I think I squeezed as much time out of this weekend as possible. I planned to post in the evening, but I wanted to get this update posted before I make more changes.
Painting continues to go well, started adding more love to the 'Slasher' doll at the forefront, adding detail to trees, and Joliet materials/hand as well. I also made the magical circle into a smart object so I can freely alter it without being destructive. Plan to look at some DOOM reference to hit home the demonic feel.
My personal stretch goal at the start of this contest was to record and upload my enitre process and I have done well so far. I'm up to Part 18 and a total of 3 Gigs of footage!
Once the contest is closed I will begin editing and upload to my youtube soon after!
This is coming out nicely. One thing I noticed is the character's left eye which is in shadow needs reflections
I really dig the way you've rendered the stone-like textures on the marionettes, and the concept is unique. I dig it.
Good catch, I'll tackle that this evening!
Hello all, been solving some more lighting issues that I noticed and others brought up, as well as really beginning the refinement of materials for all items in the image (Hair added more depth, made cloth more diffuse). I'm going to take a quick break, gather some more reference and get back to it.
More Progress! At the start I think i should have spent more time developing the background to match the theme of the character as they were a bit out of sync. Went through some pretty random and time consuming iterations on the background...
Spooky girl should be in spooky setting, not an urban environment. Now that everything is 'in tune' with the character I am diving back in to the rendering and harmonizing of the entire piece.
I should probably update my concept sheet from over two weeks ago as well 
I was gonna tell you the same thing, the background wasn't working well with your character, good thing you changed it
Coming along nicely! FYI: Your title says "2D or 3D". You might want to change it to just 2D as it would suck to be disqualified for a silly technicality such as this. Might not be a big deal, but... figured I'd say something.
Cheers!
@timdan Thanks man! I didn't even notice...this is why we dont copy pasta contest info... 
More refinement! Not much else to mention on this update.
Double Update! 
Updated the turnaround to reflect the clothing and puppet modifications I made to the character when painting. Also I thought the form of control was important as well and have started making icons for the passives.
If you are tuning in just now, this character was conceived to be a Hero in a MOBA like roster (ex. Heroes of the Storm or DOTA2) . For those familiar with the genre, the main gimmick for Joliet was the ability to detach a puppet and micro it, allowing one player to absorb experience from other lanes (ex. The Lost Vikings, or Meepo). The caveat being that the puppets don't 'die' they become inactive, requiring Joliet to establish her connection via the red strings in person. Great if you pay attention. punishing if you get separated from puppets or are baited into an ambush.
Not the most original concept, but this thinking exercise really helped me figure out the characters relationship to the puppets, and their demeanor/style.That's all for now, thanks again for all your constant support guys.
Update!
By the way have any of you had issues changing your Profile Picture for the forums? I tried deleting, re-uploading but there is surprisingly few posts on this issue so I assume its not a common bug.
As of right now, until I hit the forums my profile is updated, but once here nothing shows 
Maybe I'm just missing a setting or should delete my cookies/browsing browsing data.
I had a lot of problems getting my avatar to appear the first couple of weeks I was on the site, and then one day it just worked, so it's a known bug, but I don't know how to tell you how to fix it. You could try contacting help on the site, or posting in the Help forum?
The character sheet is looking solid! 
The illustration is nice too. My one crit would be that the ruins in the background look too clean and perfect. Like that big archway on the top: Aside from the fact that part of it is broken off and it's leaning at a precarious angle, it otherwise looks brand new. If there's weathering and wear-and-tear on it, I can't make it out at this size. Similarly note for the ruins on the other side: Aside from the fact that half the bricks are missing, the ones that are left look perfect and not a single one is out of place. You might try making them all look more worn, chipped, more bricks partly out of place but not fallen yet, etcetera.
The characters themselves are looking great, although you might experiment with some way to keep the very-foreground puppet from blending into Joliet herself.
Anyhow, great work, looks like you're almost done! 
Another update! I'm going to be away for a little under a week so I wanted to post before I headout!
I added some new effects, more depth/texture to the puppet's dagger. I also changed all the rim lighting on Joliet to be warm or cool instead of the flat grey it had before.
@mdashow I did let the background slip, I took your advice and added more texture and variation, it looks a lot more believable now!
I think you could potentially still take it further by pushing more of the stones in the arch out of whack, but I'm being super nitpicky in saying that. This is overall a definite improvement and you could also totally submit it without any worries. Nice work!
Thanks man, once I'm back from my family emergency I will adjust one or two things on the painting and then I'm submitting! Not having a tablet/laptop to paint on really sucks when I'm away! 
your iterations and explorations are great. I like how you think. keep up the good work.
Love the change in background, it looks better now! Great work!
@williejimenezart @evehartman
Thanks guys!
I have one final upload before I submit my final, a process gif! 
For some reason, it uploads to small inside Cubebrush dialogue box soI've uploaded it to Imgur!
17 days later
I don't like the dark doll it's fear ! xD but nice girl character and great clothing ^^
17 days later
Thanks, I guess I didn't make the cut this year but here is to trying! Should probably pick a better concept in the future.
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