I've been working on this since last summer (not continuously) and I still don't consider myself done with it.

It's more difficult than I thought to draw an anime child realistic and still make him look anime-ish..! O_O
It makes him a bit out of proportions, methinks. I mean, huge eyes, tiny mouth and nose.. But as I said, I was just trying to make an anime/manga character realistic, and not drawing a human that'd look like him - that's such a difference.

And like most of you've already noticed, the character is Masashi Kishimoto's "Sabaku no Gaara" (w00t!)
Gaara is my absolute favorite character (and no, I'm not a crazy fangirl), his story touched me, and in some really strange and probably disturbing way I can really relate to him. I wanted to make a tribute to him that really portrayed the way he is and the way he feels - I hope I managed to do that. Also I needed a new wallpaper and couldn't really find any of Gaara that I liked (don't like this one either though, it's got too many flaws).

Despite the sleepless nights and painful wrists and frustration over not getting it right, I've really enjoyed working on this picture. My absolute favorite thing to work on was his scarification. I just LOVED picking on that wound My second favorite thing was the eyes, and I just hated working on his nose and mouth, that was such a pain in the neck. Literally, because I have a very crooked way of sitting as I draw.. XD

But as mentioned, this picture still isn't done, but I'm putting it up anyway because I need some constructive criticism on what can be improved 'n stuff...
I know most of the flaws, but I don't really have much skill when it comes to drawing humans, or anime characters, so there are still some flaws that my eyes aren't yet trained enough to spot.. you know what I mean? It's often like that: I work on a drawing and maybe once or twice I'm actually a bit pleased with what I've done, but when I look at it some months later, it's just total and complete crap.. And that's because in those months I've gotten better than what I was back then. We always improve. So I'm guessing if I can' t find all the flaws now, I've either hafta go ask someone more skilled than me or just wait another 6 months to find 'em myself XD

..sorry, got carried away.

*ahem*


oh, and Full View to see the picture in full resolution with details 'n all!


art by: EMS/MoTH (Elise Marie S. / NocturnalMoTH) 2008
character (C) Masashi Kishimoto