I spent the last two weeks playing with Doran's face because she was starting to look too old again - more like Evan's bloody mother! I struggle to draw characters who look their age - maybe because I get carried away with making them look pretty. Anyway, it wasn't working. I think it might have been because it had been so long since I drew her in this piece: [link] that I forgot how she looked when I came back to her recently.

So this image came about after making over ten sketches and doodles. From the original Doran I started making her nose smaller - more like Tamlyn's nose, which I think looks quite youthful. (It helps to draw the barest hint and leave the shape to the imagination!) Then I made her eyes bigger (probably after watching Zooey Daschanel in Hitchhiker's Guide!) Then I ended up changing her mouth, too, because it was such an awkward shape before. (Somehow I think I caught a bit of FFX Tidus in there.) In the end she looks very different ... apart from the tangled hair which killed my wrist! I hate curls!

If you knew what my story goes through in my head you'd understand why I constantly strain myself to draw the RIGHT illustrations of the characters! The story keeps growing and altering, and sometimes I have to change the characters. Doran was even a goddess at one stage! Then a cursed falcon, then a failed druid, then a single survivor of the Anglesey massacre, etc, etc, etc ... But I am very happy with her. I've started a few sketches of her with Evan and I think they work well together - I'll upload in a few days when they're polished up. (It's kind of a triptic scene of a game of kiss-chase ... )

NB: I'm still classifying this as Traditional art because the stem of this picture is pure pencil on paper. I just added some layers of colour and hue to give it some interest.