Artist's Comments:
At the moment I think that this is the Iliad picture I'm most proud of. It was originally intended to be part of the main page's design, but unfortunately I wasn't able to fit it in without badly compromising the design's flexibility and ease of use. In the original pencil sketch Helen actually had tears running down her cheeks, which looked really good and sad I thought, but I wasn't willing to risk ruining the picture with tricky inking done poorly. One of my favorite things about this picture is that it is very much in my own style. I tend to spend a lot of time experimenting with different styles, and sometimes I almost lose any sense of having a distinct style of my own through so much exposure to others. However, there still remain a few methods and conventions (such a those that I used in this picture) that I think are closely linked to the special way in which I percieve the world. For instance, the rather flat, cartoony features reflect the interest I've had in cartoon art for as long as I can remember. The blank, irisless eyes are also a common convention for me. Regretably, the lack of chin and mouth space are also a common feature in my pictures. I don't think I really got the proportions right and her hair is, quite frankly, a detestable mess, but nevertheless I'm extremely pleased with this one overall.