3/17/15 - Dual Swords possibly done?

So I think I might be done with it - for now at least. I'm gonna turn in what I got, get critique and fix what I can before moving on. I learned a lot about my process by doing this, which will hopefully have a big impact on future pieces. So here's a show of various stages of this piece (or part one of it at least):

I started with thumbnails to pick out a pose and composition that I liked for this piece. I had a couple of ideas for figures/costumes in mind already so those shaped some of the compositions. I also put in some older stuff - see the Seraph and another older figure on the third row - along with revisions of previous pieces like Colossus that I might like. In the end I chose the one on the second row, furthest on the right - I liked the way the swords framed up the composition and the flow in the exaggerated pose.

Before I took that thumb further I decided to establish the outfit of the character. I took a few cues from my sketches and a few designs from a sketchbook and drew them out. Here's the three I took the furthest, including the design that I chose to continue working with.

As I looked back on the pose I realized I needed to flesh out the costume a bit more - establish patterns, textures and color that I would need to use when beginning the full illustration. So here's the first stage of that drawing.

From there I went back to the sketch and fleshed out the composition a bit, clarified my environment and blocked in general forms.

That's a decent chunk of text already, so I'll do the rest tomorrow. Hope it's interesting. Be back then!