Ladies and Gentlemen of Radaquest, let me introduce you to the lady with tangled hair and nature all around in green.

I'm arriving late to the contest, yes, but I'm also very pleased with the result, so even if I can't participate, it's no problem. But please support me with an upvote and a reblog if you liked this artwork.

She is Elisya, a character from Radaquest who is deeply connected to the forest, and of whom I've seen two magnificent fan arts, one made by @trizdraw and the other made just this week by @Solumviz, which is full of vibrant colors and I recommend checking it out. In fact, here is the link for you to leave good comments and admire his art Elysia Artwork as my entry for Radaquest art contest!. Now, after that tangent, let me tell you a bit more about my Elisya. I've tried to depict her with a solemn expression full of mysticism and mystery, and of course, with plenty of magic, as I've replaced the candle in her lantern with a glowing flower. I couldn't resist; this week I really wanted to create something magical.

⚔️Play Radaquest Now❕⚔️

Tools:

Gaomon S620
Photoshop
Brushes courtesy of Imad Awan: Download here

🔰Process🔰

_Reference

-Step 1:

I wanted Elisya to be in a simple pose because I already knew how challenging it would be to paint her staff, not to mention her hair wrapped around her deer horns. Moreover, I already had in my mind a composition where the background would complement the character.

-Step 2:

To maintain a good balance in the lighting, I decided to use grayscale to give volume to the character and establish ambient light from the window and direct light from the lantern she holds in her hands. Immediately after, I switched to the "color" blending mode to apply the initial colors to the character, trying to avoid everything looking too green.

-Step 3:

Then, I focused on the face, aiming to give her a more mature expression with defined facial features. I even considered giving her a smile, but I wanted her to have a mystical air, so I decided to keep her mouth neutral and without visible expressions.

-Step 4:

I had a nice reference for the window, and I could have copied and pasted each of its elements to maintain proportion, but I decided to keep it simple and use the four-sided symmetry tool. This way, I knew I would achieve symmetry on all sides, but I also wanted to keep brushstrokes that looked natural, so I didn't aim for 100% definition.

-Step 5:

I wanted to keep the vegetation surrounding Elisya, so I grabbed a hard brush and started drawing green leaves around her. I adjusted the lighting of the window and also painted some yellow flowers to accompany the vegetation and break up the solid block of green color. I'm quite pleased with how the final composition turned out, and I even tried converting it to grayscale, which turned out great. In fact, I'll leave the image here below so you can see it too.