Mock Fight (Hi-Res)

A painting for Marshtomphappy and ThornDracorn of FA! These giants might  look tough, but I assure you, this is just for show... Though the arena  might take some damage by the end. 

This one took me a bit. I got a bit into my own head for a while, because I wanted to knock this one  out of the park for these two, because they are both sweethearts and  absolutely deserve it. So, uh, whoops. Sorry for that delay there! But  while I didn't quite meet the goal I set for myself on the environment  and background, I'm very pleased with all of the foreground details and  characters! Especially all the greens -- I struggle with them a bit  sometimes, so this feels like an improvement for me. 

Gonna take a  few days to plink at some personal work idea(s), then back to the  commission grind! Thank you to Marshy and Thorn for your patience, and  for trusting me with your fantastic dudes once again. Enjoy!

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Yeah, when I say I got stuck, I got -real- stuck. In some ways, I feel like I let Thorn and Marshy down, but they say that they love it, so I'm going to trust in them instead of my dumb internal voice!

I've always really loved old renaissance and classical art that involved the Colosseum. One of my favorite pieces of all time is actually "Pollice Verso" by Jean-Leon Gerome, to be frank, and I've always really loved the imagery and romanticism that was involved in that sort of work (though, I do also know it was a brutal and, at times, absolutely disgusting display! Art doesn't always reflect real life, after all.). So when I was told the idea might work best as a mock brawl for Marshy and Thorn, I was immediately drawn to these old favorites.

Aaand that's where the problems began. I immediately started worrying that everything needed to be to the level of quality that Gerome hits, when I'm both not him, nor am I working in the same vein, method, payment, etcetc.. It was very dumb of me to do, BUT I did it regardless, and it sent me spiralling for a few days there. It was also not helped by the still on-going talk about AI art and some more examples of that tech's advancements. I collapsed for a few days.

But once I realized "wait, the cameos are for fun. what am i doing stressing about -everything-", the piece flew to the end. While I'm a bit sad about how some of the cameo characters look, I have to remind myself this was a -character piece- for two good dudes, and I think I made them look absolutely wonderful, personally. I'm especially happy with Marshy's lion dude, as I think I really nailed how I wanted the armor to look, as well as that mane!

I'm taking a few days to work on Crackshot, and maybe one or two other ideas, as well as to unwind regarding streaming, a method of sharing I'm still kind of... anxious about. I don't generally have the mental energy lately to be "on" as often as streams kind of ask me to be. For a free sketch stream, sure, but multiple days in a row is still tough for me. I gotta work on that.

Uhhh... Hmm. What else. Hmm. I think that's most of what's on my mind for this piece, unless people wanted me to rant about AI art. But I don't think even -I- want to do that, at least not in text. It's tiring, aha. And a bit... Existential crisis-y.

So, I'll leave it here. Thank you guys for your patience!! And thank you, as always, for your support. Please be careful out there -- make sure to get your new vaccine booster, keep safe, and I'll catch you guys in the next upload. Love you all. <3