Steven Universe Future spoilers --> Pearls! (+ roughs) (Patreon)

Pearl has always been a favorite of mine. She's relatable in a big way! I loved the new fusion from the Volleyball episode. And of course, any time Utena is referenced in SU, I go feral.

With this illustration, I wanted to approach the Utena reference. I referenced an Anthy/Utena image for the pose. I also added Pearl's sword to amplify the reference, but during the drawing stage, I liked the idea of her dropping the sword rather than holding it. It deflates the composition a bit by having the peak action drop, but I think it adds to her characterization within the illustration.

As for the ribbon, I added it because I saw it in some Utena art, and then later realized that's Volleyball/Mega Pearl's whole thing lol So... uh... Yeah, I totally did that on purpose. Or maybe Rebecca Sugar did it on purpose.

I did a lot more experimentation with this illustration. I switched inking pens for the outlines to a tapered brush, and I really like the effect! I also colored some of my outlines, which I never do.

I want to be more diligent about exporting WIP progress pngs so I can share them here on Patreon! I just get so caught up in the drawing process that I forget to export along the way.

PS: Now that I'm looking at it and thinking about composition, I might crop the piece to reduce some of that negative space at the top. If I do crop it, the illustration will be my standard 11x14 size that I normally make prints in! Maybe I'll offer this as a print 🤔