**Special Feature** The Story of an Image: From Conceptualization to Completion

Once upon a time, I had an idea.

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About a year ago, I was considering the unique dynamic between a pair of characters who absolutely hate one another...and yet are irrepressibly drawn to one another at the same time. You know what I'm talking about - those characters that are "grr" one moment and then holding each other the next. I'm sure everyone knows a pair of characters (or real people!) that fit this description. ;) Anyhow, I decided to attempt to depict this. I failed.

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Time and time again I found myself coming back to this idea, though. I could see it in my head, but if only I could get it down...

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Then, finally, I drew this.

It was exactly what I was going for. The pose was dynamic and fluid, and the facial expressions showed ferocity while their proximity to one another communicated their undeniable attraction to one another.

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Now to make them a little less naked.

As you might have guessed, these two are very specific characters of mine, and I've dressed them as such. However, I absolutely can't tell you who they are. It's a major spoiler of one of my novels... >w< But now that I've got everything penciled out as I want it, it's time to move on to inking:

And here it is, all cleaned up and ready for color.

Since the "opposites attract" dynamic is oh-so-much-fun to play with, why not dress one character entirely in white while the other in black? But it's not quite done yet. One more step to go - shading!

And there you have it - the finished image. "I don't know if I want to kiss you...or kill you." That's what they look like they're saying, to me. Hehe, as you can tell, it was a lot of work but I really enjoyed it anyhow - especially since it is the completion of an idea that I've been carrying with me for suuuch a long time. :)

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You haven't seen the last of this pose, either. I know quite a few other characters that have the same love/hate dynamic going on, and I think I might see how they look drawn in this pose! And if anyone would like to suggest to me a pair of characters to draw in this pose, drop me a comment. I will more than likely go for it - maybe I'll even make a series.

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That's all for now, but you know I'll post again soon ^.^

~One-Wing