Shiny!!!

where to begin?

the cape is whiter than it was previously. its texture is also soft and feathery as a contrast to the previous "wispy" one. i made an effort to keep it reminiscent to galacta's fluffy wings while maintaining the subtle spiral motif that's also present in arthur's pauldrons and boots. something something "spiral into horror". just like in uzumaki guys no way.

one of the main canon deviations is that the helmet has wings on its sides! this is, again, a reference to galacta knight, and hopefully provides a very religious touch to to the design that's similar to a few different deities from miscellaneous ancient pantheons. it makes our general look quite angelic! 🐍🍏

i generally don't like to make my gijinkas 100% human, so arthur is Divorce Cat™. if you've been following me for a bit, you already know the deal, but if you don't, there's context under the cut of this post.

added some notes on arthur's sword mostly just because i thought it was cool. as you've probably noticed by now, he's unworthy to wield the blade you'd expect him to (galaxia/excalibur), but worry not! that comes up later.

i gave him a fun little """casual""" outfit for banquets and stuff. it feels unrealistic for him to be in such heavy armor all the time and its fun to draw him in decorated irl army captain-like garb.

slightly shorter than galacta knight, taller than meta knight.

earring is a traditional ancient symbol, showing his admiration for their methods. this is coincidentally a match for galacta's emblem (huh, these two keep intertwining, don't they?)

i just realized i misspelled "wielder" as "weirder" on the second drawing lol

The fic first inspired me to do all of these color and composition studies, but I liked them all so much that I wanted to try my hand at finalizing at least one 🙏 in total, these sketches took about an hour. The final piece took me 5!

I started reading kirby fanfic on a whim, and now I've been swept up by some new favorite fics of all time 💗 I'm really inspired to create fanart because of the simple character designs - I really want to use this opportunity to better my sense of composition, color, and emotional expression 🙏

Alternative Versions:

*if you're wondering why the Waddle Dee's faces are heart-shaped, i uh

artistic liberties

+ the original sketch i drew last night and a version with his actual palette