Nope, not Mildred...

Ariel is always really cute and smiling in her pictures (just as the Disney princesses in general are). I wanted to do something slightly different and ended up with this, from the scene in the boat where Eric tries to guess her name. She's still cute as a button, but she's not smiling and perfect.

This took way, way longer than I'd expected it to - it was so hard to get the lines all right to really look like Arie. I think I finally managed pretty well, 'cause I'm really happy with it.

I also couldn't decide on whether to leave her unshadowed, as she is in the movie, or give her a bit of shadow. I ended up with the latter, because I don't like the flat look. It works great in movies, but in a single shot like this, I prefer shadowing.

Original sketch in Photoshop, cleaned up the lines in Flash, and colored and finished in Photoshop. If anyone's interested in using the lineart, feel free to ask!

Comments are, as always, greatly appreciated

Ariel © Disney