@Jinx
Catherine Fitzsimmons

Dragon Tamer
Dragon Tamer by @Jinx (Catherine Fitzsimmons)

Long description warning.

There were two primary reasons for making this picture. Whenever I used to draw fanart from old games, I would always stay exact to the tiny little sprites, no matter how silly it looked. So I decided, since Rydia's character design in the game is rather dull anyway, that I wanted to make my own design for her that I think suits her better. So this is my interpretation of her. Incidentally, I had the sketch finished before I saw the ending FMV in Final Fantasy Chronicles, but I still like this design far better.

The other reason for this picture is that I've been taking my art too seriously lately. I've been so obsessed with making it look "perfect" that I forgot how fun it is to sit in front of the computer coloring for hours without even breaking to eat. As a result, my lineart and coloring are a little looser and simpler in this picture. I did plenty of playing around with effects, but from the beginning of the sketch, I did my thing, tinkered with it a little, and moved on, not caring whether it was completely polished or not. I made this for the fun of it and that's what counts.

This picture took 13-14 hours from start to finish. The only reason that's worth mentioning is that the time flew by so quickly while I was working on it that I never would have guessed it'd take that long. This is the way to do it. Even if I did intend to make a career of my art, I still have to have fun doing it. It's just not rewarding otherwise. And this? This is pretty rewarding to me. I just need to stop pursuing "perfection" and just have fun.

Category:
Rating:
Everyone
Class:
Finished Work
Submitted:
18y258d ago
Tags:
None
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Comments & Critiques (8)

Preferred comment/critique type for this content: Any Kind

Posted: Tuesday, 19 July, 2005 @ 01:30 PM

You know for something that wasn't taken too seriously this is a brilliant pic. I think all art should be fun, perfect or no. The colors looke magical and i love the outfit. The dragon is cool too. Anyway art should be fun no matter what, that's what i think anyway =^-^=

Posted: Tuesday, 19 July, 2005 @ 06:06 PM

Exactly! Art is about having fun. I'm glad you read my long description. grin Thanks for your comment.

Posted: Tuesday, 19 July, 2005 @ 09:58 PM

I could not agree any more. Personally I believe many artist create some of their best piece when having fun. This piece really does have a magical feeling to it with the soft coloring and sparkles. The color in her sleeves is quite impressive though. I love the transition of color. Anyways, wonderful piece!

Posted: Tuesday, 19 July, 2005 @ 10:35 PM

Thanks! I'm so glad you liked it.

Posted: Sunday, 07 August, 2005 @ 10:35 PM

Rydia! ^-^

This is such a pretty, original rendering of her... I love the Chinese dragons on her costume and the rainbow-y sleeves... And the subtle texturing works great on Leviathan's body for scales... Nice detail in his face and fins, too! I like the magic effects around Rydia's hands and the simple, cascading water-y background...

You've done these characters justice in a unique way. Congrats! ^-^

Posted: Thursday, 11 August, 2005 @ 06:45 PM

It's so nice to hear from someone who knew the character that I did her justice. I'm glad you noticed all the little details, too, like the scales on Leviathan. Thanks very much!

Posted: Tuesday, 13 September, 2005 @ 06:11 PM

Hey, long time no see, this one is really cool, I was browsing over some of your' newer stuff and this one stood out. I would say that the whole in overall does look a little stiff. But really nice detail in this, I can't say that I read the description, I haven't slept in a looong time, and my eyes just don't want to read that much, but anyway, everything looks really nice on this, from the scales, so the shading and closthing expressions and overall depth of the picture. You have gotten much better at showing depth and shading, it's nice to see that everybody has been improving since I've been gone XD.

Posted: Tuesday, 20 September, 2005 @ 03:13 PM

Thanks for your comment. Appreciated, as always.

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