Keep the Harmony

This image came to me while I was sitting at my table during the Long Beach Comic Con in September of 2016.  I was initially trying to keep busy during the lulls, and decided I wanted to do some inspirational quotes, but combine them with illustration work.  The first image that came to mind was a recent phrase that resonated with me, from an episode of Rebecca Sugar, and Cartoon Network's 'Steven Universe'.

In the episode "Giant Woman" (s1 ,ep12),  the main protagonist Steven is set to go on a mission with the bickering gems Amethyst, and Pearl.  Their leader (or matriarch), Garnet, tells Steven as he sets out, to "keep the harmony", in her traditional cryptic tone.  During the quest, Pearl and Amethyst continue to quarrel eventually putting Steven in danger.  They're are finally able to overcome their conflict, and are able to merge, creating a new fusion gem called Opal.  Opal is then able to save Steven and they complete the mission.  Garnet's message is then realized, that in order to merge into Opal, both Pearl, and Amethyst must work together, in unison, to maintain the form of Opal, putting aside their differences.

The concept was pretty straight forward from inception, in which the words 'Keep the Harmony', would be centered, and 'ribbons' would transfer from gem to gem that surround the lettering depicting each of the four main heroes from 'Steven Universe' fusions.  A lot of research, and color matching went into to the design, because I wanted to remain true to the source material.  I did want to include more than just the main characters (Steven, Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet), but I ran out of room, and I wanted to finish the illustration in time for my next convention (Comikaze).

The image is also available on my etsy store as a print.