This is something I've been working on, spread across the past 3 weeks when things were hectic with moving preparations and family drama.

I stopped counting after 30 hours of time put into this, lol. Some of that time adding up was due to the character not looking right during the mirroring stage, tweaking/deleting/redrawing, having to start over on the wings because they looked odd, doing all of the trial fairy-esque tendrils freehand and then eventually tweaking the individual gradients themselves.

BUT - the work was worth it, I feel (especially after seeing her reaction, lol). This is a gift for in thanks for being a really wonderful friend through the years (and long distance to boot!), and offering her advice to me without complaint when needed.
Most recently she extended my Livejournal sub by a couple months when I couldn't do so myself, so I wanted to show my gratitude somehow.

(and because my dirty mind thought of it first, no, that's not pubic hair, she just has her marking coloration in that location.)

Illustrator CS2

Zephyr Celestia ©
Art © Alicia Boros/Guyver47 2009