"1 Kativa, Torn World" by Jenny M. Heidewald

I usually avoid smiles, because they normally end up looking strange, but I stuck with this one because it embodied the character so well, and I figured I needed to tackle a big smile again one of these days. I am trying to work on my lighting, I guess this is a bit better than my normal, "light comes softly from everywhere!" but I really want to make a picture that really pops. It is scary to deal with the rather stark changes in color for strong light.

Kativa is one of  Ellen Million's Torn World characters.  Description of the world (Taken from Ellen's site : http://www.tornworld.net/  ) :

To the North is a cold and merciless land, with tall mountains, deep valleys and long winters. The people there are hardy and intrepid, and they live a simple life of hard work and hard play. They do regular battle with an ancient enemy that rules the sky, and they study the documents that still remain of the civilization that ruled the land before an Upheaval divided the world.

They are convinced they are alone in a small, harsh world, until they meet surveyors from a vast Empire from the south...

To the South, over the mountains, a sprawling Empire rules over many assimilated cultures. It boasts complex civilization and wondrous technology based around crystalized fractures of time, machines and science. But they are faced with a deadly, invisible foe and know of no way to combat it. Fear, superstition and unrest are rippling through their well-ordered society.

Part high fantasy and part science fiction, with flavors of steampunk, alternate realism and high adventure, Torn World is a richly detailed shared world like no other. Exceptionally well-developed and highly honed, Torn World invites new members to participate in the creative development of a complex, intertwined storyline and contribute artwork, writing and ideas, while retaining commercial rights to their own work.