"Natalie Firebrand"
[ Photoshop Over Ink ]

Mani's Remarks: "With me needing a model for February, I guess the easy way out would have been to draw someone with cupid wings and a bow, while making sure to include lots of hearts. And while I did contemplate doing that for a while, I decided to do something a little different. Mardi Gras is also in February, and this was also the month that I began Realwalkers several years ago. With that in mind, I decided to have Natalie as this month's model.

The cloak was the biggest pain in the butt for this one, as was nailing down her hairstyle. I normally draw Natalie with her hair out (and with that trademark bow of hers), but I figured that she needed something a little more elegant for a masquerade ball. Besides, she seems a little older here than most of my other depictions of her, so I felt that I needed to 'mature' her a bit for this one. I experimented with several colors for the outfit, but in the end decided to stick with the traditional green, gold, and purple. Still, my second-favorite palette involved a lot more reds- it certainly ties in more with that personality of hers."

Random Sidenote: "Before we left for the cruise in December, we had to spend the night in Mobile, Alabama, which not everyone realizes, is a very big Mardi Gras town. Neil and I had stopped by a gift shop at one point, where they had a couple of masks hanging. There was a green one there with a bit of a beak-like nose, which was probably the most direct inspiration for Natalie's mask here.

Also, many of you that know me realize that I have a bit of a fascination with masquerade balls. That being said, there are QUITE a few preliminary sketches of this floating around in my notepads, as I went through several poses before settling on this one. Maybe I should do a large-scale masquerade ball piece with several characters in the future? Sounds like fun!"

Copyright © 2007 Damani Zayas. All rights reserved. All Images are the property of Damani Zayas unless stated otherwise and may not be used without the written consent of Damani Zayas. All copyrighted characters are drawn as fan art and are properties of their respective companies, all rights reserved.