This was a rush in more ways than one.

Self Critique: The broomstick could be thicker, that way the part in the back won’t look so scrawny. The elbow of her raised arm doesn’t sit well with me. I’ll have to change what I’ve been using as a reference for that. The back edge of her cape could’ve been handled better.

Just in time for Halloween, well for me at least. Because of a road trip and wedding I have to attend, I had to double down on getting this done quick. There was supposed to be another one of these Halloween pics, but realized I could one do one once I calculated how long it’d take me. I didn’t want to skimp on details either like I did with Hariette’s Easter Surprise earlier this year.

So then, the pose. This time I’d plunge headfirst into the tricky world of foreshortening. My secret weapon, the Mikoto 3D poser program, came in handy to an extent. I had to whip out the bigger sketchbook to fit in more of Belinda’s pose. Funny thing is that I still couldn’t fit it, and had to finish the rest of her legs on GIMP. Scope creep came into full effect this time. I had originally planned to have just this version you see here. But then the more I looked at the pose, the more I leaned on doing NSFW versions. Put simply, this girl has actual bra and panties under her dress (and is of course naked under). Depending on demand, I may or may not share the lingerie here and keep it on Pixiv.

Oh yeah, so you might be wondering who Belinda is. Well, she’s a character I drew a looong time ago (2006 to be exact) and has since found a home in my scraps folder. She’s still uploaded if you want to see and maybe compare. (deadphoenx.deviantart.com/art/…). So between the old picture and the new, not much is changed. The one major addition was the striped stockings. I was thinking about leaving it out, but figured it’d aid in my foreshortening efforts. I also made her shoes pointier in keeping with her witch character. I could describe her lingerie, but again let’s see if enough people wanna see that version. I’ll give it ’til next week.

Now onto the background. I think I’m now getting the hang of digitally painting these backgrounds. Probably the fun part was making the Jack-o-Lantern in the back (that’s kinda covered by Belinda’s foot there). Another cool part was making the mountains in the back. Last time I did mountains, it was back on Impending Deluge in 2008 (deadphoenx.deviantart.com/art/…). I referred back to Sailing Through The Sea when doing the mountains, starting with the darkest color first and then adding lighting next (instead of light color first, then shading), then adding fortifying lines. The grass texture I wanted to improve on. The key for me was to do smaller brush strokes instead of longer ones, starting from the top of the hills and working downward. I also added fortifying lines this time. I also did the same with the trees you see everywhere.

Done on GIMP 2.8. Intuos4 tablet used.
Belinda Cauldron is (c) DeadPhoenX. Permission not required for non-profit purposes, but credit with link back is needed.