Rose Dread, The Steam Roller: Another Art Order WIP

It's time for yet another Art Order Challenge. This one is for The Ultimate Warrior Challenge in which we are to create some type of human warrior in a dynamic pose with minimal or no background at all. 

So the challenge is to think a bit outside the box at less typical warriors that can still hold their own. The concept I have chosen is a Roller Derby Girl (cause let's face it, they kick some serious booty!).  I looked up some references online for different poses and combined elements from 3-4 different poses (arms, legs) in my sketchbook to come up with a better pose that wasn't a complete copy of any of the reference images.

The Sketch

Once that was done I sketched out a few armor options along with variations on weaponry, going from the standard sword and shield, to a pike that mimicked a hockey stick, but in the end I decided on some tonfas. I also decided to follow the suggestion of a friend and make this into a steam punk derby girl, giving her some steam skates and some armor that would help the feel of the steam punk era without going too far away from D&D fantasy.

Refined Pencil

And once I was done sketching out the piece I went ahead and cleaned up the sketch. Originally I wasn't sure if I was going to ink this until I was finished with the pencil portion, but decided that after I colored it I would make that decision then.

Going Into Color

I am working on 11x14in hotpress arches watercolor block with a mix of different windsor & newton watercolors. It was easy going with a steam punk feel, to pick out a color pallet. I have chosen to stick with a pallet I am very familiar with: violet, yellow, and red.

Detail

And a closer look at the piece. At this point I am rethinking inking the piece, which I will do once the color painting portion is  through. Deadline is on the 10th, and I still would like to scan this into Photoshop and do a few adjustments (mainly for highlights). 

This has been a very fun piece to work on, the favorite portions being in cleaning up the pencil and watching my watercolors shape up Rose Dread.

Can't wait to finish this piece!