Very recently a cosplay by Cheheaven crossed my Facebook feed and it sent me through a bit of an inspiration wave that I haven’t felt since before my move. (Oh yea, I moved in April!)

Her cosplay caught my attention because for one, it’s beautiful and she looks beautiful in it (I LOVE how golden she glows), but I also began wondering about different details she didn’t make and how they would look if she did. I also wanted to rework some of her colour choices.

The sketch came out super cute! At the sketch level, most of it stays the same. I replaced the gem on her bow with another sunflower, increased the density of the flowers on her skirt, gave her petal sleeves, sunflower earrings and choker, petal hair clips, and initially intended for her bow tails to be flower stems, but I changed that in the colouring stage.

Her hair is also braided, but I didn’t draw that out because I’m not 100% sure if I’ll take this past the flat colours I put down digitally. If I ever do a final piece I’ll detail the braids.

The final piece, for now, is the sketch with flat colours.

I went with a sunflower fabric pattern for the skirt and collar. It was just a quick way to express my idea. The fabric can be purchased here. (by ModernFox if it is no longer available at the link)

I initially intended to go green with the front bow to tie in any leaves or stems in the fabric pattern, but I ended up picking one that had neither. Instead I colour picked from the seeds in the center. It actually worked out nicely, because it leads nicely from the black of her body suit to the yellows of the flowers as a nice middle tone.

Her skin and hair I colourpicked from the image and adjusted to match but, unfortunately, I did them on the same layer so I learned some things about paying better attention to what layer I am on (to be honest, I don’t believe we ever truly learn this lesson for good).

I think the most surprising choice in this sketchbook piece is the decision to go with yellow for her lipstick. Bold make-up choices are a favourite of mine, and even when I do fun casual cosplays of Sailor Mercury I like to do blue lipstick. It shocks people and makes them look a little closer. Children also love it. If you are colourful down to your lips they will think you are a fairy. It’s WONDERFUL the awe on their faces.