Forgot to post this earlier ..

thought i'd try out colour blocking first (or as the kids say, "painting") and it worked out pretty well

the initial pose is all straight lines and not that appealing for what the action is- staring lovingly at a fish. she leans too far forward and gives the impression shes moving/ready to move. second pose is more relaxed. she leans back, tail up and floating. she ain't moving. repeating the same shape helps a lot w feel. curves are soft

turns out using certain colours as bases makes me wants to keep those colours. another happy accident in art

step 1 apply colours and lighting and shading

step 2 colour the rest of the fish

the hair is just a gradient bc i accidentally filled it in with the navy and was like damn that looks good i wanna keep it. i also .. really ... like making tails look ribbon-y and silky. good stuff
mermay is the best month
unrelated, i watched speed for the first time last night it was ok. the end kiss made me cringe