And it's all finished. This took longer than expected. Largely due to the leaves and all of the trial and error with trying to find the right references for them both on the net and outside in my area. While it took me about 128 layers with no masks to make this Most of those layers are either dummy layers or back ups due to me adjusting the rendering on the background and leaves back and forth. Been working towards working with fewer layers to keep the sizes of the Xcf original files down as much as possible. With this portrait I went with a Autumn Sunset design for the background and color theme, to match the character better. The other WotFS Portraits will follow this pattern with the exception of Vivian, their leader. Unlike previous CGs where I didn't go back and fix them and instead apply what I learned on the next piece. I'll actually be going back and fixing this up based on the feed back I get. Though if it has to be completely redone then it'll have to be shelved until the other 4 are finished. For the sake of not delaying the current project any farther.
This started out as a digital hand drawn sketch in GIMP 2.6 using my Wacom Bamboo Tablet. The character was colored using the brush tool and rendered by hand using the brush tool and color theory:Hue shifting using reds and violets for shadows. The canvas was enlarged during the coloring phase to correct a tangent. The Background Trees were drawn and rendered by hand. So where the leaves with where detailed by hand, duplicated via copy/paste (far back leaves), and each rendered by hand with the brush tool. I then glossian blurred each section of the background at different levels to help with depth and bring out the focal point of the Portrait.
Total Layers: 128 with no Masks used
And now about the character.
Name: Abbigail Farley a.k.a Autumn Age: 27 Gender: Female Job Class: Edge Caster Bio: A High School friend of Vivian and a member of her traveling Guild "Witches of the Four Seasons". Known by many as the masked vigilante "Autumn Harvester" back in her home country of "Mel Dine". Abbigail is a farmer from Mel Dine's countryside whom earned a chance to study at Nova Academy. A renowned School in Mel Dine's capital "Alexander City" for gifted Casters. After one of it's professor successfully caught her and offered an ultimatum. Come with him to the academy to study and hone her skills for a better purpose. Or go to prison for her crimes against the Upper Class Nobles. While she hated the capital and the Casters that looked down on the countryside. She reluctantly agreed and joined Nova. Where she eventually met and befriended "Vivian Vale". After graduation she became her guild's first member. Abbigail loves messing with others and can be a bit playfully harsh towards her fellow teammates who aren't Vivian. And loves hanging around with Sarina. As the "Autumn" member of her guild, Abbigail specializes in powerful Wind and life draining Dark spells. And prefers to use Sickles and Scythes.
Personality Tropes: At her best she's witty, clever and sarcastic. At her worst she cruel and a sociopath, especially towards the wealthy. Usually she's a lovable jerk.
