Hello, hello!
After working on some other projects, I'm back on the samodiva!

Some redesign:

I'm thinking of ditching the weapon, as it doesn't really fit too well with the whole flowy dancing aesthetic.
Changed some proportions and design elements to reinforce the bulgarian feel. I have fantasy elements in there with some of the floating cloth pieces, but I want to make her look otherworldly and fairy-like. (Also, I just find it fun :smiley: )
As for attack, she's going to suck the soul out of her enemies, but I'm still exploring other, complimentary means of attack.

I'm going to hit my head against the wall of colors some more, before presenting them to you :smile:
Have a nice day!

I love the skin color :smiley:
For the clothes and accessories I would say: I like the accessories in the hair (right). Overall I prefer the feel of the dress in the left bottom corner, but combined with the shoulder pads, the cleavage and the chains of the right design... Hope you get the idea xD

I get ya :smile:
Btw, the right design is a mix of what I like from the left ones with some added tweaks. There's no cleavage, it's a necklace element. Bulgarian traditional costumes are quite 'proper' and layered in general, even the uncovered arms are my creative license and would be quite strange/scandalous historically :smiley:
Thanks for the crit! :blush:

Didn't knew the right word for what I meant (cleavage) sry haha 😅

And a rough illustration comp:

I decided to give her some slight ember/fire powers as well, as a nod towards samodivas causing droughts and the nestinarstvo tradition - a ritual where women dance on hot embers without getting burnt. The droughts and nestinarstvo aren't connected, but it's a nice double reference.
I'm a little tempted to make the enemies modern-day soldiers, but we'll see.

As for the character color-scheme - I'm still unsure about the side skirts and neck flowy parts (are they even cloth or metal??), but the base clothes have a somewhat acceptable color scheme (for now).

That's gonna be it for today - Thanks to everyone for checking it out! :smile:

I think your designs is rock solid and also Idea of her enemies are modern soldiers is amazing! It can be so much a powerful contrast

Hey! I tidied up the lineart!
Also cleaned up the design. I should add some white with patterns on her shirt, but I'm overall happy with it!
I can already feel the pain of rendering so many patterns :smile: And they're gonna have a lively red glow! :sunny:

@Brush_Tony Thank you! It's a struggle, especially with the colors' restriction :smiley:

I love how fluid your line is! Also, about colour: she can be the only colored spot in front of uniformed mech/metal etc. I'm pretty sure you're able to make an awesome peace of art. Also rendering a pattern it's a pain in the ass, so may power be with you)

That is such a cool looking design, really looking forward to the finished piece! Definitely has a lot of character and I love how you keep using the moon behind her head, it really frames her nicely. If you're gonna make the patterns glow you gotta be careful you don't accidentally make your composition too busy with small glowing details which could draw the eye away from the important bits, other than that you're doing really well!

Thank you! Yeah, I like the moon for implying her nocturnal nature and giving her a bit of creepiness as well!
As for the glow, I intend it to be more like an action magic glow - on her hands, close to her body in the flowy cloth pieces (like an inner glow to frame her silhouette a bit). Think of something like Scarlet Witch, but way more subtle. But thank you for the heads-up and the kind words! ^^

Progress on the illustration. I felt it was fitting to reinforce the flight with some feather elements as well. The cloth pieces need to be fixed, as they're not following the angle/perspective of the character, but I wanted to share the WIP anyway.

14 days later

Another illustration update.
I've been avoiding this illustration, because I'm not quite sure how to tackle some parts of it, but I realized I just have to suck it up and do it :smiley:

Holy crap man every update looks better and better love it so far!

Let's hope the trend continues :smile:
Jokes aside, thank you! The support means a lot!

Thank you so much! All the positivity is absolutely awesome and inspiring! :relaxed:

Ditto to the above, its looking awesome keep going!

@br00dley Thanks! Glad you like it!

And some more progress - rendering, rendering, rendering... (with some design tweaks)

I like it ! This pose gives it an air of
who feels confident and strong :smiley:

Thank you! ^^
She's somewhat similar to a succubus, but forest spirit, rather than demon. So I'm super happy the sense of control and confidence shows :smile: