EDIT: Oh my gods.... a DD!!!! I never ever EVER thought I would get one. Especially on a piece that is so personal to me.... I don't really know what to say except THANK-YOU to =natalia-luz and `touchedvenus for suggesting it and a huge thank-you to ^StormPenguin for featuring it!! I'm going to go pinch myself and wake up...!! lol!

PLEASE FULLVIEW You can't see ANYTHING in the thumbnail!!

Okay, disclaimer first. I do not mean to offend anyone with this piece. I know that the crucifixion motif is something that many people hold very sacred, so let me say right away that I don't mean to offend ANYONE by using it.

That being said....DEAR LORD IN HEAVEN THIS IS DONE. I've been working on this monstrosity for a week straight now. In reality though I've had the idea and sketches and even half-finished PSDs for a few years. Finally I torn down the whole thing and re-did it. And now.... it's DONE. I think I've been staring at it for too long though because it's all starting to blur together.... yeah.

So, this is my homage to my favourite anime of all time, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and my favourite character Utena Tenjou. I know it's kind of odd to depict a character I revere in such despair. But I wanted to illustrate her pain, her struggle and her betrayal.... what better way to do that than for her to be crucified. Crucified with Akio, the devil himself as both her execultioner and her cross as Anthy, her princess, sits below her almost apathetic to her prince's, her TRUE prince's demise....

Yeah, there's probably some Christian symbology here underneath the overt cruxifiction theme. I'm not Christian myself but as a line from one of my favourite movies once said, "I don't have to be [Christian] to find the images beautiful or the poetry moving." So.... take that as you will. I think it's probably more of a coincidence though.... I wanted to illustrate Utena's pain more than make an allegorical piece. Though I was calling this as I was working on it, "The Passion of the Utena".... lol

Also wanted to pay homage to Alphonse Mucha, whose art I also find very beautiful. More like his aesthetic that I find beautiful, what people have done with it. I wanted to try my hand at it. I didn't want to completely emulate his style per say, more like appropriate his aesthetic to mine. Dunno if I succeeded or not, but like I said, I think I've been looking at it for too long.

UHMMMM..... I'm not sure what else to say. I hope you enjoy this piece!

EDIT: Used brushes from here [link] and used this background as a model to make my own [link] Gotta give credit where credit is due!!