116 - Sketch of the Month 6 - winner 🏆✨ (long post) (Patreon)

Welp, it shouldn't be surprising who won the 6th round of Sketch of the Month. xd
Altho I thought you guys would vote for someone different (since you definitely gonna see this character more from me, ya know). But I guess you sinners can't have enough of her, eyy? :]

This round had interesting nominations once again, I wouldn't be against sketching all of 'em, to be honest. Let's see how it went tho:
- Deadpool ended at the 3rd place with 2 votes! ✨
- The Female version of the Chinese Stealth Armor (from Fallout3) claimed the 2nd place with 3 votes!
- And our 6th round's winner collected the most votes since the beginning of these voting competitions, setting up a new record (57% of the votes were placed on her, I tell ya.): SpiderGwen won with 8 votes! 🏆

Now let me talk about this whole project, cuz there's a lot to talk about.. xd
- As you can see, I've included both the winner and the "Artist"s pick" character in one picture. This is a first timer.
.... also I've included another separated character, but it's kinda obvious why he's there, anyways. xd
- I've worked on this drawing for 11 days, on and off, I was hit by ☀️Summer☀️ during that time, and the temperature was mostly between 30-39°C degrees which exhausted my body and mind. I could only work on this during nighttimes (sometimes I had to wait after 2 am, so my room would cool down... yes, even with an air conditioner on). Each character needed 1 day to be completed. Gwen was the first, Deadpool the 2nd and then Venom was drawn. Then I added more details like the splash that Gwen does with her leg, and lastly all the pool accessories around them.

- There's lotsa details on this, each with their own reason to be there and the way they are presented.
Before all of this, I was thinking of drawing Gwen in some summer outfit with bikini and all that, I even had a standing pose in my mind for that. Then this competition gave me a push to go for it, altho I didn't do it as I was planning to. It became more than that.
Of course, I would really wanna be in their position right now, felt that even so when I was drawing them (while suffering in that heat). xd
I kept seeing these donut patterned swim rings [is that's how you call em in english?] during my grocery shopping in stores.. I also wanna own one, tbh. So all these desire feelings (and more) was put into this work.
And as always, I wanted to see my beloved characters happy, so I drew them happy and enjoying life. 🏖️✨
- Gwen wears a pink sunhat, which is the same that can be obtained in Fallout76. I love that hat so I gave that hat to her. :> She wears an ankle bracelet, which is the same I own and love. It's a little blue cloth that's wrapped around her leg and has a little blue stone hanging on it.
While looking at patterns for the inflatable swim ring, I knew I wanted to give the donut pattern to a different character so I checked google for ideas. Of course I love watermelon, and liked this design, tried how it look with her and kept it.
- I did a lot of looking-arounds and checking out reference pics for this whole project. The only thing I made without looking at a reference pic was the glass in that flamingo drink holder... xd
- Deadpool was the one who's base picture had the donut swim ring, but somehow I didn't want to give him a desing that's coloured pink. At first I was thinking giving him a flamingo design with a neck and all that, but that would have been cut off from the pic anyways (and I didn't want to associate my Deadpool with movie Deadpool, cuz there's a poster like that for the 2nd movie anyways).
I saw a google picture where the pattern was blue with yellow lemons on em. I tried to go for that, but didn't like it that much. Then after playing with the colours, it turned out to be a piece with yellow background and oranges on it? Comic Deadpool thinks and talks with yellow boxes and speech bubbles, so I thought this would be fitting. (... I also like orange juice so... win win xd)
I didn't look any reference for his skin. I kinda drew that like how I make fallout ghoul skin, but added more details on him. For his suit version, of course I kinda went with the classic old design. The choker stays. That's a very important design element for Deadpool! Trust me. ˇˇ
- Aaand then there's Venom. He was a challenge to make. I'm not sure he's accurate in terms of anatomy accuracy and proportions, but I like how it turned out eitherway. I also decided to give him the donut pattern I wanted to add to the pic! c: Altho, I remembered the reference pic as it would have a pink donut on it, but actually, the icing was white and the donut itself under was pink. It still came out looking nice, in my opinion. I also made this donut to have a part that's got bit off from it. There're some inflatable swim ring designs like that. So if this looks weird on the pic, it's because of that, and that part is behind him on his left, btw.
I didn't make him grin nor show some teeth, I think simply widely smiling is a good expression for this pic. He's enjoying the pool time. uwu (...like I WOULD TOO *sobs*) I've also made him the most wet out of the 3, thinking he either just jumped into the pool or dived in not long ago to cool down. uwu (.... *sniff* I wish...)

