Boss Slayer 💀 my final Art post for Leofinance X Zealy campaign

Hello, fellow Lions!

I'm excited to share my seventh and final entry for the Leofinance X Zealy Artist quest. The theme was to create an image of a powerful Lion who had just defeated a final boss in a video game. When I first received this prompt, I felt overwhelmed by the task of portraying a victorious lion character in a game. The ideas flooded my mind, but they were all complex and difficult to draw on paper, making it hard to settle on an initial plan. Eventually, I decided to draw a lion in gladiator armor, giving it a heroic and fancy gaming look. The lion would be roaring triumphantly, holding a sword, symbolizing its recent victory over a long-standing enemy. The lion's body would be muscular and covered in armor plates.

Before I explain the creation process of my latest artwork, let's take a moment to talk about on my journey as an artist throughout this quest. Although I mentioned earlier that I am not a professional artist and lost interest in drawing after school, the Leofinance X Zealy Art quest reignited my joy for art. For my first two entries, I used a web-based app called Canva, which I often use for creating thumbnails. I combined various images found online to create unique pictures that fit the quest themes. Surprisingly, my work passed the initial stages, and I received appreciation from fellow readers in Threads and Discord.

As the quest progressed, I realized I needed to improve my skills to impress the discerning lion bosses. Determined to elevate my artistic abilities, I picked up my pencils and aimed to create something better than before. For the third art quest, themed "Leader of the pack," I challenged myself to create a pencil sketch after a long break. To my surprise, I produced a decent drawing of a mature lion leading its family. Although it took time, my art passed evaluation and boosted my confidence for future quests.

Next, I participated in the fourth quest, focused on being an LPUD Participant. I created an art piece featuring a leader lion on a throne, accompanied by a golden Leo stick symbolizing authority in the Leofinance community. The image aimed to convey power and prestige, and it passed evaluation.

For the fifth quest, I brainstormed and chose to depict a young lion as a rapper, captivating the audience on stage. This piece received significant praise, including acknowledgment from Anomadsoul, one of the OG Leofinance founders. The appreciation motivated me to continue improving my skills.

Moving on to my sixth entry, which focused on an Old, Wise, Strong, and Proud Lion, I initially thought it would be easy. However, I struggled to settle on an idea. Eventually, I drew a lion roaring outside its cave to symbolize strength and kingship. To depict its age, I gave its mane a whitish look, adding wisdom to the character.

Now, I'm eager to share my final artwork with you all, hoping it will capture the attention of the quest organizers and the Leofinance community. It has been an incredible journey rediscovering my passion for art, and I look forward to future quests and opportunities for growth. Without further ado, let me present the steps and final result of this magnificent gladiator lion, and I hope you will love it.

---

---

Step 1

As usually I do, I first took a piece of blank A4 sized paper and draw the margins on all 4 sides. Then I draw a vertical line as a base of the meta human Lion warrior I am about to draw.

Step 2

After completing the basic work above, I first stated to draw the outline of the ace. This first step is very important and helps me draw the rest when I get a satisfied at my initial approach with the head. After some erasing and redrawing, I finally was able to draw a lion face that was resembling a lion warrior.

Step 3

After I worked out with drawing the face, now it is time to draw his shoulders and hands. I wanted him yo hold a big sword with one of his hand so I lifted his left hand while his right one is free. In here, I also tried to attach some heavy meta armors to both of his shoulders and also give his body a ripped look like a warrior.

Step 4

After drawing the upper body part, now it is time to draw and work upon its lower body part. I decided to wear his lower half with a cloth that looks like the prince of Persia type look. I added a metallic belt around his waist and high covered boots that goes above his knee to protect his legs. one part of his cloth is flying in air is giving it a fantasy look like one of those hero characters in games.

Step 5

Now, as I have done drawing a basic outline after a lot of reworks, retouches and erasing and i also loved the look of my art already, and i know it will certainly look better once i done shading it out completely. After erasing the vertical line behind it as it had served its purpose, Now I started drawing a 2 edged big sword at this hand that also matches his gigantic size.

Step 6

The basic outline work was completed here and believe me when I say it looks much easier with these couple of processing photos than it actually is. I took some needy steps here again to erase portions of this characters to get a better look and finally after hours of hard work, i achieved making a good looking warrior lion and it is time to shade the whole picture here to give it a complete look. I started with the head and done shading the front face and the manes around him.

Step 7

As I finished the work with the head part, then I went forward and started colorizing it upper body part. i started with coloring the metallic Armour on his both shoulders and with multiple layers of shading, i tried to give it a detailed and 3d look and somehow after a while trying the process, i finally made it beautiful to look at.

Step 8

After working on the upper part of his body, I then started drawing and shading his lower part starting with the cloth that he is wearing. It was the first layer of shading and the final touch is yet to be applied upon him when he will look cooler but first i needed him to match the style of what I am doing here with the shading.

Step 9

Now, as I was almost completed covering the lower part and was about to draw the first coating for the lion character, it was already looking decently cool to me and I hope you feel the same as well. I also shaded his sword to give it a 3D look and tried to shade his cloths is different shaded, blacking some areas while graying the other areas to make it look real as well.

Step 10

After finishing is legs, I also added a base under his feet that looks like grass he is stumping upon in the battlefield to give it a better look. I also worked more on the shading process and drawing multiple layers of shading the get the look I wanted in this character. After several coats of shading with my pencils, I was finally able to give it a bold look and also worked upon its body part to enrich the resolution and the Lion was almost ready for another battle it seems.

Step 11

This is the final step where I reworked all over the drawing from head to toe erasing the extra strokes while filling the places where it needed some work. I also worked on the darker parts so that those parts looks darker while the other body parts more visible and thus giving it a real life placement lighting effect which is certainly making it look cooler and voila, finally my Lion warrior is all ready for showcase. Even the air is breezing around him knows who is the real champion here, as he just defeated the main boss level in this game, he is growling with pride and shining his sword in the air to challenge if anyone is there strong enough to face him.

---

I hope you liked watching the process of this artwork and also enjoyed reading my journey in making in step by step. I think it is my best work in this whole Artist quest as this lion warrior is looking so much more alive than the others! Let me know your feelings and thoughts about this artwork in the comments below and I will be seeing you all in my next post!