I need to paint more realism studies; they're so much fun, and very educative! Adding more depth and varying shades of color to skin really brings life to a character, and you can get away with being a bit messy. It's quite fitting that Danathen should be the first of my characters to benefit from a realism study, as he has so quietly and humbly waited years for me to draw him again. He's so sweet and patient. ^__^;

Painted from scratch in Photoshop 5.5. Roughly 20-30 hours (gah, it takes me so long to do anything), grain filter added for effect. Reference used for his eyes and mouth.