Shakespeare-illus Before and after

So, the other day I thought I was done with Shakespeare-illus and I showed you the "final result". A couple of days later I had a look at the picture I posted here and on deviantart and I realized that 1) the shot I took of it was not very good; 2) There were problems that went beyond my poor skills as a photographer. In other words, the picture was far from complete.

The most egregious issue had to do with the fact the inks had faded under the several washes of colors. The faces were blurred and the details I liked so much in the pencils phase were practically invisible. This was particularly true for Othello, one of my favorite characters. The contours were so dim that all the characters looked flattened and the overall impression was pretty blah. I was also a bit unsatisfied with some of the shading and blending.

I had to do something about these defects. So in the weekend I worked a bit here and there to fix things up. It took longer than it should have because my inking pen (Copic Microliner 0.03) was getting dry and every single line was a pain (although I find that in these adverse conditions I tend to be more precise and the overall look of the lines is more steady...even if my hand is not! ;)).

Finally, I took a new photo of the drawing with better contrast and color balance. Here it is, together with the "before the treatment" version. I definitely thinks I have improved it quite a bit. ;)

BEFORE

AFTER

 What do you think?

Now I have to find a nice frame and pack the gift for my friend.  ^^