This picture came about after a friend of mine (Dave) was talking with me about the game Spore not long after it's initial release. He recounted a moment in the game where his character was ordered to go to a planet and cull a few creatures there to stop a disease from spreading. When his character arrived there he found the animals he needed to shoot were ones I'd created based upon a character from my webcomic.
Despite the guilt he says he felt at having to shoot the little guys, I couldn't help but immediately imagine him flying around laughing maniacally while blasting everything in sight... The overly armed ship he created not helping his pleas to the contrary. And so, this picture was born.

It's taken months of hard work to get the picture finished. The lineart wasn't so bad, but I had a very clear image in my head about how the finished thing should look and getting the colouring to match what was in my head was very, very hard. I've been back to this image numerous times without success, but finally, I seem to have got it how I like it (at least for now).

Lineart done in Photoshop CS3, colouring in Corel Painter X (eventually).

idea inspired by Dave Lunt