G-SOT-C (collab with YoriXYamiForever)

Hey everyone. Sorry I've been gone so long. School's just been outright busy and I haven't had time lately.
Just a prenote for you all, I'm planning on doing a Halloween picture and I have a couple other pictures planned, but I dunno when I'll get to them. Anyway, moving on.

About a year ago in June of '09 (okay, over a year ago XP), I asked my best friend Wulf-chan (YoriXYamiForever) if she would draw my skaters (I'll get to that in a minute) and lent her my sketchpad with references and everything. She finally got it back to me a month ago with a plea for me to color it. Well, there you go. This is the finished product.
So, to avoid confusion, these are my characters and coloring, but Wulf-chan drew it.

Now, as for the characters in the picture . . .

From left to right: Zip, Crash, Snap, Arryeana. They’re a skater gang that goes by the name of G-SOT-C, which stands for Gothic Skaters of the Century. They view each other as a family since each of them has a problem with their own. They get by because of the money they win at tournaments—they’re the best skater gang in Japan and have won the few international tournaments they’ve been invited to.

And now for some personal information:

Snap is the oldest at almost 18 (he's 5'11"). His real name is Anthony but, due to unwanted circumstances, he changed his name to Snap. His parents were going through a divorce and spent most of the custody trial fighting over who would get Snap, whom neither of them wanted. They fought so much, the trial had to be postponed a day and that night, Snap ran away from home. He ran into Crash, who had already found Zip. He’s the one who found Arryeana and introduced her to their group. He likes to laugh and tell jokes, though they’re often very lame. He believes in romance and can’t wait to experience it for himself, though, right now, his family means more to him than any girl ever could, until Arryeana meets Neko because he starts to fall for Neko’s younger sister, Kia. Out of the entire skater gang, he trusts Arryeana to Neko the most and is more willing to leave her alone with him than the others. Of the four of them, Snap and Arryeana are the closest. He doesn’t like to revert to violence, but will if he has to. He favors action movies with romance mixed in. The brown in his hair is dyed. He doesn't like to go around without his headband.

Crash is the second oldest at 17 (he's 5'9") and the technical leader and founder of the gang. Named after his father, he discarded his original name, Jonathan, after his parents’ death because of the painful memories it caused. He was close to his mother, who called him Johnny, but neither of them liked his abusive father. One night, his father succeeded in killing his mother and, in revenge, Crash killed his father. To escape all mention of his past, he gave himself the name of Crash, since that is what happened to his life, and moved to Japan, where he ran into Zip. He’s more protective of his family, especially Arryeana, than anyone else in his skater gang and takes on the leadership position as often as possible. He believes in overcoming the past in a greater future and hopes to be able to forget what he has done in the past. He strongly believes in justice, especially toward criminals. He’s the most likely to revert to violence of any kind. The blue in his hair is dyed.

Zip, the youngest male member at 16 (he's 5'6"), suffered in an accident where he lost his memory and his parents (they died upon impact). He also received an injury he hides behind his wall of green hair—the fire from the accident burned the entire left side of his face. After leaving the hospital, he ran into Crash, who asked him if he liked to skate. Zip attached to Crash quickly because of their acceptance of each other. He’s very quiet and doesn’t like to talk, if he talks at all. His gaze is very piercing and he can usually get his point across without having to speak, either through his eyes or through the assortment of knives he carries around with him. He’s the brute force behind the skater gang and keeps the jealous rival skater gangs away. He’s talented in the sense that he creates his own combinations and moves and only second next to Arryeana. He hopes to one day regain his memory. The green in his hair is dyed and he's never seen without that cap on, or something similar to it.

Arryeana, the youngest member of the skater gang (she's 5'5"), is the daughter of Katrina Wheeler. Katrina divorced her husband when Arryeana was a young child. He later died in a car accident. Katrina is Joey’s father’s sister, hence the Wheeler connection. That makes Joey and Arryeana cousins. Katrina dropped her husband’s name after the divorce and had Arryeana’s birth certificate changed to fit her maiden name. Katrina is a drunk and abusive mother who forced Arryeana to drop out of second grade to “work.” At her age, Arryeana couldn’t do much, so she worked around the neighborhood. Her neighbors did what they could to help her. She often joined mini back-alley skating tournaments and fell in love with the craft. Her skating eventually got her national title even before she ran away from home at the age of 15. She ran into Snap and, after joining the skater gang, dyed her hair tips hot pink. Being in the skater gang earned her a greater title, which made her quite famous. It made it rather difficult to keep running from her mother, but she somehow managed it. From the moment Katrina pulled her out of second grade until she ran away, Arryeana made it a habit to slit her wrists. She now has two white scars on her inner wrists, one on each. Her symbol is a broken heart. Out of everyone in the skater gang, Snap is the only one who can get Arryeana to smile until she meets Neko. She later dyes her black hair bright blonde, though she keeps the dyed tips.

Alright, I think that’s enough. Now for the character background from a creator’s POV: Out of all these characters, Arryeana came first because I was doodling one day and fell in love with the hairstyle I gave her, so she was born. Then I had to create a “family” for her, which is where the other three come from. They are another set of second generation characters, but not for GX. Because Arryeana is paired with Wulf-chan’s OC Yori’s son Neko, I’ve given them to her to play with, even though they’re still mine. Yeah.

Anyway, before I get too far off, let me talk about the rest of the picture. I like the way I did the words and colors of the words. That just makes me happy. I also like the base color for the background. I think it fits the four of them well. I’m also very satisfied with the color schemes of their outfits. The designs are courtesy of Wulf-chan. Ne ne, I love them too. They fit the characters so well ^^ Anyway, the background, the background. I like having photoshop. The brushes are tons of fun to play with, which is why that looks the way it does.

Yeah, ‘kay, I think I’m done ranting about those now. Sorry, I just get so excited about this picture, even though I didn’t draw it. It’s my best yet. If you guys have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. I’m all for answering them, as long as I know what the answers are.

Comments? Please?

Arryeana, Snap, Zip, Crash, Their respective families, Coloring © KelekiahGaladrian
Art, Yori, Neko, Kia © YoriXYamiForever
YuGiOh © Kazuki Takahashi