I wanted to make an homage to the cover art for the Kubrick film Full Metal Jacket, using a more futuristic helmet in the style of Project Burner, with mixed results. I used oil pastels for color, which are nice and vibrant, and I think the color palate is pretty good. I think thematically, incorporating one of the project burner symbols instead of the peace sign, replacing the full metal jacketed shells with an energy weapon charge pack, and changing the original text from BORN TO KILL, to BORN TO DIE, contribute to the tone which I am shooting for with the game. There are, however; definitely some technical issues with the actual helmet though, largely due to that tricky perspective in the reference image, although that does extend to other areas like the flat letters which should be on a curved surface. I then tried to fix this digitally, with more mixed results. My first thought was to use monster mash to inflate the image, and it helps a bit.
I then imported the model into blender, and messed with perspective and lighting until it looked a little better.
I am thinking that the best thing to do now is to just concede and redraw with better perspective this time, but I am satisfied with it as a first draft at least. Getting better with visual art is not a linear path to success, and that is okay.