Mrs Coulter

There is very little physical description in his dark materials, with it focusing more on the less visible traits. However she is summarised here on http://villains.wikia.com/wiki/Marisa_Coulter#Description

Mrs. Coulter is described as being 35 years old, slim, ‘beautiful and young’ with ‘sleek black hair’ which ‘framed her cheeks.’Mrs. Coulter is a published academic and scientist, written as sophisticated, elegant, intelligent and wealthy while she possesses an appetite for cruelty. Despite her feeling that Lyra is too much like Asriel, both Mrs. Coulter and Lyra are shown to be impassioned and talented liars. Her dæmon has taken the form of a golden monkey.

I tried to emphasise her being the sophisticated older (than lyra) woman that Lyra would be so impressed with. as even though she can be horribly cruel and self serving, at the start of the books Lyra finds her to be exciting and beautiful in that way that only someone older that's nice to you can be. I tried to draw her to be beautiful and not immediately frightening but also like that could slip away if it wasn't convenient. The long sleek dress was part of this as it would be very glamorous but not your traditional mother outfit and the pink/peach background colour is supposed to feed into the idea that she isn't there to harm you. I drew her daemon as well as in the books it hurts to be far away from it and it helps to identify her.  I think I am improving with both the lines and the background. These lines are more defined and stand out better for it, while the background does the opposite so it's not distracting too much away from the illustration.