DISTRESSED DAMSELS: WORK STAGES on a new EMPOWERED (conventionless) con sketch! (Patreon)

Behold, Work Stages on a recent, so-called "conventionless con sketch," as I try to figure out a viable way to produce commissions later in the year (well, in theory); at present, I'm desperately far behind on a bajillion different projects in development (not to mention this massively time-consuming Patreon), so I can't even contemplate commissions on anything more than such a "test-only," one-off basis.

First off, a quarter-page initial rough (thumbnail, more accurately) on 8.5" X 11" paper for this Empowered illo:

Then a larger-scale rough at 11" X 14" scale:

Before transferring the rough to the final art board, I belatedly remembered that I'd used a somewhat similar pose for a Rose & Lily piece last year:

...so I "flopped" the pose to have Emp facing to the right in the final pencils, to differentiate things a tad:

Onward to the inks, carried out mainly with relatively wee Ultra-Fine Sharpies:

By this point, I'd spent 5 hours on the piece (as timed by stopwatch), which isn't exactly the con-going art experience I was looking to replicate. Then again, my (pre-pandemic) con sketches used a mixture of coarser Fine and Ultra-Fine Sharpie inking, which would've taken less time; given that I used to grind through 4-6 finished illos per con-going workday (and worknight, sketching at the bar after hours), I clearly must've been using a much more efficient approach back then.

Here's a 2016 example from Emerald City Comic-Con (sigh):

...and a sketch-cover commission from 2018, drawn in a San Diego hotel room (IIRC):

Anyhoo, onward to this piece's final colors, with a sprinkling of whiteout for Empsuit sparkles:

Final elapsed worktime on the piece was 6 hrs total, counting coloring and scanning. That is way, way too long to spend on such a piece, folks.

BTW, I'm pretty sure I've drawn the same concept for a different Empowered con sketch, but that must've been done at an actual (pre-2020) convention, as I have no record of the piece on my hard drive. (Didn't feel like combing through my phone's camera roll this morning, either.)

NEXT TIME ON THIS HERE PATREON: No idea, TBH, but something should be coming up in the next M/W/F slot. Let's find out together, shall we?

UPDATE: Ehh, looks like I still need to get some mandatory Life Drawing content out before the month's end, along with the Exclusive Monthly Bonus Post for the $10 & $20 tiers. Should be a busy g-d week, folks!