After a bit of trial and error, I ultimately settled on this; I really like how this looks. I feel like it's the most detailed image I've done that also has a sort of visual consistency, something I struggle with. What's crazy to me is that it's also plain...boring? Uninteresting

I did this one next, went harder on "stylized" rather than "realistic". Not much thought there, but based loosely on different styles I've enjoyed seeing while growing up in the fandom. As a meta note, I don't much care for the expression, but the rest of it looks neat?

Trying to be a bit more human (ΘΔ actually) about it, art is hard. What I struggle with is less the skill and more the appearance of it. A lot of my work is done for profit (my only source of income) so naturally I want it to be good, to stand out and be worth it to others.

That's why the idea that a piece could be technically well done but visually boring is so fascinating to me. There are people who'll like it and maybe want a piece like that and I appreciate them all the same. I just want to be as genuine as I can while also making a product