As a curator for the Splinterlands contest and longtime fan of your art, i can say that you will have a higher chance of winning or placing in the contest as well as a better chance of higher curation on your entry if you make your characters either completely original belonging to a specific splinter (with or without a backstory) or emulate a character in a bit more of a recognizable way to the specific character chosen.
However, changing or merging characters creatively is also cool and totally acceptable if it still relates enough to splinterlands. We don't want to limit creativity but we do require it to be splinterlands oriented in weight. I hope this helps a little. The more the effort and the more splinterlands connected, the better for everyone!
Thank and I agree that I've taken a LOT of liberties here, to fit her into my world as well, but now that I've done it a couple times I'm going to have a stab at a more recognizable version, still in my own style, :) Thank you @castleberry
You could do your own complete style and character in any splinter. Neutral and Dragon are probably the splinters with the most potential for original creative options. If you do your own OC then you just need a splinter and tie it into the game story or gameplay and that's it. If you reimagine a character... make it recognizable before taking liberties.
But, we encourage, strongly, creativity. So, you have all the skills, tools, and creativity. Your only shortcoming might be your lack of knowledge about gameplay and game mechanics. Using a skill or other game elements of action or abilities to feature in the art is an easy way to tie things in.
I am sure you will do some amazing art when it all comes together just a bit more. The art you've already done is awesome art. It's mostly a curation thing why i am sharing with you options.
Thanks for the advice after my busy week I'm going to try one very specific to a character, I think it'll be fun.
Having fun and being inspired are the main points! Looking forward to seeing what you do!!!!