The Stone Nuts

Maybe it's just me, but I totally love the gal on Stoneforge Mystic. I also love drawing action pieces, swords, and women. So doing altered "close-ups" of Standard's leading lady seemed like a match made in Heaven.

The first thing I learned when I began my formal art education was to plan ahead. The last thing you want to do is get elbow(finger?)-deep in a piece and realize something's off with the anatomy, design, or composition. Here are some of the many concept sketches I came up with while brainstorming:

I ended up going with the pose in the upper left corner of the last page shown. Up next after the break: How to forge a Mystic using a pen and paintbrush.