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)
