Yuletide Dance (聖夜のダンス)

"A-Are you certain you're alright dancing with a mere maid such as myself...?"

"Relax, Melusine. I'm also actually not that great at dancing, so... I'm counting on you."

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There's an astonishing lack of Melusine fan art, and I am here today to change that. Her role in the Ikebukuro Christmas event cannot be emphasized enough. I absolutely loved how she was featured in the event. 💕

I think here I was mostly held up with the dress design I made for the MC. I wanted to give her dress a floral motif, but I wanted to stay away from cherry blossoms because it became so overrated to me. That said, I went with chrysanthemum, which, while also predominantly common in Japan, were also symbolic; not only does the white chrysanthemum represent loyalty and honesty--values I hold especially dear--but it also represents death in Japanese culture, which harkens to the cycle of death and rebirth the MC experiences throughout the game's lore.

I wasn't particularly sure with how to tackle the embroidery design along the hem and the seams at first. I even wondered if I should use stitch brushes to make it work. Then I found this incredibly simple looking design, and used it as a reference to draw the embroidery. I may or may not have gotten a little too carried away doodling in the design after the first time.

The next thing I was held up over (though not by too much) was the background. I wanted to move away from incredibly detailed landscapes from the time being and create something more abstract. I particularly wanted to create an out-of-focus background with blurry circle particles, which I later learned was an effect called bokeh. Soon enough, I discovered this video on bokeh brushes, and I easily managed to pull off the background I wanted.

Consider this art piece my Christmas entry this year, guys. Happy holidays and more to come! 🎉🥳🥂