- Then it was time to work on the details. I've already set up the background and pool while I was working on Gwen. I was using her base picture for the waves and studying how to make the water and wavelines. I've always went back to adjust and add more to that background during the whole making process. I've never done anything like this before, like drawing some water in a pool and such, and I'm quite satisfied with the outcome. I also wanted to make something like this at some point, so I'm proud of myself for this part, that's for sure.
- Adding that splashing effect was kinda difficult aswell. But I think I kinda made it in the end.💦
- I thought I'd skip adding those other pool items (cuz of the deadline of the month), but then pushed myself to add em anyways. I knew 3 things I wanted to add: the flamingo cup holder, the spideyball and the rubber duck. The 4th accessory, the beach ball got there as the last addition and I've only added it cuz I didn't like how there are 3 characters and 3 plus objects on the drawing. Thought if it was a 3 and 4 ratio, the pic would look more natural and not like an "each character is paired up with one object" kind of generated pic.
- The First thing I added was the flamingo cup holder. I actually saw this in a store and immediately fell in love with it (and want one anyway, even if I don't have a pool around xd). I like to think it holds a glass of lemonade or some sort of carbon dioxide drink with some ice. The straw got there cuz the reference pic had one too. The design of the flamingo is kind of a mix of the product I've seen in the store and the pic I saw at google.
- The Spiderman ball was next in the making and the reason for that is that I own one aswell. Back in 2019, I was lucky enough to spend a week vacation in Turkey. While checking out the local markets I saw a lot of Spideyballs with different colourings, but I went for a red one. I wanted to immortalize it in this picture. uwu
- The rubber ducky is there cuz I love ducks and love rubber ducks, and a rubber ducky with some cool shades on??? WHY would I skip that??? (.... I have like 3 rubber ducks and got 4 more as presents over the years... xD)
- The beach ball got featured while I was checking for more "fun pool accessories" via google images. I think a beach ball like this is kind of a basic, default item for summer vibes and pictures like this. So I went with it. It's simple and yet has positive feels to it.

About the alternatives:
- At first I was aiming to make 2 versions, where Deadpool has his suit on and where he's shirtless.
- Then as I was adding the additional pool decoration items, thought I'd make a version without those inflatable items too.
- and as I was trying out things... like... Somehow I was adding sparkles to Gwen... then blush-lines... and I can't believe how much that silly thing gives to the character's expression. xd
- .... then uh... I added blush to Venom too. x'd
- Idk which one will make it out to the public, I was thinking maybe I'm making Gwen blushing too much. I mean she's doing that on so many of my artworks and I don't wanna do that all the time, gotta have some variety aswell, ya know. Then again, maybe these few pink lines make a huge change in the mood she expresses with the help of em..
Okay, I think at least I'll keep the blushing Venom as a patreon exclusive. xd Also most likely gonna release a smaller version of this pic when I do (and I guess it's gonna be the first one).

Phew.. so.. yea...
While making this I was even considering changing the name for these monthly sketching events, like "Picture of the Month"? Cuz I keep overworking these lil tasks. xd Altho, this one was definitely a fun project. I literally put all my wants and loved things in it as an artist and creator. xD The lineart for this is more on a "sketch" level than the colouring tho, but I don't mind. I think it still came out brilliant.

I would like to Thank you sinners once again for nominating and voting for these characters. (Most likely) this wouldn't have been made if it wasn't for this poll event.

....I might even cheat and publish this while the summer is still on, before sharing all the drawings at patreon prior this. xd
Hope you guys like this too! I'm definitely loving it! \o/

(and those of you who are lucky enough to try out Starfield soon... I'm jelly of you. >:o
not much.. but.. I'd try it out too if I could xd)