Guarded

This piece is technically for the Inktober prompt "guarded", but uh... Inktober is way over, lol. I started this in October, but I got smacked in the face with a big art block. I was determined to finish it at some point. Wasn't feeling well the other day, so I decided I'd work on this piece whilst suffering in bed, and alas, tis finally finished. I'm really happy with how well it turned out. It's pretty close to the idea and concept I had imagined. A few of the iterations in my mind involved the heart being encased in two interlocking hands as an alternate sort of prison or "guard." But I couldn't determine how to put the hands around the heart, plus I figured that I've been drawing a lot of hands anyway, so I should drop that motif for just a little bit. Not that there's anything wrong with hands, but I think it turned out much better this way.

The idea behind this piece is of someone who guards their heart from others, locking it behind a chain and avoiding closeness.