CE, Chasing Cars

"Chasing Cars"
-BACKSTORY INCLUDED!-
Contest entry for Lynthehedgehog's contest.
I've got mixed feelings about this piece. If you look closely, it's not exactly the best run with airbrush shading. Dunno why, it felt like a good run too! And I tried to fix it with the burn and dodge tool, but it still didn't reap the desired result.
On the plus though, I got a shot at a bunch of new stuff though!
K. First off. The contest objective was to pair up Lyn the Hedgehog (Pink) with someone. Play matchmaker essentially! (Sound's oddly similar to a particular SOMEONE'S contest... " wink, wink, nudge, nudge"...) Now, with these, I've rarely seen someone make up a new character from scratch, so I decided to go that way! The gray guy there (Holy crap, I didn't decide on a species!) was originally gonna be a lion or something, with the huge hair and what not. But the general color wasn't cutting it for me. I wanted something with a blue-ish tint to contrast Lyn's pink, so I guess he's a timberwolf for the time being!
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His name is Luke, and he used to be a ladies' man! When he decided to settle down, he was a bit shallow in his requirements, and ended up going steady with a hussy who was only going for the ride. Things went nowhere fast, and Luke took it hard. So much that, for a time, he just avoided girls in general. He took martial arts to lose some steam, got interested, and four years later he opened up his own dojo.
Luke got some good referrals from other martial artists and previous instructors, so he had no trouble getting students. Most were eager to learn and listen..... except one of them; Lyn.
For some reason or other, Lyn didn't trust Luke at first. Didn't really strike her as the "teacher-type," and so she didn't exactly make herself the easiest person to teach. Luke was getting frustrated too. She kept trying his patience in front of entire classes, and fueling Luke's already heated stereotype of women in general!
Lyn then complained that she wasn't getting her money's worth out of the classes, and was considering dropping out. As much as Luke would have preferred that, she did seem like the type that wouldn't hesitate to trash the school's reputation, and so he offered some private classes to help her get caught up.
To save some time here, it'll suffice to say that what seemed like a self-antagonizing move, actually turned out to be just what Lyn needed; some time to earn some trust. Luke's explanations of difficult maneuvers convinced Lyn that he wasn't just some "shallow machismo showoff!" Conversely, it also gave Luke some time to see that Lyn wasn't just some hot-headed brat, but a very careful and attentive individual! Afterwards, he asked Lyn about why she was so angry before. Some of her friends had been abused and treated unfairly by their boyfriends in her opinion, and that generated some negative stereotypes about men in general. Stereotypes that seemed strikingly similar to the ones Luke had developed about women! Maybe it was time to give girls a second chance?
The first date was a bit strange at first, and so were some of the classes that followed. But they had a lot of common ground to go off of, and soon those private classes didn't just involve martial arts anymore!
Things got more intimate, as Luke started seeing where he went wrong in his carefree dating years before. He learned that love, like teaching, has you more concerned for someone else than yourself. Where it goes from here? I'll leave that up to y'all!
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PHEW! Ok, that was nice with the little ending and what not. But I almost forgot about the stuff I like in this pic! First off, it's my first real breakaway from the whole "quill" hair Sonic OCs usually sport. Not the best, but a step in the right direction I think!
Second, I've found that speedpainting and backgrounds go hand in hand! And I love it!!!
Third, I stumbled on the song "Chasing Cars" by "Counting Crows" (YouTube it if you don't know it) and it seemed to fit the pic really well! Normally I'm against attaching songs to a pic, but hey; it worked!
Finally, the spots of light from the gaps of leaves I'm pretty proud of. Not the best effect, but gives it a nice touch in my opinion!
Either way, hope you like it! Enjoy!