Let me start by clarifying a few things. First, I know this is not a real Halloween-themed picture, since it's not horror-themed nor is it about a character dressed up for a costume party. I've been under a lot of stress lately so I've not been able to draw or brainstorm ideas as much as usual (besides, I had to sidetrack for a moment and get one quick Cuphead-themed pic out because I, in a completely selfish move, wanted to be the first to draw Rule 34 of a specific character in the game). Second, I'm not and never was that big of a fan of Wander Over Yonder. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's a bad show and I honestly wanted to like it a lot because I'm a huge fan of Craig's work – both his art design and his style of comedy and writing – but there were two things about it that I had a problem with: Wander occasionally acting hyper, and Lord Hater being an insecure teenager under all that metal-laden bad-assery. While I'm not sure if the former was an intentional thing, it is well-known that the latter originated in the pitch bible and was meant to be a staple source of humour in the show. I couldn't stand that aspect of him and how it was purposely mined for awkwardess, and would've rather preferred him to be played straight where his ruthlessness is natural, it's just that he's not always an effective villain. The series finale, despite being rushed, did provide a very cathartic moment for me when Hater finally had a moment of glory where he proved to be the baddest of 'em all. In the end, I do appreciate the show for what it is and what it was trying to do, and was not at all pleased when it got canned before they could explore Hater's origin story.
Having said all that, there's one aspect of the show that was introduced in the last episode of the first season that totally got me off-guard and gave me a reason to give it a second chance (which failed, because I still didn't like Hater being a whiny douche spouting valley girl jingo). I am, of course, talking about Lord Dominator. While being a completely irredeemable character means she's not good waifu material in my eyes, Dominator has one of the best designs I've seen for a cartoon girl in a long time – something of a rarity in these days when every show tries to ape the character visuals of Adventure Time or Steven Universe. Like many of Craig's designs, Dominator looks relatively simplistic to draw but in reality it can be pretty tough to get her to look right. This is why it has taken me a long time to nail her down and eventually come up with a presentable sketch worth finishing. While I toyed with a couple of different ideas, some cheesecake-y and some hardcore (and there was even a crossover idea with Undyne from Undertale feeling up Dominator from behind), there was this one pose that kept repeating in my doodles. I don't know where I originally saw it but I suspect it might be off of some early '90s pin-up of either a softcore model or a porn starlet posing for a magazine or VHS cover. This is also one of the few times when I decided to go off-model, because I just couldn't make the pose look good in her original design. This is why her midriff is so detailed and has way too many shapes and angles that are not part of the original character design.
Anyway, that's pretty much all there is to this year's "Halloween pic." Hopefully I'll have more time next year to come up with something more suitable for the season.
Happy Halloween!
(Originally released on deviantART on October 31th, 2017 – HQ version of the first pic here)
