"Erik's Final Fantasy" ("Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within")
Tifa Lockhart (c) Squaresoft
The picture is based on a movie based on a series of popular role-playing-games (but if you're a casual gamer, you already knew that.) This was the first illustration I started on for the gallery and the one I had thirteen drafts before I finished; all different. But, as would be the case many times in the future, I didn't start until a week before it was due - choosing not to use anything I drew in the past.
The character is Tifa Lockheart who appeared in the seventh game and chosen because she's the most popular amongst gamers (I've always liked Aerith Gainsbough more, but I digress.) This was also the first time someone asked me for the picture when I was finished. Now that's scary!
There's also a very interesting, and I suppose personal, side-note regarding the film itself. Years after it was released I found out a high school friend of mine (and someone whom I had a very deep crush on) was used as the basis for the design of the film's main character, Aki Ross. She was dating one of the designers when the movie was in pre-production at the time and he felt she had the perfect face and figure for Aki. As soon as she told me this, I literally slapped myself in the forehead for not noticing it before. It's more than just apparent. Plus, I can say in all honesty I went to high school with someone whose virtual likeness appeared in Maxim Magazine's Top 100 Hottest Women of 2001. - Jake