Fear

The judge steps in front of the crowd, the priest next to him. They announce my crimes, my sins, my confession and that there is only one punishment for witchcraft. They don't tell what they did to me in the dungeon, how they hurt me, how they forced me to confess crimes I did not commit. On a command the executioner takes the blazing torch, the crowd suddenly goes silent.

My eyes see only on the torch, coming more near with every passing moment. The fire flickers around the pitch, black smoke rises around the flame. No, please, not. I sob, tears streaming down my face. I shout that I am innocent, that I am no witch, that I have done nothing wrong. They can't do this, it is wrong, it is cruel. I beg them to have mercy. But there is no mercy for me ... without the slightest hesitation the executioner thrust the torch to the straw, wait a few heartbeats for the flames to leap over, then circled the pyre and lit it at several other places.

I feel nausea, bile gathering in my mouth, the knot in my stomach tighten more, my heart is beating quickly, my breath coming in quick gasps. I am in panic, already feel the heat, hear the crackling of the fire, smell the burning wood. [...]
Excerpt from my"Thoughts of a Witch" shortstory [link] about my OC "The Peasant Girl / The Witch" [link]

Reference was an Artwork from the Megurine Luka Music Video "Witch Hunt" at [link] (the image can be seen at 2:44 - 2:55) and has also been portrait on DA several times, most noticable this one [link] ... i love this music video mainly because of the artwork. It is very simple/sketchy, but still full of emotions and something that did not look too complicated, so I hope it is not too unreal I can maybe one day draw like this on my own. I was especially "haunted" by this image, which captures the fear and terror of the scene perfectly, and also fits nearly 1:1 on the scene from my short story.

So i've redrawn it and changed a few things so it fit my character ... I added a few freckels to her face, neck and arms, and also extended what the artwork shows, as the original only focusses on her face. I added a bit of her chest, the complete head and also a bit background. I also changed the pose a bit. While Luka is at a cross, my character is simply tied to a stake. I first wanted to add some more details like the rope around her neck, and the chains at her chest, but I was afraid to ruin the artwork ... maybe i will add them later

I am very pleased with it, even if it is not something coming completely on my own it is still something I made

And I really like the expression, it shows fear and horror she has to endure in that moment perfectly, and even the tears look fine. But as said above - I have a very good reference so all praise belongs there. Some minor details could be enhanced ... the neck is a bit too long and the shoulders a bit too small. The nose looks not correct, it should be a bit more to the right. And what I have drawm as eyebrows are most likely just wrinkels in the forehead ...

The Scanner messed it sadly partly up ... the shadings look much better on paper than on scan, some even disappeard (especially on the neck and nose, but also some lighter structures on the hair)

I think i will retrace it with the computer to finally start something in digital art (and also can very easy fix the problems mentioned above).

Feedback and Comments are as always welcome