This picture was a ton of fun to draw, I took the liberty to do some experiments with new effects and techniques in this.

Of course it's still from the pixel perfectionism era. And since it was intended as a birthday gift for my wonderful friend, the extra deadline pressure was a challenge. But this time around, it was one that I mastered to my satisfaction.

The light effects were particularly fun and interesting to create. I kept the rim light quite sharp-edged, but decided to go softer with the fire.

In retrospective, the image turned out a tad too dark. But I have the suspicion that my old monitor might be at fault.

I originally wanted to gift him this picture as a poster, but the printing company managed to package it badly enough for the mail company to absolutely crush it THREE TIMES. Every replacement failed.

In the end I just got him a mini version on posterboard, small and sturdy, different packaging.

Obviously it is Halloween-themed - That's because my friend's birthday is around the end of October.