Toph Pin-Up "I call it the Rockini" (Patreon)

I've been feeling unhappy with my work lately, so I enrolled in some online illustration courses to try and improve, but before I go through them, I want to establish a baseline. I'm at the point with this now where I feel like any adjustment I make will make it worse, so this is my baseline.

I specifically put what I know about composition, foreshortening, anatomy, background painting, color, and lighting into play to the best of my ability.

One of the very first Busty Toph's I ever drew back in like 2008 or 2009, was of Toph in a Rock Bikini sitting on a throne. It was taken down by Deviant Art. I wish I could find it so I could share my progress. I have one I did a year or two later though.

God, look at how awful it is. The thing is, back then, this was the best I could do. It represented what I knew about composition, foreshortening, anatomy, background, painting, color, and lighting.

This probably won't affect the quality of Toph Heavy Part 3, as I've already drawn and flatted it. But it will hopefully improve future works.

The algorithm may be against me, but that just means I have to be better than the algorithm, right?