Amidala

I'm happy with the outcome, and I'm not going to change anything on it anymore. I'll just learn from whatever mistakes I've made and push on. Thanks to all my friends who've supported me and watched this one progress. Thanks also for all of your comments!

EDIT: I've decided to add this comment because of some interesting conversations I've shared with fellow artists over the past few days during the WIPs of Amidala. I thought I'd compile the thoughts in here real quick. I hope some beginners may find it useful.

I know this particular Amidala pose has been done a hundred times over by many different artists, in many different ways. I've also seen posts where some people feel very strongly that trying to copy details from a photo or drawing a celebrity isn't really art, because there is no imagination or originality involved. I couldn't disagree more. It doesn't matter what you draw, or how you draw it, it's still art. This piece means a lot to me, not because of the actress or because of the movie it originated from, but because of the process I went through to do it. Getting the shading to look right, trying to draw that much hair and make it look as realistic as I am able to achieve at this point. Not to mention the addition of color to make it pop. This is only my second attempt at using watercolor pencils to add some points of interest to what would have been a rather plain drawing. All the effort that went into it, and the outcome make it special because I have reached a personal goal and milestone. I'm prepared and willing to try and take my art further and continue using these two mediums for future projects. That's a big hurdle for any beginner. Support from friends play a very important role when it comes to motivation.

Stopping when you think it's time to stop is another thing. I've talked to some of my mentors about this. I asked them 'how does a beginner know whose suggestions to follow and whose to ignore?' Let's face it, some suggestions have merit and others don't. I might have tried to apply some of the tips if I hadn't been already so far along in the drawing. I just get the feeling that sometimes while a drawing may already seem decent, all kinds of tips flood in trying to transform it into a masterpiece. For a beginner it's hard to apply all those things at once. It could mess up the progress or discourage. At my current level, this piece is amazing to me. I love how it turned out regardless of minor flaws. I see areas I still need to improve on, and I shall try to focus on that next time. I don't want anyone to think I've been ignoring their critiques just because they see I didn't use them for the final. I made minor corrections where I could.


14 x 17
Bristol smooth
2H & 2B mechanical pencils
Watercolor pencils

WIP #1: [link]
WIP #2: [link]
WIP #3: [link]
WIP #4: [link]
WIP #5: [link]
WIP #6: [link]

Padme Amidala and Star Wars © George Lucas