Lucids: Ken and Sakura, Action!

NOTICE: I will probably focus on Pokemon fan art this month.  On Facebook, many people celebrate December by replacing their profile picture with an image of a Pokemon, suitably called "Pokemon Profile Picture Month".  I have no idea why they do this in December of all months; I would think February (when the original games were released in Japan) or September (when they were first released elsewhere) would be more suitable choices.  If you know the reason, leave a comment below to tell me.  While you are at it, feel free to leave comments below all of my pictures; I would like some feedback.

With that out of the way, I wanted to draw something else, possibly an original piece, before I go on a Pokemon drawing binge.  Therefore, I whipped up a drawing of my two leading Lucids, Sakura Miyazaki and Ken Thunder.  Here is the main drawing with no added effects.

I have some drawings of these two characters on here already, but I usually pose them in either awkward or boring positions.  My main goal was to show them in different poses than usual.



The last time I drew Ken in his Lucid form, he was just standing there (and looking a little evil somehow).  Here, I have him ready to attack, sword raised and hand outstretched.  He will decide in a moment whether he should slash his opponent or zap it.  For reference, his back faces the screen, but I do not know how well the drawing carries that fact.

I have wanted to draw Sakura in a jumping pose for a while, so I figured I can attempt that now.  Proper use of her moon-based abilities will allow her to jump much higher and farther than people normally can.  I also wanted to draw Sakura smiling; the more recent pictures I have of her either make Sakura seem angry or in "dull surprise".  Personally, I think Sakura turned out better here overall (and quite cute).

One weird issue I had in this picture was their feet.  Sakura's left foot (on your right) appeared unusually small when I first finished her, and Ken's right foot (also on your right) looked too round and was pointing too long to his right.  I had to redraw those feet over again, and since I had already colored and shaded, that took longer than I hoped it would (though not much; they are small parts overall).

Speaking of shading and coloring, I have a treat for you, readers: variants of this picture with these two activating their magic (since it occurs in a dream world, would it qualify as "psychic"?) powers.  Ken's lightning has a much more dramatic effect on light than Sakura's Newmoon, though.

Variant 1: Ken's Thunder Flash simply casts a darker yellow shadow behind him, overpowering the usual purple shading on him.

Variant 2: Thunder Flash illuminates Ken as yellow, as well.

Variant 3: Thunder Flash lights Ken yellow, but the purple shading still exists, though much more faint.

Variant 4: Ken without the yellow soft light, but it changes Sakura's shadows from purple to dark yellow.

What do you think of these variants?  What about how Ken's Thunder Flash looks?  Any suggestions for a different combination?  Let me know.  In the meantime, I will be drawing Pokemon and training some new ones on my copy of Pokemon Y.