"Female Mercenary" by Oliver Booms

Great. I love the armour and the expression on her face. It took me some time to figure out, that she is really female. Perhaps that's the only think thats left improvable. But it is good to see a woman in apropriate clothing for fight! I hope one day I might get half as good as you are...

seroiusly amazing armour here..i like the bleakness of the pic.

*applauds* a female soldier in decent armour! I applaud your effort and sense of realism! *hmms and squints at the work* Though, the chin could be lengthened just a tiny bit... hard to tell for sure under the sensible helmet, but her lips look to be wider than the space between the bottom lip and the tip of her chin....

the ornaments on her armour afe a feast for the eye, and her pose gives her the stature of a true warrior. Everytime I see a piece like this one I try to convince myself to do inks, realistic and have more hard-needed patience.... Will you put up more like these? in those 30-40 sketches, there MUST be something worthwile to show us neh?

An archive of character sketches! That's what I need to do! Brilliant idea! This armor is wonderfully shaded by the way. Impressive technique.

very well shaded, and i enjoy the expresion on her face. in my opinion role players make the best artists.

Lovely work, great detail! Shocked Im the first one in years to leave a comment.

As opposed to Trevor's comment, I must say that in my experience, role-players make the cheesiest, most stereotyping artists. But you are definitly an exception. Your cropped, non-posed portraits really give an amazing sense of character, emotion and immediacy. It is a wonderful contrast to most of the well-meaning, but boring character drawings I usually see. (Including my own character drawings! maybe I can learn a lesson or two from you.)

I think role-players usually fall into two categories: those that play because they can get away with almost anything; and those that play because they can overcome almost anything. Those that do not follow the path of the stereotype, tend to observe, and to consider what is reasonable, even in a "fantasy" setting.

While I have nothing against scantily clad women, or even nudes, (I'd actually encourage more of them,) it is nice to see a woman dressed for a serious battle.

While lightly armored or even unarmored fighters exist, (armor does weigh one down, and can get very hot in warmer regions,) any armor should be defensive, not just decorative. Good examples of light, or piecemeal armor are shin-guards, bracers, gauntlets/gloves, helmets, and chest plates (chest plates, not breast cups, or bikinis).

I applaud anyone who puts female warriors in reasonable (even if light) armor, and those who keep weapons to a reasonable size. To many artists I would say: swing that sword or ax for 5 minutes, then tell me the figure can use it.

Sorry for the length of this comment, and that it sounds like I'm complaining. I do like the picture and the detail on the armor. Keep up the good (and thought out) work.