50 Shades of Grayskull

IF (Illustration Friday), 8/22/14 the topic was Skull.  I had some issues with this topic, it was completely uninspiring and any idea I did have was either too grandiose or layouts just weren't striking a cord with me.  I spent some time trying to come with a new idea, when I finally decided that it was time to utilize a concept I had for a previous IF.  For this topic I decided to illustrate 'Castle Grayskull' from the animated series "He-Man" or "Master of the Universe", that I used to watch as a child after elementary school.  I also wanted to capture what I felt the show was mainly about, which was the titular character He-Man, who wielded the 'Sword of Power".  I was originally going to use a silhouette of He-Man raising his sword in the air (an infamous pose), but ultimately decided against it, as it lacked the symmetry I needed for how I wanted the piece to look.  Instead I chose the Sword he wielded in the original series to house the illustration I was going to showcase.  I also wanted to keep the illustration loose, and simple.  It seems the more I labor over a work the more stagnant it becomes.  I did this one quickly, and I believe it to be one of my more successful attempts, as it captures what I intended.  The piece is entirely digital done in Painter with some manipulations done in Photoshop.