Bound by Thrones for author Mel Braxton (some process+behind the scenes) (Patreon)

This is a piece I worked on this month for the author Mel Braxton and her series Bound by Thrones!

As you guys know, my workflow incorporates a lot of 3D and 2D elements, so I decided to go with almost purely 3D thumbnails this time for ease of tweaking.

I did a couple of thumbnails for this piece, and originally we were going to go with the second one pictured:

This was the sketch I came up with from there:

I worked on the painting over the next week but I was really feeling like I could push the intimacy of the piece BETTER if I just started from scratch, which I am SO glad I did.

I talked to Mel (who is an angel btw) about reworking the piece, and she was happy for me to re-do the sketch. This is the sketch I sent in for approval which ultimately became the final piece!

I think that as artists you can get into the sunk cost fallacy REALLY quickly as you can end up too dedicated to something that isn't working. I guarantee a piece almost always turns out better if you just know when to start over. It's not always practical, but I find I save more time in the long run starting over than I do trying to push through a project.

I hope you all are doing well, and you find this stuff interesting!

-Lily