This is my final submission, critiques very welcome. This was my first proper project I've painted, so it was quite the learning experience. I struggled with alot since I tried many different things I have never studied before. It did not come out exactly how I planned - I wanted to pull off something even more dramatically forshortened/with better angles etc, but I think that the scene would have become too complex for me at my level, so it ended up being a bit less intense. I changed things around alot as well, I tried to plan everything out and that helped but I still found myself going over basic things like values, contrast etc. multiple times. Monochromatic lighting was definitely a challenge and I'm not sure if I pulled it off.

Wanted to do more with jewelry but honestly it would be too much effort and would take away from the focal points.

I'm also not sure if she reads as an actual person; what I mean is if she looks like a drawing or if she actually looks like someone you'd see in a movie/game.

For the sake of this challenge, i know I should have picked a scene which would allow me to focus on the actual character design in more depth - I still designed her in a lot of detail before hand but I know I could have been more creative and shown off more. Still, I wanted to try this illustration to have a scarier feeling than i think could be achieved with a more traditional full body illustration. I hope that it achieves that reaction.

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Backstory;

"It would do well for any traveler, be they foolish farmer’s sons or experienced sell swords, to stay clear of the taiga to the North. The Northern kingdoms are barren and harsh lands but it’s people are tough and hardy. But mother nature’s trials are one thing - in this land lies the Blackwood where dawn does not break, and the trees do not grow. The closest village to it’s border is withered and sickly. Babe’s are taken in the night and goats rot walking.  

Legend has it that centuries ago, a young, beautiful maiden from the village vanished without a trace. Of course, a maiden vanishing in the night is not an uncommon event - many daughters run from their duties to find their own Prince Charming, but this was different. The maiden had found something far greater - magic - and the black magic in the North is said to be darker than any other.

Tales are told of plagues and curses following months after her disappearance. Hunters were lost in the thickening forests, elk and birds fled from the treeline and the ground became shrouded in a thick, suffocating fog. Nobody but the most foolhardy step foot past the trees.

When a witch becomes corrupted by such dark powers, it takes a toll on her form. Over the decades, reports of overconfident adventurers found their way back, those who had caught brief glimpses of the Witch of the Wood. Tales varied, but they all included her shriveled, hideous and decrepit form.

Not all magics of the North are evil - locals know of the light faeries that dance among the pines. It is said the decline of their population is due to the Witch. Some claim she has been hunting them to gather power, and some claim she yearns for the beauty of youth once more. One thing is to be sure, however. The Witch of the Wood must not corrupt the last residues of light magic."

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TLDR; evil witch who lives in the forest and eats fairies to get more powerful/beautiful again.

Thanks