EDIT: Due to several cases of theft I'm afraid I will need to put a watermark up on this. Sorry everyone but I'm getting tired of it.

Dawn Version: [link]

Dear God I finally finished it. This has been in the making for a long time due to several long hiatuses as well as my inability to make a decision on the lighting and mood of the piece. First off, yes, I drew and colored all of this. All done in Photoshop. Everything in here (save for a few blood brushes) is original. I've always admired Kishimoto's use of perspective in Naruto, and I wanted to try and push that same feeling in this piece. His style holds a realistic anatomy that only a few other manga artists really abide by. He gets automatic props for that.

Originally I was in the process of making this intricate, perspectively accurate background, when I accidentally turned off the layer, making it white. When I saw it, I was like: "...Crap, it looks so much better like that!" The background was just too busy. So for the benefit of making you not completely overwhelmed by the image I decided to just go with a plain white background.

I thought it was good because it gave a nice contrast between the pure white of the bg and the crimson blood. Then, after doing all the shadows for the "Dawn Version" as I call it, I found that I liked it even better when it was black with a cool glow effect, meaning that I had to go back and redo all the shading and lighting, again to make the "Night Version." In the end, I think it was worth it I like both versions.

As far as why I did this, I've always preferred the subtle mystery of the Hokages in comparison to the rowdy youngsters that star in the show. Yes I know Tsunade is a Hokage but.. I dunno, she isn't exactly mysterious material if you catch my drift. I'm a woman so I doubt I could call myself a sexist pig. I was originally going to put the Konoha symbol beneath them but decided to do something different. All four Hokages' lives are connected to this single symbol. The forbidden seal. Yondaime used it to seal the Nine Tails while Sandaime used it to seal the souls of Nidaime and Shodaime. I found it to be fitting. The heavy burden of leadership. Blood seemed like a fitting material in which to make the symbol.

Please tell me what you think. I'm still not sure if I like the Night or the Dawn one better...