[edit] I just realized that I didn't actually fix a few things when I did the finishing touchups so I edited the image to take out all the stupid parts. Sorry!

Just a little gifty for Ri-chan aka Leanne. She's a wonderful friend that I found to be a lot like me, but our differences make life interesting too. I'm glad I met her when I did, otherwise I don't think I would've survived through Japanese for this long, and I would've been far more anime-deprived than I am now. ^_^!

This is REALLY REALLY late, gomen! Her birthday was back in February, and that's when I started this drawing. I had to leave it as a sketch for a long time, and I didn't get to start working on it again until the beginning of June. It's the thought that counts, right?

This was sort of an experiment for me. The lips are way different from how I usually do them, and I kinda like them this way. A little on the realistic side, but not so much that it seems out of place in a drawing like this one. I also didn't use any lines outside of the face, and that is a major pain in Painter Classic. >.>;; Overall, I think I liked how this turned out.

PS. I didn't put the 'tan' part of 'tanjoubi' because I'm lazy, and I'm terrible at writing kanji on a tablet.. *sweats*

[Tool] WACOM Graphire 3, Corel Painter Classic, Photoshop 7 (tiny bits)
[Time] Almost 2 weeks, spread out over 5 months.