For those few of you who have been following my work for a while, you know that I have sort of a tradition of ringing in the new year working. This isn't necessarily a life plan or anything, it's just my best option while I'm working hard to try and make it in this industry. It just makes sense to spend as much time as I can working to make money rather than spending it, and since my development as an artist is the most important thing in my plan, working at this time is what I need to do. This year I'm posting a new Zatanna. I drew this a few weeks ago, but just colored it today. I chose this piece to post because it is an important one to me. One of my more popular pieces historically in my gallery is my first Zatanna:
When I drew that piece, I didn't even know anything about the character, and didn't realize that I was drawing an exploitive version of her costume that Adam Hughes uses for convention sketches. I just based my drawing off of the first few that popped up in a google search, and that's what came of it. Don't get me wrong, it was my choice to draw her big breasted and what not, so I'm not trying to come off self righteous, I'm really just trying to characterize the lack of care I took in creating the piece. I did make quite a bit off of the print at conventions, and I'll be sad to see that moeny stop coming in, but it's always been important to me that my art sells because it is my art, not because it has bigger breasts that the next guy down artist's alley. That's where this piece comes in. This is a true Zatanna, in her actual costume, and there is nothing about it that is intended to be eploitive. There will no doubt be plenty of people with no understanding of artistic perspective who will think she has huge breasts anyway, but I'm used to that, and I can't stop people from thinking whatever they are going to think.
I just intended to show in this piece that I am maturing. Again, just to be clear, I have no problem with pieces of a somewhat sexual nature, but I don't think drawing licensed characters that I didn't create in an exploitive manner is fairly disrespectful and I don't really enjoy doing it anymore. When I've got to eat, a commision here and there will doubtlessly make me appear a hypocrite, but it doesn't matter. When I'm drawing something for me, to prove something to myself, I want it to be something I can be proud of, not something I have to pull of the table at conventions when a parent approaches with a young child.
Anyway, enough of the rambling. I just haven't said anything in a while so I felt like letting anyone who is interested get to know me a little better. I hope the rest of you had a safe and happy new year's eve, and many blessings to you in 2012

p.s.
Just so it doesn't appear that I am unbearably boring, the design of the piece was made similar to the old piece purposely. I wanted to make it apparent that this was a redo. I'll explore more design changes if I choose to draw the character again.