Horned Woman With A Sword (2007)

This unusually themed piece started as a simple "doodle" at a local convention a few years back, just an exercise to pass the time.

When finances allow I attend a certain number of conventions in the country, mainly in the eastern part of the United States from time to time.

It was at one such con that I first came up with this drawing. I was having a pretty dreadful day, as far as commissions go; in other words I was making no money! I am not a big name in the business so I do not "draw" large crowds to my table (something I hope will soon change in the near future) so during slow spots of the day I either get up and walk around to visit some of my neighbors or rehash old acquaintances or sit at the table and sketch out rough ideas while greeting the occasional convention fan boy/girl.

At first I just drew a basic female figure from the head down to the waist, nothing overly elaborate just something to pass the time with. Then I just slapped a big ol' pair of horns on her and Voila!

I had never drawn a horned female before so I was temporarily overcome by excessive "horniness". I continued working on the sketch, adding more details like the piercings and tattoo work and then worked more on her facial expression. I went against my usual choice; a happy carefree figure and instead went with something a little more serious so I decided to make the figure a warrior complete with body armor ,formidable weaponry and a lethal glare that would make the most hardened veteran step back.

The ridged details of her horns and the design of her body armor posed the most time consuming part of the picture. Her oversized sword was inspired, in part, by some manga/anime characters that possess these ridiculously huge weapons and by some of the con goers who sometimes dress up like them. The armor, although formidable in design and function, was also created to enhance the obvious fact that the character was indeed... female.