Procreate Timelapse + Final Sketch (WIP)

Hi peeps, 

Thank you all so much for voting on your favourite hand pose in my previous WIP post of this piece!

This pose won, although the pose with both hands was a very close second. 

Once the poll was over, I started a new sketch, on a bigger piece of paper : 

Working on a piece of A3 paper allowed me to be loose and regularly step back and see the piece as a whole.
I was able to avoid getting too bogged down with detail and instead had to focus on my gesture and proportions being accurate. 

Once I was happy with that sketch, I took a picture of it with my iPad and started tinkering with the image further in Procreate.
You can see a timelapse of that process in the video at the top of this post, but I included a few  of the ideas that stemmed from this digital exploration as images below. 

✦ Lane commented something I thought was interesting in my previous WIP post and mentioned that the hand pose in images 1 and 2 felt distracting. It got me thinking about the pose in general, specifically where I decided to cut off the body at the bottom, and I think that that sort of framing can impact how our eye perceives the anatomy of a character.
So I decided to explore extending the body of the person further down, and I think I much prefer it that way. 

✦ I also briefly considered giving the character hair, but it still didn't appeal to me.
✦ I also wondered about perhaps making the person a black woman, as I don't draw many people of colour, and I think it could have looked beautiful with brightly coloured birds and the golden chains, but I think I need more practice first, and I would feel too intimidated painting a skin tone I am very unfamiliar with as a big piece. I do want to explore more skin colours, ethnicities and body types in the future though, but I do want to make sure I do it in as respectful and informed a way as possible. 

✦ I tried out adding a heavier chain bolted to a wall in the background, and attached to the right wrist of the character, and although it felt exciting at first, it ended up looking a little too contrived and forced, and I abandoned the idea. 

✦ In the end, I think I have found the general composition I want to aim for.
I would like the character to be leaning out of a stone window, and have a strong contrast between the dark inside of the implied building and the brightness of the outside world.
The lighting will probably come from the top left, and I would like some of the birds to project a shadow onto the wall. 

 I spent a while in Procreate trying things out, and it really made me appreciate the way in which digital painting can simplify my process. Being able to continue my sketch digitally, and experiment with various elements quickly and efficiently without having to start a new sketch every time was wonderful.
Although I do still prefer the feel of pencil on paper, for thumbnailing and idea iteration, digital drawing is fantastic. 

Anyway,
This is the piece so far!
I will be finalising a few details over the next few days and I will then proceed to transferring it onto the final paper and painting it!
I'm excited to see where it all leads. 

I hope you are well lovely people,
Thank you once again for your wonderful help,
All the best,
M