Xi for June 2006

Drawn during Fundamentals of Drawing/Fundamentals of Design today for fun. I haven't drawn Xi in a long time, and I was starting to miss her comparatively cheerful face (compared to Raiko anyway). I'd forgotten how fun she is to draw. Electric-blue hair just looks cool. ^.^

I was originally going to put her in a full kimono and hakama, but then I started thinking about the fights in XMA and the dao and how I want to learn to use that sword since I've lost my taste for using katana*, and the above came out. I actually started doing the fight sketches before I finished her, thus the toplessness, since, to be frank, her breasts served well as point references, particularly for the first and third sketch. That, and I think she looks really cute like that. *shrug*

The fight might be a bit hard to follow, but it would realistically work. Believe me, I got a few stares because my legs were twitching or my hands were moving in order to make sure everything flowed. Xi has a fighting style much like me, emphasizing high kicks and momentum. Fun to do and to draw. I was originally going to have a Soul Calibur-esque color trails for the swords, but it looked like they'd become lightsabers, so I nixed it.

I'm really starting to love coloring in photoshop like this. So much easier than I had thought it would be.

Time: Probably three hours total, though I have no real idea.
2H on 50lb sketch paper, Photoshop 7.0

*This does not mean I dislike the swords, they just don't suit my style of combat