Goddess of war
It's a rare occasion to be able to finish an old sketch.
But I'm glad that I was able to convey the feeling of a huge sun and a hellish heat. It took more than one attempt and revision to do it, but in the end both the goddess and the soaring swords she calls upon turned out quite well.
First try in After effects
It started out as a contest on Deviantart, where you had to portray your artistic alter ego. I decided to go with my trump card by doing some epic variations.
Made a rough 3D scene to better understand the light, gathered references and started working.
It was a rough start. It was as if I lacked skill and knowledge, so the work dragged on. And in the end, I abandoned it altogether, not being able to do it in time.
Finding this draft a year later, I almost accidentally made a few changes that this work needed.
I tilted her head, raised her arms, and corrected her hair to give it some dynamism. The brushes in the background were irrelevant, so they became weapons.
I needed more references.
I had to remember again how such lighting behaves and make an extra sword scene to make it easier to work with perspective.
And it worked out in the end!