(click for DA version)

Concept art from game project with work title "The Usurper".

All from scratch and my imagination. This is partially Asian-inspired but some ideas were also taken from European royal gowns - and the world concept is really a mixture of all sorts of cultures. I didn't want the Empress to have a crown; the form of the "halo"-thingie also has some significance, as does (of course) the scar across her face.

Done in MyPaint + GIMP, over a bunch of hours. Comments and feedback welcome as usual!
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Griatch

Really nice and the detail is amazing.

Outstanding, except I don't know if it is just my eyes but her left arm, the one holding the fan seems very thin between the wrist and the forearm.

griatch: busvackert!!! i love the mix of cultural references and you've used the colours so well here.

great great picture !!

the colors, the detail, the landscape

as somebody who was trained to make clothes as a profession, there is a lot i could criticize about her dress....
some of the detail you painted wouldnt work in real life or look differently
the train (or whatever you wanna call it) and the sleeves mostly
but i know that painting clothes is very hard and you did a great job !

on the other hand i do love all the patterns and the transparency is very well painted, imo

Thanks for the comments and feedback!

@molly:
You were absolutely right - the hand wrist was too thin. Fixed it now. Thanks!

@Esper:
The only thing I know is missing is a latch to hold her cape together in the front - without it the whole thing will be hard to move forward with. I didn't add it since I figure this is a sort of "pose" painting - she stands model for the painter and thus is not walking about.
I'm most willing to hear more details about what you think wouldn't work "realistically" with the dress.
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Update: Added some fixes to the gown that might make its functionality a bit clearer.
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i dont think i can explain all that with text alone and in english

it has something to do with how seams change the flow of fabric and the grain in which the fabric is cut and how you would construct such a dress in real life

tbh, i see this kind of "oddity" all the time in fantasy designs and probably most people wont realize or care
it just has to look fantastic and thats fair enough

im probably biased and over critical

Oh, that's too bad, it sounds like you have some very interesting expertise. It's true that the fall of fabric is a tricky thing and once going beyond simple garments it quickly becomes hard to determine just how things fall without a reference. I did use the gown of the Empress of Austria as a sort of base inspiration for this gown, although the end result is hardly similar.
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This is your most gorgeous work yet and I really can't find anything that needs improvement.

Thanks Erisian. :-)

I have updated this image with feedback from around the web, such as small changes to clothes, face, hands and sleeves.
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Very lovely!
My main thing I'm confused on is why her side seems to stick out a lil bit...?
Is that because she's turned or something? :X

It's called a rib cage, Moko.

It's hard to tell under all those clothes, but she's on her toes (probably high heels) and is holding quite a pose here, jutting her chest out. The cut of her dress happen to coincide with the angle of the rib cage which is what you see.
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Ah! Okay! Now I get it. xD
Thank you. XD

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Griatch, I love your work! I just went and looked at all your stuff on DA; it's really breathtaking. I like how you decided not to use a crown; it has such an element of unexpectedness!

Thanks mariawendt, glad you like it!
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Griatch