Final whistle

This is a bit of a departure for me in terms of style, inspiration and subject matter. The only time I ever pay attention to 'that football' (or Soccer if you're yet to learn English ;-) is during the Euro and World Cup. However I can't deny that the sport generates some powerful imagery and there's something magical about the thunderous chant as passionate fans invest so much emotion in their desire for that hopeful outcome.

Experimenting with some new brushes I’ve tried to encapsulate some of that emotion in this image of a lone England player. I intended the image to be somewhat ambiguous, regarding his motives for the pose but hindsight I think the result leaning more towards elation rather than despair.

I'm working on some more in this series as when i was sketching out characters I developed a handful of poses that I don't want to waste. Any suggestions on teams?

In the meantime, 'Allez les bleus!' or 'Eng-er-land!'... whoever.