FanArt_ink.Fierce

MTGinktober works it into Day 14, "Fierce," starring Huatli, Warrior Poet and Gishath, Sun's Avatar getting their Zoolander on or something!

This was an exciting prompt because it let me really cut loose and get goofy. I could see in my head exactly what I wanted to do with the pose--I knew immediately I wanted to be figuratively fierce with that sassy "wrarr" claw gesture--so the real challenge was figuring out who could sell the gag best.

Then it clicked! Duh! Have Huatli impersonate a T-rex! But then take it to the next level and have an actual T-rex behind her. But then next-level that and make it an real-deal legendary, boom--Gishath. It's a play on that classic motif of a runt acting tough and then the opponents cower not because of the diminutive boaster, but because of the actually imposing figure unwittingly behind. Obviously in this case, Huatli is probably just as formidable, but it's just a composition for comedy.

Fun Facts: My original, original idea was actually to have a couple of fierce characters--I wanted a vampire character, (I believe the leading contender was Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief), to do that classic Nosferatu hiss and claw thing. Huatli would mirror that or make the T-rex gesture, but I don't remember exactly. The idea is they would both be having a goof on their respective themes.

Easter Eggs: The background is a mixture of Gishath's background mountains and trees plus the birds from Regisaur Alpha. I wanted to make Huatli's pose look extra dinosaury, so I took the liberty of extending her ponytail to mimic a dinosaur's swishing tail.

Drawing the costume was at times fun and frustrating. It was fun trying to get the costume to look a little less like an overcoat and have more animation, but it was tricky getting the fine details right, particularly since I often flip my references and--as always--almost messed up on the asymmetrical parts, like putting the gauntlet on the wrong hand! Bet you a million bucks my luck won't last and I'll eventually inadvertently flip some asymmetrical detail one of these days...

Not normal,

Reuxben