Updated version:

(click for DA version)

Old version:




Most fantasy armor designed for females tend to be somewhat ... lacking in protective value. Contrary to popular belief, even the most shapely of abdomens remains very bad at deflecting swords and arrows. This is a concept sketch of female-shaped armor that is, if still not completely realistic, at least offering some more reasonable protection.

A quick Krita sketch, done with with a sketch-brush (from deevad's brush pack) in grey, then colored. Took a little more than an hour or so.
.
Griatch

But they are very good at making the enemy lose battle focus: '"Hey, look at the girl with the big b...aaaaarrrrgh!"



Her right leg doesn't look too right... The thigh protection looks shorter and there is an odd bend...

Technically, the shield is going to rotate around her arm, and you have been a bit blade-happy (one in each hand, one still in her belt...). Where does she keep the two in her hands when not in combat?

Love the concentrated look and the feminine scarf....

If I recall correctly this was actually one formal explanation offered for why Red Sonia (of Conan fame) walked around in a chainmail bikini. I would imagine the bad guys would eventually get used to the distraction after a while ... but maybe noone simply survives to learn and spread the wisdom of not staring at cleavage while the owner of the cleavage is swinging a sword at you.


Good points! And an advantage of a sketch is that it's less work to fix stuff too. I originally though of the shield as a buckler (i.e. a small shield mounted directly on her armor rather than held in a hand) but somewhere down the line the shield grew and it no longer made as much sense. So I went back and removed the left sword and made her hold the shield in a more realistic fashion.
As for where she keeps the main blade when she is not fighting, one word: Squire.

Thanks a lot for the feedback, take a look at the updated version above, hopefully the hips and leg armor should look better now too.
.
Griatch

Sure looks good to me.

Nicely done Griatch. In fantasy games, full plate armour isn't the only way to protect yourself - there is chain or leather armour for more flexibility and dodging skills can also add to your armour class. Young ladies like yours are probably very flexible and good at dodging but if I were her, I would still feel safer in your plate armour!

Yes, definitely better... One last thing: the legs are too close to each other, someone in armor and wielding a heavy sword would required a larger "base" to keep one's balance easily. So the legs should be bit more open (and not side by side). As it is, it looks like she is going to jump off a cliff. You can also say that armor and sword are made of the famous gadolino-titanium light alloy produced by the dwarves from planet Hyrdx and tell me to jump off said cliff

@molly
Glad you think so.


I imagine dodging in plate armor is not the easiest thing to do no matter how nimble you are by nature ... In real life, leather armor or studded leather thick enough to protect you is actually pretty heavy, stiff and cumbersome compared to cloth (but of course still a lot less so than plate). Having done military service in (modern) body armor I can't imagine how warm and sweaty it must have been to move around and do exhausting things like combat in actual metal plate!


I did some changes to the breast plate thanks to feedback elsewhere, but I don't think I'll change the legs any more. You are right concerning the balance needed when swinging her sword but since the point of this image is showing off a variation of female armor I was more aiming for a feminine pose here (one foot is in front of the other, this is not seen from this angle since we only see her above her knees). The inside of her thighs are also not plated, making it possible for them to be close together like this (I have added some hints of the attachments to make this clearer). The comment is well taken though; for a more action-y scene one would need a much less static pose than this.

Remember you said it ofnuts, not me.

~

I like this much better than where all they got is a little...little.
The colors in this sketch is quite nice too!

Heh, fair enough.

Thanks moko!
.
Griatch

The few examples in history tend to indicate that they weren't .

Cool drawing for 1 hour.
lol ofnuts.

Thanks.

And @ofnuts, yes if one wanted to be really realistic women warriors in fantasy would wear just the same thing as the men - they'd want the same state-of-the art protection after all. Maybe apart from some close-body adjustments for different proportions, it would look about the same on the outside.
Not quite as fun to draw though. So this is still "fantasy armor".
.
Griatch

Updated this image after good feeback around the web. Thanks everyone!
.
Griatch

Great artwork Griatch but i can't help but wonder... where does she put that sword she is wielding when she is done battling the enemy foes?
I see one sword sheathed on her left side but no other sheath is visible. Or am i missing something?

@Rod

The answer to this is "squire".
.
Griatch

The shape is better and not at all exaggerated. Nice work Griatch!