One thing that bugs me about most fanart, aside from the absolute overabundance of pics of certain games and characters (no offense to other artists, but do we really need another pic of Sephiroth? :), is how 'posed' much of it is. So many dynamic characters are reduced to standing around looking pretty. I prefer pics of underrated characters or ones in action. Less Cloud, more Red XIIV!

So that was my motive in doing this pic of Maria Balthasar, one of my favorite characters from Xenogears (due to the obvious homage in her story to my favorite anime Giant Robo and the fact that she has the best theme song in the game :). No one did pics of her doing anything other than be cute, even though she's a young, cultured girl responsible for defending an entire society. I also wondered what she'd look like actually wearing those goggles. Finally, a mental image of her piloting Seizbehn from atop its head, with the wind whipping past, was just too striking to shake.

If only A) my color work was a little sharper, or B) I dared to try drawing a bit of her Gear into the picture, this would be even more effective. Still, I dare any Xenogears player to view this pic and not play her theme song in their head... :)