we go... not yet. Why? Because when I was zooming out and applying roughly the same alterations, I realized that I was stuck by a hard place, literally: that frigging pillar. Whilst it was a bit "easier" to distinguish it before, the zoomed out result leads to the impression we got a random purp taint lurking in the middle (as if I clumsily cut a central portion of a bright layer and left to that -.-). Therefore, off I go: second "back to square one" OTZ.
That of course involved a complete removal of the damn rock, but also altering the wings in order not to remove the "natural" impression. I had to craft some artificial ones
here and there, but it was just a sketch first, since I had to poke a bit the overal "aura" of it. My main concern was that I could potentially make the wings FLARING which was the worst outcome possible. Therefore, I was going on a snail pace, because I was trying to keep the "bathed in light" impression as well as a "soft radiance feel" instead of making Tia literally "irradiating" like a radioactive mutant.
The text part was a bit a pain, because how the signature itself is quite a standalone with Tia taking the spotlight right in the middle, so I got something
like this, but I wasn't really so good with the "hard display" of the text and some touch was missing.
In the end, after a lot of inputs from a certain picky crow, I decided to literally "etch" the text on the wings to remove the "out of place" impressions, and after various attempts, here is the final "product":
I'm still a bit disatisfied with the text, since it still look unbalanced but oh well..
At least I can say that I could avoid the exact result I was afraid the most. In the end, the color pattern and the radiance are balanced I think.
It has been a long while I know but... what do you think, everone?