Dark Souls: Wistful

So I've finally dusted off one of my old unfinished (ie: barely played) games and delved into the world of Dark Souls.  The game really does live up to the praise it's gotten.  Perhaps not the most graphically refined game with some painfully unbelievable voice acting, but the combat is solid and varied and the level design is fantastic.  And since I hadn't drawn anything lately, when I did finally rage quit I figured I'd capture my character's feelings on the matter.

Jess - started out as a Depraved but quickly moved towards a heavy armored warrior with a touch of healing magic.  She opted heavy armor after finding the Fang Boar's helm.  Truly a fearsome looking helmet, though heavy and unwieldy.  She's a skilled warrior again the rank and file hollow and monsters, but the Bell Gargoyle truly taught her humility.  She figured the only hope she had to recover her lost souls and humanity on that windswept roof was to ask for help, and for that she needed to become human again.  The feeling of strength, of fullness... no longer a withered husk but a true warrior once again.  

Ah, it was a valiant fight... a race through the Undead Cathedral, hollowed falling left and right to her spear.  However, it was all too brief a time, as the dark crimson form of a black phantom beset her mere minutes after becoming human again.  As she fought a swarm of hollow in a narrow corridor, the villain approached unnoticed, striking without mercy or honor.  Her spear, excellent at controlled, confined battles, was not up to the task of facing this unexpected enemy and, soon surrounded by both hollow and phantom, she fell.

Withered and shrunken, Jess sat at the bonfire, remembering that brief moment when she was whole.

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Just a quick sketch, and full of the many errors that quick sketches and long periods of artistic inactivity bring.  My attempt to make her sympathetic and perhaps even cute as a hollow introduced some odd proportions issues that make her look a bit too child-like.  I didn't look up any reference pictures either, so I'm sure the helm doesn't look remotely right.  And finally I messed up... or perhaps better said, I ignored, dominant handedness, meaning her whole form is somehow left handed with the sword sheathed for her right hand, while in-game Jess is the default right handed warrior.  Maybe she's ambidextrous?

Dark Souls is living up to its reputation for both goodness and controller-throwing frustration.  Especially since I think I even had an item that would eject that invader if I had the presence of mind to use it.  It was a short and panicky fight...