Since pants are a rather glaring omission in this design (why did they hate pants so much?), I decided to create an alternate version that DOES include them, to see what it would like like. That can be viewed here: [link]

You might be wondering, what was the first picture I attempted to color digitally?

Okay, you're probably not wondering that at all, but to answer my planted question, it's this [link]

As primitive as this pic is in terms of digital technique, I fascinated myself back then in the fact that I managed to fill in a blank picture with color. I could've done the same thing in MSPaint I'm sure, but since I did it in Paint Shop Pro, it felt like I actually accomplished something.

The couple years since then have been a whirlwind of experimentation in style and technique, and my latest discovery was the adjustment layer. I gave up shading because I didn't like the idea of burning/dodging colored layers, sometimes have to recolor the layers because I screwed up or overlapping onto areas that shouldn't be shaded or lightened.

The adjustment layer eliminated this problem by creating the shade effect via its own layer (kind of like a mask), where I could just paint in the shade or light wherever I desired.

That said, I decided to bring this one back up and give it a good makeover...digital lineart to replace the choppy scanned version, some tweaks to the proportions to make them more even, and of course applying the adjustment layer. I also created my own sky gradient, as I don't have any that produce that kind of effect. Wasn't nearly as hard as I anticipated (I used to just manipulate existing ones).

Again, the original version is here: [link]

Not that knowing how to shade means that I can do it correctly. There's still the matter of understanding light sources, something I have yet to study. I think I'm getting the hang of it, though I welcome any feedback.

Oh, and the story behind this...uh...well, there was an old issue of Sonic the Hedgehog where it showed of some alternate dimension designs for the characters...this was one of them. For a member of royalty, Princess Sally isn't big on dressing formally, it seems...sure, she's wearing more, but apparently a skirt or pair of pants is still out of the question. One step at a time, I suppose.

(Actually, she's now the least-clothed female in the comics, excluding Dulcy the Dragon, who wears nothing at all )

And with all that out of the way, some credits...Sally Acorn belongs to Archie/Sega. Art belongs to me.